If you’ve made a resolution to read some more in 2025, the lists of most-borrowed books from the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) in 2024 should give you some inspiration.
The VPL says it’s the most visited urban library system, per capita, in Canada. Its annual lists break down which books adults, teenagers and children were taking out the most.
The chart-toppers this year are repeating champions from last year — but there are also interesting new additions among the top 10 lists, including a first-hand account of one pop star’s life.
While Prince Harry’s memoir Spare cracked the top 10 last year, Britney Spears’s memoir The Woman in Me did so this year in the adult category — along with a range of novels in genres like crime and romantic fantasy (popularly called “romantasy”).
In the teens’ and kids’ sections, fantasy and graphic novels reigned supreme. Here were the top 10 most-borrowed books, by category, in the VPL system in 2024.
Britney Spears’s much-anticipated memoir is finally out. The Woman in Me chronicles her rise to fame, her public and turbulent relationships, and her struggles under a strict conservatorship that lasted 13 years. CBC’s Jenna Benchetrit recaps some of the book’s revelations.
Self-help book tops the adult charts
For the second year in a row, self-help book 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest topped the list as the most-borrowed book by adults.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a scientist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, took the second spot, having also topped the list in 2022.
It explores the role of plants and botany in Indigenous and Western cultures and has also been adapted into a young adult version by award-winning Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, who is based in Victoria.
Popular fiction novel Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, as well as a romantasy book called Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, were new additions to the list this year.
Two crime thrillers by Richard Osman and Lisa Jewell rounded out the list, along with a few returning favourites like Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
Top 10 borrowed adult books:
- 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest.
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
- The Woman in Me by Britney Spears.
- Yellowface by R. F. Kuang.
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.
- Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.
- None of This is True by Lisa Jewell and I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (tied for eighth spot).
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros.
- The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman.
Teens take to fantasy
Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses took the No. 1 spot on the teen list for the third year in a row.
American author Maas continues to dominate the young adult category at the VPL, with four of her books in two different series breaking up the top 10. Her works are fantasy fiction, and include fairies, magic and teenage assassins.
Romantasy and fantasy, in general, were a major hit among young adults, with Rebecca Ross’s two entries in the Letters of Enchantment series also making the list.
Top 10 borrowed teen/young adult books:
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas.
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.
- Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood.
- A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.
- Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross.
- Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas.
- A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson.
- Powerless by Lauren Roberts.
- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas and Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross (tied for tenth spot).
3 series reign supreme in kids’ category
And for children, Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series topped the most-borrowed list for the third year in a row. The American author’s series took four places in the kids’ top 10.
All the chart-toppers in the kids’ categories were graphic novels, with Dav Pilkey grabbing two spots for two entries in the Dog Man and Cat Kid Comic Club series.
Three different graphic novel entries in the revived The Baby-Sitters Club series rounded the top 10 most-borrowed books by children.
Top 10 borrowed children’s books:
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer by Jeff Kinney.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot by Jeff Kinney.
- Baby-Sitters Little Sister 7: Karen’s Haircut by Katy Farina.
- The Baby-Sitters Club: Stacey’s Mistake by Ellen T. Crenshaw.
- Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea by Dav Pilkey.
- Baby-Sitters Little Sister 6: Karen’s Birthday by Katy Farina.
- The Baby-Sitters Club: Claudia and the Bad Joke by Arley Nopra.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End by Jeff Kinney.
- Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations by Dav Pilkey.