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East Lansing Public Library patrons found new favorites to read in 2024

Covers of Powerless by Lauren Roberts, Funny Story by Emily Henry and Cat Kid Comic Club Influencers by Dav Pilkey

The East Lansing Public Library is sharing which books patrons checked out the most in 2024.

Chrissie Evaskis-Garrett, the library’s Head of Collections, says there were two kinds of fiction that seemed to be the most popular among adult readers.

They were either a thriller where someone was murdered and somebody's on the case to have justice,” she said, “Or they were, ‘We are strong women, and we're persevering over a devastating time in American history.’”

She cited A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci and The Women by Kristin Hannah as respective examples of those two categories. But overall, the most popular book among adult readers was a romance novel, Funny Story, by Emily Henry.

Among nonfiction books, some of the most frequently checked out were Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan, The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos with Lisa Dickey, and The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson.

“I really think in both fiction and nonfiction this year, people were looking for comfort or reassurance or a deeper understanding of the world around them,” Evaskis-Garrett said.

She says she enjoyed Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind by Annalee Newitz.

“It kind of talked about how folks use narratives to dictate, well, the story,” she said. ”Whatever that might be, there's political power or ... other types of power, and how crafting a narrative helps control the story. It was utterly fascinating to me, and I guess that maybe this is my manifestation of this year.”

Young readers gravitated toward graphics novels in 2024.

Evaskis-Garret says the Dog Man and Cat Kid books by Dav Pilkey, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney and new adaptations of The Baby-Sitters Club novels were popular. And overwhelmingly, kids wanted to check out books they could hold in their hands.

Our younger folks really gravitate more towards the physical versus the digital,” she said, "I think it's probably because they spend a lot of time during their school lives and work lives on their screen.”

Evaskis-Garrett says teenage readers checked out romantic fantasy books like A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and series from two Michigan authors, Lauren Roberts and Angeline Boulley.

Besides books, Evaskis-Garrett says many patrons borrowed the library’s Wi-Fi hotspots and Potter Park Zoo passes.

Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Sophia Saliby is the local producer and host of All Things Considered, airing 4pm-7pm weekdays on 90.5 FM WKAR.
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