Many Mid-Michigan readers turned to self-help books or do-it-yourself resources when visiting libraries this year.
Lise Mitchell is the Director of the Grand Ledge Area District Library.
She says Mel Robbins' ’“The Let Them Theory” and Johnathan Haidt’s "The Anxious Generation" topped non-fiction checkouts along with guides to canning, gardening and cooking.
"A lot of people have been trying to figure out how they can do better with their lives," she said. "We're seeing a lot of people looking for self sufficiency."
Actor Jeremy Renner’s memoir and a biography of basketball star Caitlin Clark were some other heavily checked-out nonfiction picks.
Mitchell says novels by well-known authors like "Verity" by Colleen Hoover, "Onyx Storm" by Rebecca Yarros and "Great Big Beautiful Life" from Michigan author Emily Henry were also popular.
Many parents checked out installments of the series “A Kids Book About” which tackles tough subjects like grief, therapy and cancer to read with their children.
Books that were adapted into movies and TV shows remained well-liked.
Readers sought out the latest Hunger Games installment "Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins, “The Life List” by East Lansing author Lori Nelson Spielman and "The Summer I Turned Pretty" trilogy by Jenny Han.
Mitchell says many readers also looked for community this year by forming book clubs.
"Now even having silent book clubs, where just the act of reading together has also been found to be helpful, and whether or not you do a lot of discussion or not, it's just that act of community helps a lot as well."
She adds many of these patrons took advantage of the state’s interlibrary system known as MeLCat to get enough copies of books for their groups.
