Here’s some interesting stats from the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library: The books that residents of America’s ninth-brainest city checked out the most in 2010. According to JMRL, "over 1.2 million JMRL visitors checked out over 1.6 million books." That’s a lot of knowledge, yo.
The eight most widely circulated books about town were novels, with the number one slot going to U is for Undertow, the latest installment of Sue Grafton’s resilient alphabet series of mysteries. Two standalone novels, Virginia resident Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna and Kathryn Stockett’s hit debut novel The Help, hold down the second and third spots, respectively. And of course, this wouldn’t be a local list without a local name, and John Grisham’s first collection of short stories, Ford County, came in at number 10.
But 2010 may go down as the year that Charlottesville finally caught Stieg Larsson fever, with all three of the dead Swedish reporter’s thrillers ranking in the top 15. The list follows below.
1. U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton. (515 copies circulated)
2. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. (501 copies circulated)
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. (469 copies circulated)
4. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson. (432 copies circulated)
5. South of Broad by Pat Conroy. (375 copies circulated)
6. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. (373 copies circulated)
7. Nine Dragons Michael Connelly. (373 copies circulated)
8. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest by Stieg Larsson (371 copies circulated)
9. First Family by David Baldacci. (317 copies circulated)
10. Ford County by John Grisham. (302 copies circulated)
11. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (286 copies circulated)
12. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (281 copies circulated)
13. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (277 copies circulated)
14. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann
Shaffer & Annie Barrows. (276 copies circulated)
15. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (267 copies circulated)
What did you read in 2010?
