These Were the DC Area’s Most Popular Library Books in 2023

It’s that time of year when our local library systems share their most popular books from the past twelve months, providing what’s perhaps a glimpse into our collective psyche.

According to the data, many of us spent 2023 entranced by the fictional story of a chemist-turned-cooking show host (Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus), the real-life confessions of a media savvy prince (Spare by Prince Harry), and the Pulitzer Prize–winning tale of Appalachian poverty (Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver). Those three books—along with Gabrielle Zevin‘s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Emily Henry‘s Happy Place—all made appearances on the most-loaned lists shared by DC Public Library, Montgomery County Public Libraries, and Arlington Public Library.

Meanwhile, Prince George’s County Memorial Library, according to the data it shared, was a bit of an outlier. While several of the aforementioned titles were also popular with readers there, it was the only system (out of the ones noted above) to have John Grisham’s The Boys from Biloxi and Geraldine Brooks’s Horse at or near the top of its adult fiction list. (Prince George’s was also seemingly quite interested in self-improvement, with Douglas Downing’s Algebra: The Easy Way, Greg Harvey’s Excel 2019 All-in-One for Dummies, and several cooking books making its top ten list in adult nonfiction.)

Here are the other titles that graced readers hands this year. May they guide your 2024 reading bucket list:

DC Public Library

Top 10 Adult Titles (Fiction):

1. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
3. Happy Place by Emily Henry
4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
5. Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
6. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
7. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
8. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
9. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
10. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Top 10 Adult Titles (Nonfiction):

1. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
2. Spare by Prince Harry
3. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
4. Stay True by Hua Hsu
5. The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama
6. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
7. All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks
8. An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
9. Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
10. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Arlington Public Library

Top 20 Adult Titles (Fiction and Nonfiction):

1. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
2. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
3. Spare by Prince Harry
4. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
5. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
6. Happy Place by Emily Henry
7. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
8. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
10. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
11. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
12. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
13. It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
    
14. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
15. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
16. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
    
17. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
18. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
19. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
20. Verity by Colleen Hoover

Montgomery County Public Libraries

Top 10 Adult Titles (Fiction and Nonfiction):

1. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
3. Spare by Prince Harry
4. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
5. Happy Place by Emily Henry
6. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
7. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
8. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
9. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
10. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Prince George’s County Memorial Library

Top 10 Adult Titles (Fiction):

1. The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham
2. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
3. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
4. A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
5. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
6. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
7. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
8. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
9. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
10. The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

Top 10 Adult Titles (Nonfiction):

1. Algebra: The Easy Way by Douglas Downing
2. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
4. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
5. The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
6. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat
7. Pre-Algebra: The Easy Way by Caryl Lorandini
8. Excel 2019 All-in-One for Dummies by Greg Harvey
9. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A. Van der Kolk
10. Tied for tenth place:
    • Python in Easy Steps by Mike McGrath
    • How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
    • 30-Minute Frugal Vegan Recipes: Fast, Flavorful Plant-Based Meals on a Budget by Melissa Copeland
    • Instant Pot Fast & Easy: 100 Simple and Delicious Recipes for Your Instant Pot by Urvashi Pitre

Note: This article has been updated with additional data from Prince George’s County Memorial Library.

Jessica Ruf

Assistant Editor