What Seattle read in 2022: The Seattle Public Library’s most checked-out books

Kenneth Palmer

Curious about which books Seattle’s insatiable readers turned to in 2022? Need a little inspiration for that 2023 book list?

The most popular fiction book checked out from The Seattle Public Library from January through November 2022 was “The Sentence,” by Louise Erdrich. It’s a novel about a Minneapolis bookstore haunting and much more set in 2020, a “year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.” The most checked out e-novel was “The House of Broken Angels,” by renowned Mexican-American author Luis Alberto Urrea, the selection for the Library’s 2022 Seattle Reads program. Seattle’s community of e-audiobook listeners checked out “Braiding Sweetgrass,” read by author Robin Wall Kimmerer, more than any other e-audiobook.

Several books by Northwest authors also ranked high in popularity in 2022, including “Secret Seattle,” by Library staff member Susanna Ryan; “Red Paint,” by Coast Salish author Sasha LaPointe; The Final Case, by David Guterson; and “Grains for every Season,” by Oregon chef Joshua McFadden (with Martha Holmberg).

Here are the other most popular fiction and nonfiction books, e-books and e-audiobooks among Library patrons last year. Please note that these lists were compiled from anonymous checkout data collected from Jan. 1 through Nov. 30, 2022.

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT FICTION PHYSICAL BOOKS

The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich

The Maid, by Nita Prose

Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel

The Final Case, by David Guterson

The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka

Book Lovers, by Emily Henry

One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle

This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub

Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

The Candy House, by Jennifer Egan

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT FICTION E-BOOKS

The House of Broken Angels, by Luis Alberto Urrea

Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr

The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave

Apples Never Fall, by Liane Moriarty

The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles

Anxious People, by Fredrik Bachman

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by Victoria Schwab

The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah

The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT NONFICTION PHYSICAL BOOKS

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown

The Weekday Vegetarians, by Jenny Rosenstrach

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, by Arthur C. Brooks

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari

Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris

Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Offbeat and Overlooked History, by Susanna Ryan

Korean American: Food that Tastes Like Home, by Eric Kim

Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner

Grains for every Season: Rethinking our Way with Grains, by Joshua McFadden, with Martha Holmberg

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk, by Sasha LaPointe

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT NONFICTION E- BOOKS

Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, by Lori Gottlieb

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown

Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah

Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear

I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jeanette McCurdy

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessell A. Van Der Kolk

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis

THE MOST POPULAR E-AUDIOBOOKS

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (read by the author)

101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, by Brianna Wiest (read by Abby Craden)

Dune: Dune Series, Book 1, by Frank Herbert (read by Scott Brick)

Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (read by Cassandra Campbell)

Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr (read by Marin Ireland and Simon Jones)

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, by Mark Manson (read by Roger Wayne)

The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave (read by Rebecca Lowen)

The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (read by Jot Davies and others)

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear (read by the author)

Anxious People, by Fredrik Bachman (read by Marin Ireland)

MORE INFORMATION

Statistical summaries of the Library’s collections and circulation for the full year will be posted in the 2022 Impact Report in early 2023 at spl.org/impact.

Contact the Library’s Ask Us service by phone at 206-386-4636 or by email or chat at www.spl.org/Ask. Staff are ready to answer questions and direct people to helpful resources and information.

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