Metro Vancouver's most borrowed library books of 2018

Book lovers, rejoice! It's time for CBC Vancouver's annual reveal of the 10 most borrowed library books — now with data from more cities.

For the past few years, CBC Vancouver has revealed the Vancouver Public Library's most borrowed books. This year, we've extended our efforts to include data from Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey.

Another first is that we've divided the lists between print and e-books to see if there are any notable differences in the data (except for Richmond, which wasn't able to separate the data.) And behold, there are.

Kay Cahill, acting director of collections and technology at the Vancouver Public Library, said the top fiction e-books tend to skew toward genre fiction like crime and mystery novels.

Cahill said another difference is that e-book readers are a bit younger than the most avid library patrons, who tend to borrow more books as they get older.

"It's hard to know if that will continue over time," Cahill said. 

But librarians like Cahill are quick to point out that libraries have a more limited collection of e-books because they cost more and they're not always made available to libraries. 

That means the comparison may not be entirely fair, as different libraries may choose to spend their limited collections budgets on different items. 

Miriam Moses, technical services manager at the Burnaby Public Library, said another aspect that makes it difficult to compare print and e-book borrowing is that some items may also be part of special programming at some branches, like book clubs.

Moses pointed out that audio books are not captured in these lists, though demand for the format seems to be growing exponentially.

Whereas demand for e-books has plateaued, Moses said library patrons can't seem to get enough of e-audio books these days — and the most popular titles are different from e-books. 

"There's kind of a level of story that people seem to be really interested to consume by audio," she said.

It's a comment worth noting for next year. (Challenge accepted — Ed.) In the meantime, here are the most borrowed library books of 2018:

Adult fiction, print

Burnaby:

1. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
2. Origin, Dan Brown
3. The Woman in the Window, A. J. Finn
4. Midnight Line: A Jack Reacher Novel, Lee Child
5. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
6. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
7. Two Kinds of Truth, Michael Connelly
8. The Fallen, David Baldacci
9. The President is Missing, Bill Clinton and James Patterson
10. Surprise Me, Sophie Kinsella

Richmond (includes print and e-books):

1. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
2. Origin, Dan Brown
3. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
4. The Fallen, David Baldacci
5. End Game, David Baldacci
6. The Midnight Line, Lee Child
7. Two Kinds of Truth, Michael Connelly
8. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
9. Surprise Me, Sophie Kinsella
10. Night Moves, Jonathan Kellerman

Surrey:

1. The Midnight Line, Lee Child
2. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
3. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
4. Two Kinds of Truth, Michael Connelly
5. Great Alone, Kristin Hannah
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. 1984, George Orwell
8. Camino Island, John Grisham
9. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
10. Late Show, Michael Connelly

Vancouver:

1. The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware
2. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
3. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
4. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
5. Indian Horse, Richard Wagamese
6. Call Me by Your Name, Andre Aciman
7. Rather be the Devil, Ian Rankin
8. Still Life, Louise Penny
9. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
10. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

Adult fiction, e-books

Burnaby:

1. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
2. Rogue Lawyer, John Grisham
3. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
4. Me Before You, Jojo Moyes
5. A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
6. The Child, Fiona Barton
7. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. The Widow, Fiona Barton
10. The Racketeer, John Grisham

Richmond (includes print and e-books):

1. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
2. Origin, Dan Brown
3. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
4. The Fallen, David Baldacci
5. End Game, David Baldacci
6. The Midnight Line, Lee Child
7. Two Kinds of Truth, Michael Connelly
8. The Woman in the Window, A.J. Finn
9. Surprise Me, Sophie Kinsella
10. Night Moves, Jonathan Kellerman

Surrey:

1. The Midnight Line, Lee Child
2. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
3. The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks
4. The Whistler, John Grisham
5. Two Kinds of Truth, Michael Connelly
6. The Woman in the Window, A. J. Finn
7. Camino Island, John Grisham
8. Late Show, Michael Connelly
9. Origin, Dan Brown
10. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

Vancouver:

1. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
2. Origin, Dan Brown
3. The Rooster Bar, John Grisham
4. Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
5. Camino Island, John Grisham
6. Two Kinds of Truth, Michael Connelly
7. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
8. The Late Show, Michael Connelly
9. Glass Houses, Louise Penny
10. Rich People Problems, Kevin Kwan

Non-fiction, print

Burnaby:

1. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolff
2. A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, James Comey
3. The Subtle Art of not Giving a F**k, Mark Manson
4. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter, Margareta Magnusson
5. Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover
6. Fear: Trump in the White House, Bob Woodward
7. The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away my Belongings and Discovered Life is Worth More than Anything You Can Buy in a Store, Cait Flanders
8. 5 Ingredients: Quick Easy Food, Jamie Oliver
9. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan B. Peterson
10. Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone, Brene C. Brown

Richmond (includes print and e-books):

1. Xue xi jing ming jia shi : zui zhi de nin xin lai de an quan jia shi zhi nan : fu jia shi mo ni kao ti 
2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolff
3. Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Scott Publishing Company
4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo
5. Fear: Trump in the White House, Bob Woodward
6. Discover Canada: the rights and responsibilities of citizenship study guide, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
7. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan B. Peterson
8. A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, James Comey
9. Japan, Lonely Planet
10. Barron's Essential Words for the IELTS, Lin Lougheed

Vancouver:

1. Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman
2. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain
3. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Charles Duhigg
4. What Color is Your Parachute, Richard Nelson Bolles
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
6. The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America, Thomas King
7. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead, Brene Brown
8. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, Stephen R. Covey
9. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol S. Dweck
10. Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell

Non-fiction, e-book

Burnaby:

1. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolff
2. Flat Broke with Two Goats: A memoir, Jennifer McGaha
3. The Subtle Art of not Giving a F**k, Mark Manson
4. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race, Margot Lee Shetterly
5. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
6. Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur
7. The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods that Cause Disease and Weight Gain, Stephen Gundry
8. Hillbilly Elegy, J. D. Vance
9. The Glass Castle: A Memoir, Jeanette Walls
10. A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal, Jan Waite

Richmond (includes print and e-books):

1. Xue xi jing ming jia shi : zui zhi de nin xin lai de an quan jia shi zhi nan : fu jia shi mo ni kao ti 
2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolff
3. Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Scott Publishing Company
4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo
5. Fear: Trump in the White House, Bob Woodward
6. Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship Study Guide, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
7. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan B. Peterson
8. A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, James Comey
9. Japan, Lonely Planet
10. Barron's Essential Words for the IELTS, Lin Lougheed

Vancouver:

1. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo
2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Michael Wolff
3. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
4. The Subtle Art of not Giving a F**k (unabridged), Mark Manson
5. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval N. Harari
6. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House (unabridged), Michael Wolff
7. The Subtle Art of not Giving a F**k, Mark Manson
8. Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover
9. Born a Crime, Trevor Noah
10. 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan B. Peterson

Young adult fiction, print

Burnaby:

1. Turtles all the Way Down, John Green
2. To all the Boys I've Loved Before, Jenny Han
3. The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
4. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
5. Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
6. A Court of Frost and Starlight, Sarah Maas
7. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
8. P S I Still Love You, Jenny Han
9. Always and Forever, Lara Jean, Jenny Han
10. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

Richmond (includes print and e-books):

1. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
2. The Giver, Lois Lowry
3. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard
4. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
5. Legend, Marie Lu
6. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
7. Student Notes and Problems. Physics 12 Workbook, Castle Rock Research
8. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
9. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
10. Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell

Vancouver:

1. Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
2. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
3. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
4. The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton
5. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
6. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
7. Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
8. The Maze Runner, James Dashner
9. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
10. The Giver, Lois Lowry

Young adult fiction, e-book

Burnaby:

1. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
2. The Giver, Lois Lowry
3. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli
4. The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
6. The Maze Runner, James Dashner
7. The Selection, Kiera Cass
8. The Elite, Kiera Cass
9. Divergent, Veronica Roth
10. Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell

Richmond (includes print and e-books):

1. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
2. The Giver, Lois Lowry
3. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard
4. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
5. Legend, Marie Lu
6. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
7. Student Notes and Problems. Physics 12 Workbook, Castle Rock Research
8. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
9. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins
10. Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell

Vancouver:

1. Turtles all the Way Down, John Green
2. The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
3. The Girl with the Red Balloon, Katherine Locke
4. The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline
5. La Belle Sauvage, Phillip Pullman
6. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
7. A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas
8. Empire of Storms, Sarah J. Maas
9. Tower of Dawn, Sarah J. Maas
10. Throne of Glass, Sarah J. Maas