Allen County Public Library's Top Books Of 2016

More than 250,000 people have library cards at the Allen County Public Library, and more than 65,000 people used their library cards last year.

Many of the top books in adult, teen and juvenile fiction were recently made into movies, says Sara Joiner, who works in the library’s youth collection. The top four teen fiction books of 2016 are now movies: The Maze Runner, and the three books of the Divergent trilogy.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series takes the top six spots in kids fiction books of 2016. The top adult fiction book of 2016 was The Girl on the Train.

Joiner says the library can usually plan for these trends, but sometimes a book is a surprise hit.

“You just roll with it. You just go, ‘Whoops!’ Well, we either (have to) go back and just pick up some new copies, or purchase some more because it was a sleeper hit that we didn’t realize was going to be a sleeper hit. Those kinds of things happen,” Joiner said.

Joiner says sometimes a book becomes popular because it has an eye-catching cover, or it’s on a local book club reading list and checkouts increase, like the book Wild did last month. Harry Potter books have also seen a surprise increase in readership, despite being nearly 20 years old. Joiner thinks that’s because a spin-off movie was recently released, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

With the election last year, it’s no surprise to Joiner that the third most popular adult nonfiction in 2016 was Crisis of Character, a book about Hillary and Bill Clinton that is popular among conservatives.

Books about Indiana’s bicentennial and about Alexander Hamilton also topped the list, as Indiana celebrated its 200th birthday and a Broadway musical about the founding father became a sensation.

Here’s a look at more of the top books of 2016, with links to reviews and articles from NPR:

Adult Fiction

1. The Girl On the Train – Paula Hawkins
2. See Me – Nicholas Sparks
3. The Last Mile – David Baldacci
4. Rogue Lawyer – John Grisham
5. Tricky Twenty-two – Janet Evanovich
6. 15th Affair – James Patterson
7. Fool Me Once – Harlan Coben
8. The Obsession – Nora Roberts
9. NYPD Red 4 – James Patterson
10. Cross Justice – James Patterson

Adult Nonfiction

1. The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing – Marie Kondo
2. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
3. Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate – Gary J. Byrne
4. Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up – Marie Kondo
5. The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom – Melissa Hartwig
6. Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology – Leah Remini
7. Indiana Bicentennial – Bob Ostrander
8. Alexander Hamilton – Ron Chernow
9. The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Love, and Loss – Anderson Cooper
10. Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency – Bill O’Reilly

Teen Fiction

1. Divergent – Veronica Roth
2. The Maze Runner – James Dashner
3. Insurgent – Veronica Roth
4. Allegiant – Veronica Roth
5. The Infinite Sea – Rick Yancey
6. Four: A Divergent Collection – Veronica Roth
7. Paper Towns – John Green
8. Lady Midnight – Cassandra Clare
9. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
10. The Fault In Our Stars – John Green

Teen Nonfiction

1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two – Jack Thorne
2. Guinness World Records
3. Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition
4. Minecraft Combat Handbook – Stephanie Milton
5. Marvel Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the Marvel Universe
6. The Ultimate Player’s Guide to Minecraft – Stephen J. O’Brien
7. 101 Movies to See Before You Grow Up: Be Your Own Movie Critic—The Must-see Movie List for Kids – Suzette Valle
8. Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods – Rick Riordan
9. Cracking the ACT
10. The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire: The World of Dan and Phil – Dan Howell & Phil Lester

Juvenile Fiction

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School – Jeff Kinney
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul – Jeff Kinney
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck – Jeff Kinney
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth – Jeff Kinney
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever – Jeff Kinney
6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days – Jeff Kinney
7. Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter – Rachel Renee Russell
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel – Jeff Kinney
9. The Thank You Book – Mo Willems
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Jeff Kinney

Juvenile Nonfiction

1. Minecraft Combat Handbook – Stephanie Milton
2. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two – Jack Thorne
3. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! – Mary Packard
4. Minecraft Essential Handbook – Stephanie Milton
5. Minecraft Construction Handbook – Matthew Needler
6. Old MacDonald Had a Farm – James Dean
7. Minecraft Redstone Handbook – Nick Farwell
8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Incredible Cross-sections – Jason Fry
9. Lego Awesome Ideas – Daniel Lipkowitz
10. Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary – Pablo Hidalgo