During the first six months of this year, the hot reads at the Baltimore County Public Library include a psychological thriller, an unprecedented royal memoir and a wimpy kid’s diary.
Author Jeff Kinney has been cranking out Diary of a Wimpy Kid books since 2007.
“It’s a classic,” said Sonia Alcántara-Antoine, the C.E.O of the Baltimore County Public Library. “It’s a perennial favorite.”
Kinney’s 2022 release, Diper Överlöde, tops the children's fiction list of most checked out titles so far this year, and two of his other books are in the top five.
Alcántara-Antoine said during summer break it’s important for children to keep reading, and just reading for fun is ok.
“It helps prevent the summer slide,” Alcántara-Antoine said. “It has been documented that when kids do not read over the summer they tend to lose some of the knowledge that they gained the previous school year.”
The top adult fiction checkout is David Baldacci’s psychological thriller Simply Lies. The adult non-fiction champ was one of the biggest books of 2023, Spare by Prince Harry.
“Baltimore County is a community of readers,” Alcántara-Antoine said. “We spend a lot of money on our collection and people use it.”
The most checked out titles from January-June 2024, including audio books, are:
Adult Fiction:
- Simply Lies by David Baldacci
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
- Someone Else’s Shoes by JoJo Moyes
- Happy Place by Emily Henry
Nonfiction: (not counting cookbooks)
- Spare by Prince Harry
- Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
- Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner
- The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson
Children Fiction:
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde by Jeff Kinney
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer by Jeff Kinney
- The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
- Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not So Posh Paris Adventure by Rachel Russell
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney
