The books that are checked out most often from Atlanta's library system

The adult, young adult and children’s books that were checked out the most in 2018 and 2019 from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System

The most popular books checked out in 2019 from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Ownes “Becoming” by Michelle Obama  “Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover “An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones  “The Reckoning” by John Grisham “Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty “Past Tense” by Lee Child

Earlier this year, the New York Times set off a frenzy among book lovers in the city when they published a list of the most popular books ever checked out from the New York Public Library.

Which made us wonder: What are readers here in Atlanta checking out the most from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System?

Thanks to data from the library system, now we know. Although the local data wasn’t available for all time, here is a deep dive into what’s been most popular at the library in the last couple years, split up by adult, young adult and children’s books.

Overwhelmingly, readers checked out “Where the Crawdads Sing” more than anything else in the last two years. In 2019, it was checked out 836 times at from Fulton County Library System, which is almost twice as many times as 2018’s most popular library book.

The novel by Delia Owens was on the New York Times best seller list for 67 weeks. Being top sellers is a trait many of the popular library books share.

“Our patrons are definitely getting their reading suggestions from the New York Times best sellers list. All of the titles on these lists have at one time or another spent time on one best seller list or another,” Fulton County Library Executive Director, Gayle Hunter Holloman, said via email. “Our patrons do their homework and know what books they want to read when they come out. Oftentimes, we’ll have a full list of holds before the book has even hit the shelves.”

Owens’ novel is set here in the South. And it’s not the only Southern-inspired read to earn a spot on the top titles list.

Atlanta readers were also likely to check out “An American Marriage” by Atlanta author Tayari Jones, which was the fourth most popular adult book checked out in both 2019 and 2018.

“We always do our best to include regional authors in our collection. When we have a popular Southern writer that we can highlight in our branches, our patrons love it,” Holloman said.

Among young adult readers, anime, manga and graphic novels rule the day. In the last two years, “Naruto,” a Japnese manga series, by Masashi Kishimoto has been the most likely young adult read to fly off the library shelves.

While recent releases are more popular in the world of grown ups, kids (or those who read to them, anyway) still opt for the timeless classics. Of the 20-most-checked-out children’s books in 2019, 12 were penned by Dr. Seuss.

“Dr. Seuss will always top our most checked out books because he’s a classic,” Holloman said.

Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series also had a strong showing among youngsters.

Without futher ado, check out what books Atlantans are checking out.

Most checked out titles in 2019 and how many times they were checked out in the year: 

Adult

1. "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Ownes
Number of times checked out: 836

2. "Becoming" by Michelle Obama 
Number of times checked out: 545

3. "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover
Number of times checked out: 498

4. "An American Marriage" by Tayari Jones 
Number of times checked out: 460

5. "The Reckoning" by John Grisham
Number of times checked out: 448

6. "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty
Number of times checked out: 441

7. "Past Tense" by Lee Child
Number of times checked out: 429

8. "The Great Alone" by Kristin Hannah
Number of times checked out: 367

9. "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Number of times checked out: 353

10. "The Silent Patient" by Alex Michaelides
Number of times checked out: 344

11. "The Wedding Guest: An Alex Delaware Novel" by Jonathan Kellerman
Number of times checked out: 310

12. "The Woman in the Window" by A. J. Finn
Number of times checked out: 289

13. "Long Road to Mercy" by David Baldacci 
Number of times checked out: 287

14. "Liar Liar" by James Patterson 
Number of times checked out: 285

15. "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles
Number of times checked out: 271

16. "Winter in Paradise" by Elin Hilderbrand
Number of times checked out: 261

17. "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman
Number of times checked out: 260

17. "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris
Number of times checked out: 260

19. "Redemption" by David Baldacci 
Number of times checked out: 253

20. "The President Is Missing" by Bill Clinton 
Number of times checked out: 241

Novelist Tayari Jones poses for a portrait inside the lobby of the Emory University Conference Center Hotel, Thursday, January 25, 2018.  ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM

Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ

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Credit: ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJ

Young adult

 1. "Naruto" by Masashi Kishimoto 
Number of times checked out: 445

2. "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
Number of times checked out: 387

3. "My Hero Academia" by Kohei Horikoshi 
Number of times checked out: 265

4. "One Piece" (2003) by Eiichiro Oda 
Number of times checked out: 177

5. "Ms. Marvel" by G. Willow Wilson
Number of times checked out: 127

6. "Bleach" by Tite Kubo
Number of times checked out: 112

7. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Number of times checked out: 105

8. "One Piece" (1997) by Eiichiro Oda 
Number of times checked out: 102

9. "Maximum Ride" by NaRae Lee
Number of times checked out: 101

10. "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Number of times checked out: 97

11. "The Maze Runner" by  James Dashner 
Number of times checked out:  96

12. "Avengers" by Jonathan Hickman
Number of times checked out: 95

13. "Children of Blood and Bone" by Tomi Adeyemi
Number of times checked out: 94

14. "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
Number of times checked out: 93

15. "One Punch Man" by ONE
Number of times checked out: 90

16. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Number of times checked out: 89

17. "The Sun is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Number of times checked out: 85

18. "The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo
Number of times checked out: 83

19. "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Number of times checked out: 81

20. "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
Number of times checked out: 80

Children’s

1. "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 477

2. "Fox in Socks" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 460

3. "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss 
Number of times checked out: 422

4. "I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!" by Dr. Seuss 
Number of times checked out: 408

5. "Pokémon Adventures" (2013) by Hidenori Kusaka 
Number of times checked out: 394

6. "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 389

7. "Pokémon Adventures" (2009) by Hidenori Kusaka 
Number of times checked out: 365

8. "Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 355

9. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 354

10. "I Am Not Going to Get Up Today!" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 346

11. "There's a Wocket in My Pocket!"by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 343

12. "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?"  by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 340

13. "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 333

14. "Rocket The Brave!" by Tad Hills 
Number of times checked out: 326

15. "Oh Say Can You Say?" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 321

16. "Waiting Is Not Easy!" by  Mo Willems
Number of times checked out: 312

17."Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 289

17. "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 289

19. "I Lost My Tooth!"by Mo Willems
Number of times checked out: 287

20. "Brawl of the Wild"by Dav Pilkey
Number of times checked out: 285

HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

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Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Most checked out titles in 2018 and how many times they were checked out in the year: 

Adult

1. "The Woman in the Window" by A. J. Finn
Number of times checked out: 444

2. "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles
Number of times checked out: 365

3. "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
Number of times checked out: 325

4. "An American Marriage" by Tayari Jones 
Number of times checked out: 318

5. "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate
Number of times checked out: 272

6. "The Great Alone" by Kristin Hannah
Number of times checked out: 251

7. "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover
Number of times checked out: 245

8. "I've Got My Eyes on You" by Mary Higgins Clark
Number of times checked out: 238

9. "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine" by Gail Honeyman
Number of times checked out: 232

10. "Red Alert" by James Patterson
Number of times checked out: 230

11."All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Number of times checked out: 221

12. "The Fallen" by David Baldacci 
Number of times checked out: 215

13. "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Grann
Number of times checked out: 210

14. "Fifty Fifty" by Candice Fox and James Patterson
Number of times checked out: 208

15. "Unbound" by Stuart Woods
Number of times checked out: 197

16. "Shoot First (Think Later)" by Stuart Woods
Number of times checked out: 193

17. "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah
Number of times checked out: 192

18. "Night Moves" by Jonathan Kellerman
Number of times checked out: 185

19. "Surprise Me" by Sophie Kinsella
Number of times checked out: 184

20. "The Death of Mrs. Westaway" by Ruth Ware
Number of times checked out: 183

Young adult

1. "Naruto" by Masashi Kishimoto 
Number of times checked out: 296

2. "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
Number of times checked out: 255

3."One Piece" (2003) by Eiichiro Oda 
Number of times checked out: 146

4. "Ms. Marvel" by G. Willow Wilson
Number of times checked out: 132

5. "My Hero Academia" by Kohei Horikoshi 
Number of times checked out: 114

6. "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner 
Number of times checked out: 111

7. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Number of times checked out: 107

8. "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
Number of times checked out: 101

9."To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Number of times checked out: 98

10."Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
Number of times checked out: 97

10. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak
Number of times checked out: 97

12. "Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You" by Karuho Shiina
Number of times checked out: 95

13. "Children of Blood and Bone" by Tomi Adeyemi
Number of times checked out: 89

14. "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
Number of times checked out: 88

14. “The Devil Is a Part-Timer!” by Satoshi Wagahara

Number of times checked out: 88

16. "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
Number of times checked out: 87

17. "Tokyo Ghoul" by Sui Ishida
Number of times checked out: 86

18. "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
Number of times checked out: 85

19. "All-new X-Men" by Brian Michael Bendis
Number of times checked out: 84

20. "Long Way Down" by Jason Reynolds
Number of times checked out: 83

Courtesy of Rachel Daniels/Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System

Credit: Courtesy of Rachel Daniels/Atlan

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Credit: Courtesy of Rachel Daniels/Atlan

Children’s

1. "Pokémon Adventures" (2013) by Hidenori Kusaka 
Number of times checked out: 524

2. "Pokémon Adventures" (2009) by Hidenori Kusaka 
Number of times checked out: 471

3. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 407

4. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 390

5. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 372

6. "Bad Babysitter" by Jennifer L. Holm
Number of times checked out: 357

7. "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 348

8. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 344

8. "I Really Like Slop!" by Mo Willems
Number of times checked out: 344

10. "Waiting Is Not Easy!" by Mo Willems
Number of times checked out: 330

11."Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss 
Number of times checked out: 327

12. "LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu" by  Greg Farshtey
Number of times checked out: 326

12. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 326

14. "The Long Haul" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 307

15. "Pete the Cat and the Lost Tooth" by James Dean
Number of times checked out: 305

15. "Dog Man Unleashed" by Dav Pilkey
Number of times checked out: 305

17. "Fox in Socks" by Dr. Seuss
Number of times checked out: 303

18. "Cleopatra in Space" by Mike Maihack
Number of times checked out: 286

19. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw" by Jeff Kinney
Number of times checked out: 285

20. "Pete the Cat's Train Trip" by James Dean
Number of times checked out: 284