Since 2018, over 1 billion books - and counting! - have been checked out in the Libby app from libraries around the world. Now that’s a lot of reading. With digital reading on the rise and library patrons borrowing more books than ever before, we wondered: “What was everybody reading this year?” It’s expected that some of the most popular books from 2023 were shiny new releases, but many older and beloved favorites topped the list to reflect trends, current events and reading tastes.

Covering a broad range of genres from riveting memoirs to spicy romance, let’s take a look at the top ebooks, audiobooks and magazines everybody’s been borrowing this year in Libby. The lists are based on the highest circulating titles at 16,000 libraries in North America through the Libby app.

Most borrowed ebooks

🥇 Fiction
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Happy Place by Emily Henry

🥇 Nonfiction
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

🥇 Romance
Verity by Colleen Hoover
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

🥇 Mystery & Thriller
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham
Desert Star by Michael Connelly

🥇 Science Fiction & Fantasy
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

🥇 Historical Fiction
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

🥇 Biography & Memoir
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry

🥇 YA Series
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

🥇 Juvenile Series
Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Baby-Sitters Club Graphix by Ann M. Martin
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
I Survived by Lauren Tarshis

🥇 Comics
Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Baby-Sitters Club Graphix by Ann M. Martin
Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

🥇 Cooking & Food
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
From Scratch by Tembi Locke
Taste by Stanley Tucci
Go-To Dinners by Ina Garten

🥇 History
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
The Wager by David Grann
American Prometheus by Kai Bird
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

🥇 Debut
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
Maame by Jessica George
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul
Go as a River by Shelley Read

Most borrowed audiobooks

🥇 Fiction
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

🥇 Nonfiction
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Atomic Habits by James Clear
101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

🥇 Romance
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

🥇 Mystery & Thriller
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
You Shouldn’t Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

🥇 Science Fiction & Fantasy
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Dune by Frank Herbert
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

🥇 Historical Fiction
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

🥇 Biography & Memoir
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
Educated by Tara Westover

🥇 YA Series
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

🥇 Juvenile Series
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland

🥇 Cooking & Food
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Taste by Stanley Tucci
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
Your Table is Ready by Michael Cecchi-Azzolina
Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli

🥇 History
Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
American Prometheus by Kai Bird
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
The Wager by David Grann

🥇 Debut
The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes
Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
Maame by Jessica George
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

Most borrowed magazines

The New Yorker
Us Weekly
Woman's World
Prevention
New Scientist
Cook's Illustrated
National Geographic Magazine
The Week Magazine
Good Housekeeping
HELLO! magazine

Most borrowed genres

• Fiction
• Literature
• Romance
• Thriller
• Nonfiction
• Suspense
• Mystery
• Fantasy
• Historical Fiction
• Juvenile Fiction

Get in on the action and borrow one - or many! - of these books for free from your library on Libby. All you need is a library card to get started.