Ketchikan's favorite reads, 2019

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, January 2020; written by Pat Tully

The New York Public Library (NYPL) recently came out with its list of the most popular books of all time. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats was on top with over 485,000 checkouts from NYPL since the book was published in 1962. Not to be outdone, we have come up with Ketchikan’s most popular books for adults, teens, and children in 2019.

Adult books: In fiction, Ketchikan’s most popular books were by established authors. One exception was first-time author Delia Owens, whose novel Where the crawdads sing checked out of Ketchikan Public Library more often than any other adult book in 2019. Tara Westover’s coming-of-age memoir Educated was the most popular non-fiction title. Rounding out Ketchikan’s most popular adult books of the year:

• Past tense, by Lee Child.

• The reckoning, by John Grisham.

• The great alone, by Kristin Hannah.

• The A list, by J.A. Jance.

• Edible mushrooms of Alaska, by Judy Hall Jacobson.

• Simply keto, by Suzanne Ryan.

• Girl, wash your face, by Rachel Hollis.

• Yoga body & mind handbook, by Jasmine Tarkeshi.

Large Print: The Library has an extensive collection of books in large print format, which many people find easier to read than books in regular print. The most popular large print books in Ketchikan last year were:

• The A list, by J.A. Jance.

• Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan.

• The great alone, by Kristin Hannah.

• Wish you well, by David Baldacci.

• Night and day, by Iris Johansen.

• The lost girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff

• The lake house, by Kate Morton.

• I.M.: a memoir, by Isaac Mizrahi.

• Heartland, by Sarah Smarsh.

• Beneath a scarlet sky, by Mark Sullivan.

Teen books: The most popular titles among Ketchikan’s teens last year were manga series. Manga is a style of comic books and graphic novels which originated in Japan. Hunter x hunter by Yoshihiro Tagashi was by far the most popular with 129 checkouts of this 36-book series. Other popular teen titles were:

• Scooby apocalypse, by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis.

• Flame of Recca, story and art by Nobuyuki Anzai.

• The promised Neverland, story by Kaiu Shirai ; art by Posuka Demiz.

• Dragon ball super, story by Akira Toriyama ; art by Toyotarou.

• Vampire knight, story & art by Matsuri Hino.

• Boruto: Naruto next generations, creator & supervisor, Masashi Kishimoto.

• Xxxholic, by CLAMP (Mangaka group).

• Land of the Lustrous, by Haruko Ichikawa.

• Kodocha: Sana's stage, written and illustrated by Miho Obana.

Children’s books: In Ketchikan, Elephant and Piggie rule! Author Mo Willems’ easy readers featuring Elephant and Piggie took five of the ten top slots for most popular children’s books in Ketchikan. The other five most popular children’s books were:

• Guinness world records.

• The ultimate unofficial encyclopedia for Minecrafters, by Megan Miller.

• Diary of an awesome friendly kid, by Jeff Kinney.

• Diary of a wimpy kid: the long haul, by Jeff Kinney.

• The ultimate player's guide to Minecraft, by Stephen O'Brien.

If you want to curl up with a good book this winter, try one of these Ketchikan favorites!