What Seattle read in 2022: The Seattle Public Library's most checked-out books of the year
release date: December 27, 2022
Curious about which books Seattle’s insatiable readers turned to in 2022? Need a little inspiration for that 2023 book list you’re already making? The Seattle Public Library has you covered.
The most popular fiction book checked out from The Seattle Public Library from January through November 2022 was The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich. It’s a novel about a Minneapolis bookstore haunting and much more set in 2020, a “year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.” The most checked out e-novel was The House of Broken Angels by renowned Mexican-American author Luis Alberto Urrea, the selection for the Library’s 2022 Seattle Reads program. Seattle’s community of e-audiobook listeners checked out Braiding Sweetgrass, read by author Robin Wall Kimmerer, more than any other e-audiobook.
Several books by Northwest authors also ranked high in popularity in 2022, including Secret Seattle, by Library staff member Susanna Ryan; Red Paint, by Coast Salish author Sasha LaPointe; The Final Case, by David Guterson; and Grains for every Season, by Oregon chef Joshua McFadden (with Martha Holmberg).
Here are the other most popular fiction and nonfiction books, e-books and e-audiobooks among Library patrons last year. Please note that these lists were compiled from anonymous checkout data collected from January 1 through November 30, 2022.
THE LIBRARY’S 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT FICTION PHYSICAL BOOKS
- The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
- The Maid, by Nita Prose
- Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Final Case, by David Guterson
- The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
- Book Lovers, by Emily Henry
- One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle
- This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub
- Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
- The Candy House, by Jennifer Egan
THE LIBRARY’S 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT FICTION E-BOOKS
- The House of Broken Angels, by Luis Alberto Urrea
- Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
- The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave
- Apples Never Fall, by Liane Moriarty
- The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles
- Anxious People, by Fredrik Bachman
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by Victoria Schwab
- The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah
- The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
THE LIBRARY’S 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT NONFICTION PHYSICAL BOOKS
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown
- The Weekday Vegetarians, by Jenny Rosenstrach
- From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, by Arthur C. Brooks
- Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention--and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari
- Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris
- Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the City's Offbeat and Overlooked History, by Susanna Ryan
- Korean American: Food that Tastes Like Home, by Eric Kim
- Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner
- Grains for every Season: Rethinking our Way with Grains, by Joshua McFadden, with Martha Holmberg
- Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk, by Sasha LaPointe
THE LIBRARY’S 10 MOST POPULAR ADULT NONFICTION E-BOOKS
- Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner
- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, by Lori Gottlieb
- Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown
- Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah
- Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear
- I'm Glad My Mom Died, by Jeanette McCurdy
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessell A. Van Der Kolk
- The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis
THE LIBRARY’S MOST POPULAR E-AUDIOBOOKS
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (read by the author)
- 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, by Brianna Wiest (read by Abby Craden)
- Dune: Dune Series, Book 1, by Frank Herbert (read by Scott Brick)
- Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (read by Cassandra Campbell)
- Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr (read by Marin Ireland and Simon Jones)
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, by Mark Manson (read by Roger Wayne)
- The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave (read by Rebecca Lowen)
- The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (read by Jot Davies and others)
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear (read by the author)
- Anxious People, by Fredrik Bachman (read by Marin Ireland)
MORE INFORMATION
The Library believes that the power of knowledge improves people's lives. We promote literacy and a love of reading as we bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and build community.
Statistical summaries of our collections and circulation for the full year will be posted in our 2022 Impact Report in early 2023 at www.spl.org/impact.
Contact the Library’s Ask Us service by phone at 206-386-4636 or by email or chat at www.spl.org/Ask. Staff are ready to answer questions and direct you to helpful resources and information.