Ottawa's most borrowed books of 2023
It's been a busy year for the Ottawa Public Library.
From a royal's memoir to a book by a celebrated Quebec author, readers enjoyed getting lost in the pages of everything from thrillers to tales of love and even a graphic novel about the oil sands.
It was also a big year for women authors, and francophone titles.
Here's a look at the most borrowed books of 2023:
Topping the English-language adult list was Spare by Prince Harry. The royal's tell-all memoir delves into the privilege and trauma he endured growing up in the spotlight of one of the most famous families in the world.
Prince Harry's memoir Spare is offered for sale at a Barnes & Noble store on January 10, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. The book went on sale in the United States today. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Next up is a book that made the library's most requested for a second year in a row. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus looks at a woman, a chemist by trade, who ends up starring in a popular cooking show, where she puts her chemistry know-how to use.
Number three on the list is another by a female author. Barbara Kingsolver was the co-recipient of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for Demon Copperhead, a novel that delves into the world of a boy living in poverty in Virginia as he navigates living in foster homes, addiction and child labour.
Rounding out the top 10 adult book list are:
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton
Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
Everyone Here is Lying by Shari LaPena
When it comes to francophone books, Que notre joie demeure by Kevin Lambert tops the list of most borrowed books in the city.
The novel, which deals with the housing crisis, was also the most borrowed book from the Grande Bibliothèque de Montréal in 2023. The book was nominated for this year's Goncourt Prize.
Que notre joie demeure by Kevin Lambert was the most borrowed French-language book in Ottawa in 2023. (Jérémy Laniel/Radio-Canada)
It's followed by Rose à l'île, by the illustrator and cartoonist Michel Rabagliati and then Veiller sur elle, by French author Jean-Baptiste Andrea, who ended up winning the Goncourt Prize.
Rounding out the top 10 most borrowed francophone books in Ottawa were:
Qimmik by Michel Jean
La vie de ma mère by Nathalie Petrowski
Les angoisses de ma prof de chinois by Jean-François Lépine
Je ferai le tour du monde by Alexandra Szacka
Psychopompe by Amélie Nothomb
L'Arabe du futur by Riad Sattouf
Les vents contraires by Louise Tremblay d'Essiambre
When it comes to teen fiction, A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson sat at number one, while The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was the most-requested book series in French.
