What Seattle Read in 2022: Most Popular Checkouts of the Year

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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 Library has you covered.

The most popular fiction book checked out from January through November 2022 was “The Sentence,” by Louise Erdrich. 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.

(Also be sure to see the Library’s most popular books of the year in visual form at “Your Checked-Out 2022.”)

10 most popular adult fiction physical books

1. The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich
2. The Maid, by Nita Prose
3. Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel
4. The Final Case, by David Guterson
5. The Swimmers, by Julie Otsuka
6. Book Lovers, by Emily Henry
7. One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle
8. This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub
9. Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt
10. The Candy House, by Jennifer Egan

10 most popular adult fiction e-books

1. The House of Broken Angels, by Luis Alberto Urrea
2. Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
3. The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave
4. Apples Never Fall, by Liane Moriarty
5. The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles
6. Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman
7. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by Victoria Schwab
8. The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah
9. The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig
10. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

10 most popular adult nonfiction physical books

1. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown
2. The Weekday Vegetarians, by Jenny Rosenstrach
3. From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life, by Arthur C. Brooks
4. Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention–and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann Hari
5. Happy-Go-Lucky, by David Sedaris
6. Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Offbeat and Overlooked History, by Susanna Ryan
7. Korean American: Food that Tastes Like Home, by Eric Kim
8. Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner
9. Grains for every Season: Rethinking our Way with Grains, by Joshua McFadden, with Martha Holmberg
10. Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk, by Sasha LaPointe

10 most popular adult nonfiction e-books

1. Crying in H Mart: a Memoir, by Michelle Zauner
2. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, by Lori Gottlieb
3. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience, by Brené Brown
4. Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover
5. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah
6. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear
7. I’m Glad My Mom Died, by Jennette McCurdy
8. Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, by Mary Roach
9. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessell A. Van Der Kolk
10. The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis

10 most popular adult e-audiobooks

1. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (read by the author)
2. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, by Brianna Wiest (read by Abby Craden)
3. Dune: Dune Series, Book 1, by Frank Herbert (read by Scott Brick)
4. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (read by Cassandra Campbell)
5. Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr (read by Marin Ireland and Simon Jones)
6. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life, by Mark Manson (read by Roger Wayne)
7. The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave (read by Rebecca Lowman)
8. The Guest List, by Lucy Foley (read by Jot Davies and others)
9. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, by James Clear (read by the author)
10. Anxious People, by Fredrik Backman (read by Marin Ireland)

Want more book inspiration? Check out our series of 2022 staff favorites for kids, teens and adults. 

Note: 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.

– Elisa M., Communications