What print books were most popular with Chicago Public Library borrowers during 2024? We've published the annual lists for adult fiction, adult nonfiction, teen books and kids books. The lists are based on a combination of checkouts and hold requests and are presented in ranked order, with the most popular at the top, and usually they heavily feature recent titles with a sprinkling of new titles. Let's take a look at some of the freshest titles to break through into the ranks of our most popular books.
Adults
Fiction
The 2024 titles on the most popular adult fiction list includes (at #8) The Women by Kristin Hannah, who combines page-turning storytelling and sweeping historical backdrops. Her latest follows a young nurse who enlists to serve as an army nurse in the Vietnam War after her brother ships out to serve. Readers could not get enough. James by Percival Everett was another blockbuster of the year, one that united readers and critics and awards groups (so far it has won the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction, but awards season is only half over). The novel is a high point of a recent trend of fiction retellings, this one being the story of Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Jim. We named it one of our Top 10 books of the year.
Our most recent One Book, One Chicago selection, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, topped the fiction chart at #1 for the second year in a row, thanks partly to a boost from this ever-popular program. Past OBOC selection There There by Tommy Orange, came in third place, also boosted by the publication of a sequel/companion novel, Wandering Stars, that also published in 2024.
View the full list of the most popular adult fiction.
Nonfiction
The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (author of Chicago classic The Devil in the White City) was the top nonfiction book from 2024 book to chart on our most popular adult nonfiction list. It focuses on the months between President Abraham Lincoln's election and the attack on Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War, fittingly popular reading for the Land of Lincoln.
Speaking of the Midwest, one of our favorite Midwestern authors, Hanif Abdurraqib, who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, made the list with There's Always This Year, a memoir about sports and belonging and love for one's neighborhood and city. He shoots, and he scores! This one also found a place on our Top 10 books of the year list.
View the full list of the most popular adult nonfiction.
Teens
Fantasy and romance are two genre flavors that teens, like adults, love to experience together. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross is the first of a two-part story that includes just a dash of both. The gods are at war, using human armies to battle one another while two rival journalists fight to cover the story in an era of steam engines. The story concludes with Ruthless Vows.
Heartstopper volume #5 is another fairly recent publication to chart here. The sweet teen relationship drama is set to be ending with volume #6, so watch for that installment to chart whenever it publishes.
View the full list of the most popular books for teens.
Kids
The newest book to break onto our annual most popular books for kids list is the latest entry in a mega-popular series you have probably heard of, Dog Man. Hollywood has come knocking, and a Dog Man movie will be released at the end of this month. Catch up on the comic crime-fighting adventures of the part-dog, part-human police officer hero before the series get even more popular.
The movies also surely played a role in determining this year's top title on the list, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. This charming story of wildlife struggling to survive and a stranded robot looking to complete its mission far from the humans it was meant to serve is a charmer.
View the full list of the most popular books for kids.
More Suggestions
Check out last year's most popular books for comparison and keep up with the latest trends all year round with our regularly updated lists of the most popular books of the previous month.
Our book coverage goes far beyond what's most popular. Visit (and be sure to bookmark) our Books, Teens and Kids pages for expert staff picks, blogs and lists all year long. Check out our favorite books of 2024. And sign up for our email newsletters to have our reading suggestions delivered right to your inbox.
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