What Toronto Read, Watched and Listened To in 2017

At Toronto Public Library, we really like maps. So when we saw this literary map of the world by Reddit user Backforward24, our first thought was: how would Toronto look decked out in all of its favourite reads? We calculated the most-borrowed book for nearly two dozen loosely defined neighbourhoods across the city, and came up with the map below:

The Most-Read Books Across Toronto, 2017

Select the book cover to see more information about the book and place a hold.

Books represented in the map, from left to right and top to bottom:

It was an eye-opening exercise: we didn't realize how handily last year's multiple award-winner Do Not Say We Have Nothing would dominate the city; we knew Toronto liked thrillers, but boy does Toronto like thrillers; and we're happy to see so many teens using the library to further their literary educations (as well as to build robots, learn leadership skills, and put on mind-blowing spoken word performances).



We also wanted to know what the most popular reads were for the city as a whole. To find out the top ten most-borrowed items for all of Toronto, read on:

Top Ten Lists:

These are the books practically everyone borrowed this year - the ones we couldn't keep on the shelves. Some of them were new, and some of them showed remarkable staying power. Looked at together, they paint a picture of a city striving to understand the larger world with all its complexity: looking for order, looking for meaning, looking for self-understanding and self-improvement... and looking for thrills.

Most Popular Nonfiction Books

The ten most-borrowed adult non-fiction trade books of 2017, based on circulation, are:



Check out the 100 most popular print books



Most Popular Adult Print Fiction Books

The 10 most-borrowed adult English print books of 2017, based on total circulation, are:

Check out the 100 most popular print books

Most Popular Nonfiction Ebooks

The most-borrowed nonfiction ebooks of 2017, based on downloads, are:





Most Popular Fiction Ebooks

The most-borrowed fiction ebooks of 2017, based on downloads, are:

Most Popular DVDs

The 10 most-borrowed DVDs of 2017, based on circulation, are:





Most Popular CDs

The most-borrowed CDs of 2017, based on circulation, are:

A list of the 500 most popular print fiction books is also available upon request by emailing media@torontopubliclibrary.ca.

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Media Contact:

Ana-Maria Critchley

Toronto Public Library

media@torontopubliclibrary.ca

416-393-7212