Do you know much about James Patterson? If so, you may be one of the many who have propelled the American thriller writer to the top of the UK's lending library chart.

As Charlotte Higgins writes today, Catherine Cookson, for years the most ­borrowed writer, has been comprehensively overshadowed by the giants of American popular fiction.

Cookson is still the 10th most borrowed author of the decade – largely due to the "astronomical" ­numbers in which her books were borrowed in the first half of the noughties, according to Jim Parker, the registrar of the Public Lending Right (PLR).

The top three adult authors for July 2008-June 2009 were all Americans: the thriller writer James ­Patterson, followed by the romantic novelists Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele. "She has fallen away completely," said Parker of Cookson. "It's partly down to the fact that when you stop producing books, you tend to fade away." Cookson died in 1998.

Thanks to the PLR, we have the full list for you - the top 250 most borrowed books from the UK's libraries for 2008/09. Can you do anything with the data?



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