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:
- The Couple Next Door
- Animal Farm
- The Twenty-Three
- Do Not Say We Have Nothing
- To Kill A Mockingbird
- The Alchemist
- The Girl on the Train
- The Whistler
- The Wrong Side of Goodbye
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
15 thoughts on “What Toronto Read, Watched and Listened To in 2017”
Thanks for this post.
I really enjoyed reading Trevor Noah’s book and Linwood Barclay’s “The Twenty-Three.”
I am waiting for the manga version of “The Life- Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” 🙂
Thanks so much for the lists, it gives me new books to read for the whole next year!
Great post, thank you!
Any chance you can list what neighbourhoods specifically took out each book? The map isn’t the clearest, and I have to draw on memory to figure out which neighbourhood borrowed which book.
That’s great! Happy reading!
Thanks!
Needed to compose you a very little word to thank you yet again regarding the nice suggestions you’ve contributed here.
I’m an avid audiobook listener so I’d really like to see a list of the top 10 most borrowed e-audiobooks for 2017!
Hi Paula,
Your wish is my command! Note that many of these are “always available” – i.e., you never have to place them on hold; you can just download and go:
Here are the top 10 fiction audio titles:
1984 (always available audio title)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (always available audio title)
Brave New World (always available audio title)
My Brilliant Friend (always available audio title)
The Nest
The Couple Next Door
All the Light We cannot see
Gone Girl
Everything I Never Told You (always available audio)
Man Called Ove
Here are the top 10 nonfiction audio titles:
You Are a Badass (always available audio)
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (always available audio)
Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up (always available audio)
Zookeeper’s Wife (always available…)
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo
Daring Greatly (always available…)
The Subtle Art of Not Give a F*ck
The 4-Hour Workweek (always available…)
Why Not Me
A Long Way Home (always available…)
Thanks!!
Thanks, Elsa! Oooh – I didn’t know there would *be* a manga version! Sign me up…
Hi Joyce,
Here you go:
Beaches-East York: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Davenport: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Don Valley East: To Kill A Mockingbird
Don Valley West: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Eglinton-Lawrence: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Etobicoke Centre: The Couple Next Door
Etobicoke Lakeshore: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Etobicoke North: The Couple Next Door
Parkdale-High Park: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Scarborough Centre: The Girl On The Train
Scarborough East: The Whistler
Scarborough Agincourt: To Kill A Mockingbird
Scarborough Rouge River: The Alchemist
Scarborough Southwest: The Wrong Side of Goodbye
St. Paul’s: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Toronto Centre-Rosedale: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Toronto Danforth: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Trinity-Spadina: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Willowdale: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
York Centre: Do Not Say We Have Nothing
York South-Weston: The Twenty-Three
York West: Animal Farm
Love this post! Thanks so much. Excited to read these books now.
Toronto sure loves Tom Hanks movies! Hahaha. Love the lists, looking forward to checking out some of these books this year. 🙂
Mindblowing blog.Its pleasure to read all books.And very thankful to u to make me engaged for the upcoming whole year.