Most borrowed books of 2021 revealed
Ryan Taylor
Shetland Library has released lists of the most popular books of 2021.
The most borrowed adult fiction book was Booker prize winning Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stewart, the story of a boy growing up in Glasgow with his alcoholic mother.
It beat runaway best seller The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman into second place.
Third was Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Ann Cleeves, who topped the fiction chart for many years, was still lending well with The Long Call, the first of her new series set in Devon.
In non-fiction,Barack and Michelle Obama tied for first place with their respective autobiographies.
Meanwhile, Tamsin Mori topped the Shetland lending chart with The Weather Weaver, a young adult novel that has been popular in Shetland’s schools.
Marsali Taylor, who publishes two ‘Cass Lynch’ mysteries each year, had three books in the Shetland top ten.
David Cockayne’s Shetland for Bairns got third place.
Many books on the Shetland chart are perennial favourites, and lending is said to have increased since the move to the new library.
The junior fiction chart was dominated by four authors – Dave Pilkey, Jeff Kinney, David Walliams and Liz Pichon.
The Young Adult chart is more varied, a mixture of new fiction and longer term favourites like The Hunger Games and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
Elizabeth Wein, currently doing a residency with Sandwick school, has three books in the top 12.
Many of the best lenders also gain more on the library’s two eBook platforms, Libby and Borrowbox.
Shuggie Bain is the top lending eAudiobook of the year.
Richard Osman rises to top adult fiction in eBooks by just a few loans.
The Harry Potter eAudiobooks continue to be very popular, and when all online loans are added to the junior chart, J.K. Rowling rises to the top.
The adult non-fiction chart is also changed considerably when e-loans are added – Michelle Obama’s Belonging rises unequivocally to the top, with more than twice the loans of her husband.
Belonging has also been highly borrowed in the previous two years.
Norma Jamieson
Michelle Obama’s Autobiography is called ‘Becoming’ – not ‘Belonging’. It is a magnificent book by a remarkable woman. NB ‘Belonging’ is the title of Wales Rugby Captain, Alun Wyn Jones’ autobiography, no doubt also a magnificent book but perhaps a disappointment for those looking to read Michelle Obama’s story.