These books have hundreds of holds on them at the Edmonton Public Library

With thousands of books to choose from at Edmonton Public Library (EPL), some are more popular than others and lead to hundreds of holds.

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Getting your hands on some of the most popular books of the year could keep you waiting on your toes for a bit.

“For a physical collection, we aim for a hold ratio of five holds to every one copy, so that usually means a roughly three- to five-month wait,” Kilroy said.

The top books on loan can be a “real mixed bag” between physical and digital holds, collection librarian Beth Kilfoy told CTV News Edmonton.

These are the top print books with the most holds:

1) Dog Man: Big Jim Believes (796 holds)

Dav Pilkey, children’s fiction

2) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Partypooper (594 holds)

Jeff Kinney, children’s fiction

3) The Black Wolf (524 holds)

Louise Penny, adult fiction

4) Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice (440 holds)

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, adult non-fiction

5) The Secret of Secrets (422 holds)

Dan Brown, adult fiction

6) Pick a Colour (312 holds)

Souvankham Thammavongsa, adult fiction

7) The Impossible Fortune (303 holds)

Richard Osman, adult fiction

8) Wings of Fire Legends: Darkstalker (297 holds)

Barry Deutsch, children’s fiction

9) The Widow (297 holds)

John Grisham, adult fiction

10) Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts (290 holds)

Margaret Atwood, adult non-fiction

Kilfoy said she’s happy to see the top two physical book holds fall under children’s fiction.

“Children’s materials circulate super well in our collection,” Kilfoy said.

“We love seeing kids reading, because obviously starting reading young really helps to make a really engaged and lifelong learner and people who are really active in their community.”

Many Edmontonians are opting for other ways to read their favourite stories.

There have been more than 10.8 million digital holds and more than 22.9 million digital loans all-time with EPL. In November, there were more than 5,100 holds for digital books.

People can see the live feed of hold circulations of their OverDrive/Libby collection online.

These are the top eBooks with the most holds:

1) The Let Them Theory (884 holds)

Mel Robbins, adult non-fiction

2) Project Hail Mary (515 holds)

Andy Weir, adult fiction

3) Verity (500 holds)

Colleen Hoover, adult fiction

4) Great Big Beautiful Life (477 holds)

Emily Henry, adult fiction

5) My Friends (458 holds)

Fredrik Backman, adult fiction

6) The Secret of Secrets (443 holds)

Dan Brown, adult fiction

7) The Widow (424)

John Grisham, adult fiction

8) Broken Country (397)

Clare Leslie Hall, adult fiction

9) Wild Dark Shore: Reese’s Book Club Pick (387)

Charlotte McConaghy, adult fiction

10) Atmosphere: A Love Story (381)

Taylor Jenkins Reid

“When we look at, particularly for the digital side of things, the list for eBook and audiobooks can be quite different. Audiobooks generally tend to have more nonfiction in it,” she said.

With the rise of people listening to podcasts, Kilfoy said audio books are a format many people are willing to try.

These are the top audio books with the most holds:

1) The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (938 holds)

Jonathan Haidt, Sean Pratt, adult non-fiction

2) Atmosphere (613 holds)

Taylor Jenkins Reid, Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, adult fiction

3) Great Big Beautiful Life (471 holds)

Emily Henry, Julia Whelan, adult fiction

4) The Nightingale (453) holds

Kristen Hannah, Polly Stone, adult fiction

5) Broken Country (442 holds)

Clair Leslie Hall, Hattie Morahan, adult fiction

6) Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (430 holds)

James Clear, adult non-fiction

7) The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work and Confidence with Everyday Courage (392 holds)

Mel Robbins, adult non-fiction

8) Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice (385 holds)

Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Thérèse Plummer, Gabra Zackman, adult non-fiction

9) Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection (382 holds)

John Green, adult non-fiction

10) The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (380 holds)

Bessel van der Kolk, Sean Pratt, adult non-fiction

“E content has been growing in popularity my whole career,” Kilfoy said.

“It definitely had a big spike during the pandemic when customers could only access our collections virtually for several months at a time.”

The data collected above for physical books is as of Nov. 25 and the eBooks and audiobooks is data as of Dec. 1.

No matter the story you’re looking for, EPL has thousands of options for you to read or listen to.