Checked-out (text-version)
Open your 2022 Checked Out to reveal Seattle's #1 books, top genres and so much more.
Your 2022 Checked Out is here!
Welcome to your 2022 Checked Out. Scroll to see Seattle's #1 books, top genres and so much more.
In 2022, a few escapist genres (and one very practical one) reigned supreme in your reading.
Seattle's top genres:
- Detective & mystery
- Graphic novels
- Thrillers
- Historical fiction
- Cookbooks
You traveled through time and even visited space.
Seattle's reading year
Your spring
- Clue-like cozy case
- “The Maid” by Nita Prose
Your summer
- Trans-temporal trip
- "The Sea of Tranquility," Emily St. John Mandel
Your fall
- Maiden’s mournful matrimony
- "The Marriage Portrait," Maggie O'Farrell
In 2022, Seattle checked out 11.1 million items from the Library. You brought home 48% of our adult book collection.
One book spent more nights on Seattle nightstands than any other.
Top book:
- “The Sentence” / Louise Erdrich
- Checked out 3,135 times
You visited us in person at Library branches 1.9 million times, but stayed home with e-books and audiobooks, too
Top Audiobook:
- “Braiding Sweetgrass” / Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Checked out 4,914 times
Top eBook:
- “The House of Broken Angels” / Luis Alberto Urrea
- Checked out 5,146 times
It wasn't all books and reading. Some of you still have CD players, and it showed.
Top CDs
- 30 / Adele
- Raise the roof / Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
- In these silent days / Brandi Carlile
- Red (Taylor's version) / Taylor Swift
- Wet Leg / Wet Leg
What will you check out next?
We’re happy to set you up.
2022 Staff favorites
Seattle Staff Faves 2022: Fiction
Seattle Staff Faves 2022: Nonfiction
Seattle Staff Faves 2022: Kids Picture Books
Seattle Staff Faves 2022: Teen Books
Seattle Staff Faves 2022: Kids Chapter Books, Comics, and NF
Data notes & clarification
This page reflects information on check outs and circulation from January to November 2022.
Statistical summaries of our collections and circulation for the full year will be posted in our 2022 Impact Report