What Were The Most Popular Books In Burlington In 2020?

BURLINGTON, MA — Burlington's kids and teenagers love the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter series. Multiple books from the two series, by Jeff Kinney and J. K. Rowling, were among Burlington Public Library's top checkouts in 2020.

But the most popular title at the library wasn't a book at all: it was the 2019 Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood, starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. The long-running TV series Homeland, which concluded its eight-year run in 2020, also was more popular than any single book.

Put together all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books on the list, however, and they add up to hundreds of checkouts, by far the most of any series.

Library Director Michael Wick shared the top titles of 2020 in four categories: children's fiction, young adult fiction, adult fiction and TV/movies.

Descriptions following the number one item in each category are from the library catalog.

Children's Fiction

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, by Jeff Kinney: 49 checkouts and renewals
   
   1. "The Heffley family road trip starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns--with everything from a fender bender to crazed seagulls--but even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure, and this is one the Heffleys will not soon forget."
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway, by Jeff Kinney: 48
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School, by Jeff Kinney: 47
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, by Jeff Kinney: 42
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel, by Jeff Kinney: 41
6. Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss: 39
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down, by Jeff Kinney: 33
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, by Jeff Kinney: 33
9. Pete the Cat, by James Dean: 33
10. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck, by Jeff Kinney: 30
11. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, by Laura Joffe Numeroff: 30
12. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, by Eric Litwin: 30
13. We Are In a Book!, by Mo Willems: 30
14. Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems: 29
15. The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan: 29
16. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, by Jeff Kinney: 28
17. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown, by Jeff Kinney: 28

Young Adult Fiction

1. One of Us Is Next, by Karen M. McManus: 18 checkouts and renewals
   
   1. "A year after the Bayview four were cleared of Simon Kelleher's death, a new mystery has cropped up--a game with dangerous consequences that's targeting students at Bayview again. And if the creator isn't found soon, dangerous could prove deadly."
2. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins: 18
3. Conspiracy 365, by Gabrielle Lord: 17
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J. K. Rowling: 17
5. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J. K. Rowling: 16
6. The Maze Runner, by James Dashner: 15
7. Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi: 14
8. Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon: 14
9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling: 14
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J. K. Rowling: 14
11. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J. K. Rowling: 14
12. The Ship of the Dead, by Rick Riordan: 14
13. Frankly In Love, by David Yoon: 13
14. How To Survive Middle School, by Donna Gephart: 12
15. The Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan: 12
16. The Scorch Trials, by James Dashner: 12
17. Dry, by Neal Shusterman: 11

Adult Fiction

1. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel, by Gail Honeyman: 53 checkouts and renewals
   
   1. "Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. That, combined with her unusual appearance (scarred cheek, tendency to wear the same clothes year in, year out), means that Eleanor has become a creature of habit (to say the least) and a bit of a loner. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.
      
      But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kind of friends who rescue each other from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond's big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one."
2. Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens: 47
3. Dear Edward: A Novel, by Ann Napolitano: 32
4. The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See: 31
5. The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah: 30
6. City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert: 25
7. Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng: 25
8. The Masterpiece: A Novel, by Fiona Davis: 25
9. Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier: 24
10. Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry: A Novel, by Mary Higgins Clark: 22
11. The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah: 22
12. Such a Fun Age: A Novel, by Kiley Reid: 21
13. A Gentleman In Moscow, by Amor Towles: 18
14. Before We Were Yours: A Novel, by Lisa Wingate: 18
15. The Family Upstairs, by Lisa Jewell: 18
16. The Institute, by Stephen King: 18
17. The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides: 18

Movies/TV

1. Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood: 63 checkouts and renewals
   
   1. "From 1958 to 1963, American actor Rick Dalton knew the height of fame and fortune as the lead in the television series Bounty Law. Yet, Rick wasn't satisfied with the work and used his popularity to try to become a movie star. By 1969, Rick's career has stalled so much that he takes jobs as a guest star on various shows. He even starts wondering if the only way he can make a comeback is by acting in Italian productions.
      
      Cliff Booth, Rick's long-time friend and stunt double, helps him see that possibilities for success still exist in the Los Angeles film industry if they work together."
2. Homeland: 60
3. Downton Abbey: 58
4. A Place To Call Home: 54
5. Knives Out: 50
6. Doc Martin: 47
7. Judy: 47
8. Game of Thrones: 46
9. Joker: 45
10. Little Women: 45
11. Ford v Ferrari: 42
12. Jojo Rabbit: 42
13. Avengers: 41
14. Friends: 39
15. On the Basis of Sex: 39
16. Jurassic World:38
17. Star Wars: 37

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.