Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Thrilling year at libraries as crime books top chart
Figures from Leisure and Culture Dundee show that all of the current top 10 most borrowed books in city libraries are either crime novels or thrillers.
Top of the chart is Lee Child’s Night School, featuring the character Jack Reacher, immortalised on screen by Tom Cruise. Novels by established writers such as Jeffrey Archer, Martina Cole, Danielle Steele and James Oswald also feature in the chart, as does Rather Be The Devil, Ian Rankin’s latest Inspector Rebus page-turner.
Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train also had the honour of being the only story to appear twice — in the book chart and again in the libraries’ DVD chart.
Judy Dobbie, head of library and information services at Leisure and Culture Dundee, said crime novels and thrillers always proved popular — and promised plenty of exciting reads for next year. She said: “There are no surprises in the top 10 most requested books from our libraries.
“Crime and thrillers are always popular and we predict that they will continue to be in demand in 2018, with books by James Patterson and Alex Gray eagerly anticipated.
“The year will also see new titles from Irvine Welsh and Jill Mansell, which we expect to feature in our request lists. It also marks the 50th anniversary of Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea and we will have a special edition available in Scots.”
Hollywood blockbusters and topnotch TV series filled out Dundee’s DVD lending charts.
Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne, was the most popular DVD for the last month, followed by animated adventure The Secret Life of Pets.
Other big-budget movies in the chart included Wonder Woman, Jason Bourne, X-Men: Apocalypse and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
However, TV series box sets such as Supernatural and Game of Thrones also made their way into the top 10.
Dundee libraries also offer audiobooks for those who prefer to listen to their books.
Maureen Reynolds’ conclusion to her post-war Dundee saga, The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow, was the most popular audiobook.
Judy added: “Dundee libraries not only have all these popular titles, but also make sure that there is an exciting selection of all genres available free of charge, not forgetting our e-book and e-audio collections, which can be borrowed without leaving your home.
“There’s no need to be disappointed if you didn’t get the book you hoped for at Christmas — just get it from your local library.”
DUNDEE’S reading habits have been revealed — and they are positively thrilling.