Familiar authors, psychology books among most popular at local libraries in 2025 | Tri-state News | telegraphherald.com
For the second year in a row, “The Women” by Kristin Hannah took the crown as the most checked-out adult fiction book at Dubuque’s Carnegie-Stout Public Library and Dubuque County Library District.
“Lies He Told Me” by James Patterson and “The Crash” by Freida McFadden tied atop the most-borrowed books at Schreiner Memorial Library in Lancaster, Wis.
Iowa author Heather Gudenkauf’s suspenseful mystery novel “Everyone Is Watching” was the fourth-most-borrowed fiction book at Dubuque County Library District.
“(Gudenkauf) is always in the top read,” said Lydia Sigwarth, Dubuque County Library District community engagement librarian. Gudenkauf, who lived in Dubuque for many years, wrote the most-checked-out fiction book at Carnegie-Stout and Dubuque County Library District in 2022.
On the nonfiction side, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, originally published in 2018, vaulted to the top of the most-borrowed lists at Carnegie-Stout and Dubuque County Library District. It provides a framework for building positive habits and breaking negative ones.
“People want to make their life more into what they want it to be,” Sigwarth said of the book’s readership at the library.
“The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt, which explores youth mental health, also cracked the top four in nonfiction borrows at both libraries.
“People from all age groups were checking it out,” Sigwarth said.
Recipe, lifestyle and historical nonfiction books were among the most popular at Schreiner. “Cookies For Everyone: 99 Deliciously Customizable Bakeshop Recipes” by Mimi Council was the most-borrowed nonfiction book at the library.
Suzanne Collins’ newest addition to The Hunger Games series, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” topped Dubuque County Library District’s list for teenage fiction and tied for second on Schreiner’s most-borrowed young adult fiction list.
The book topped Carnegie-Stout’s young adult fiction checkouts and came in at No. 3 on the library’s top borrowed adult fiction.
“The Hunger Games is an institution of the book world,” Sigwarth said of the series first published in 2008. It draws in a wide readership because some readers are revisiting it over 15 years later and others are picking it up for the first time, Sigwarth said.
A handful of novels from Sarah J. Maas’ “Throne of Glass” fantasy series were the most-popular checkouts in the young adult fiction category at Schreiner.
The most-borrowed TV show DVDs were highly acclaimed shows. “Yellowstone” season five part one and “Game of Thrones” season one were the top checkouts at Dubuque County Library District and Carnegie-Stout, respectively.
“Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way,” which is a seven-disc boxed set of all three seasons of the Apple TV hit show, finished atop Schreiner’s list for most-borrowed DVDs in 2025.
“TV shows aren’t accessible to everyone,” Sigwarth said. “People don’t want to pay for another streaming service.” The library provides an opportunity for anyone with a DVD player to watch the shows for free.
Library card growth stayed steady in 2025. Dubuque County Library District added over 2,000 cards, in line with last year and a mark it aims for. Carnegie-Stout added over 4,500 new cards in 2025.
Both physical and digital circulation at Schreiner decreased in 2025 compared to 2024. But circulation is only one piece of the equation when evaluating the library, Schreiner’s director, Martha Bauer, said.
“When I take a look at our visitor numbers for the year, they are holding strong, same with program attendance numbers,” Bauer said in an email to the Telegraph Herald. “I think folks are using libraries differently than in years past, so we see shifts in numbers more than just circulation.”
New card-holder accounts at Schreiner increased nearly 19% year-over-year.
