The library’s adult winter reading program is done for the year. Ninety-five people participated in Litchfield’s program this year, with 70% of them turning in a completed reading log by March 15. Thank you to the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library for sponsoring a bonus prize drawing! Three lucky participants each won a $20 gift certificate to a local business.
Perennial favorite Nicholas Sparks was the author who appeared the most often on the winter reading logs. Nine of his books were on those lists this year: “At First Sight,” “The Choice,” “Dear John,” “Dreamland,” “Every Breath,” “The Notebook,” “See Me,” “True Believer,” and “The Wish.”
Classic mystery author Agatha Christie was a close runner-up, with eight of her books listed: “12 Murder Mysteries,” “Five Little Pigs,” “The Moving Finger,” “The Murder at the Vicarage,” “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd,” “The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge,” “Poirot Investigates,” and “The Witness for the Prosecution.”
Minnesota author Brian Freeman tied with Agatha Christie with eight of his books read and rated: “The Bone House,” “The Cold Nowhere,” “The Deep, Deep Snow,” “Funeral for a Friend,” “I Remember You,” “In the Dark,” “Stripped,” and “The Ursulina.” Freeman writes mysteries and thrillers.
Jodi Picoult also tied with Christie and Freeman, with eight reviews of her books turned in. Five people read her new book, “Mad Honey.” Participants also read her novels “The Pact,” “Salem Falls,” and “Sing You Home.”
Elin Hilderbrand was next in line, with winter readers listing seven of her books: “Endless Summer,” “Golden Girl,” “The Perfect Couple,” “Winter Solstice,” “Winter Storms,” “Winter Street,” and “Winter Stroll.” Some of the books listed are from her “Summer” series, and others are from her “Winter” series.
Colleen Hoover was the star of 2022 in book sales nationally. Her novels were read and rated seven times on our completed reading logs. Four people read “Verity.” Hoover’s books “It Starts with Us,” “Regretting You,” and “Ugly Love” were also on the reading lists. Hoover writes new adult romance and psychological thrillers.
Roseanna M. White isn’t an author who makes the bestseller lists, but our winter reading participants read seven of her books. Those were “An Hour Unspent,” “A Name Unknown,” “The Number of Love,” “On Wings of Devotion,” “Portrait of Loyalty,” “A Song Unheard,” and “Yesterday’s Tides.” White is a Christy Award-winning author of Christian fiction, mostly historical.
With five of her books read for the program, Fern Michaels was the next most popular. Those titles were “19 Yellow Moon Road,” “Crash and Burn,” “Cut and Run,” “Secrets,” and “Under the Radar.” Michaels writes contemporary romance and romantic suspense.
Tying with Michaels at five reviews, Louise Penny’s books “A Better Man,” “A Fatal Grace,” “The Hangman,” and “A World of Curiosities” helped to make the winter more interesting for our readers. Two people read her newest, “A World of Curiosities.” All of these mystery novels are part of the “Three Pines” series.
V.E. Schwab also tied with Penny and Michaels, with five reading logs listing her. She’s unique, though, because all five were for one book: “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.” I suspect it’s not a coincidence that the library’s Adult Book Club read that novel for the February meeting.
If you’re looking for ideas about what to read next, you could try out the authors that the big readers in our community are choosing. Whether you go for a classic or contemporary choice, you can ride out the rest of our winter weather with a good book.
— Beth Cronk is Meeker County librarian for the Pioneerland Library System. She oversees Litchfield Library, in addition to those in Cosmos, Dassel and Grove City.
— Beth Cronk is Meeker County librarian for the Pioneerland Library System. She oversees Litchfield Library, in addition to those in Cosmos, Dassel and Grove City.
