In Hamilton, readers’ preferred library book genres for 2025 are romance and mystery, both proving to be highly popular. The top 10 adult books feature a mix of romance novels such as “The Wedding People” and “One Golden Summer,” alongside mystery thrillers like “The Crash” and “Paranoia.” A standout hit was “The Grey Wolf,” a gripping murder mystery by Canadian writer Louise Penny, topping the list as the most borrowed adult fiction book of the year.
Published in October 2024, “The Grey Wolf” was succeeded a year later by “The Black Wolf,” the subsequent installment in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. The Hamilton Public Library annually releases rankings of the most sought-after reads, encompassing adult, teen, and children’s books, as well as non-print materials like DVDs and CDs.
Among the non-print materials, the most borrowed CD was the 1967 rock album “Buffalo Springfield – Again,” followed by “Now That’s What I Call Jukebox Classics” from 2024 and several albums by Taylor Swift. In the DVD category, “Gladiator II” took the top spot, trailed by “Moana 2” and “Wicked.”
Hamilton author Pasha Malla’s novel “All You Can Kill” also gained significant popularity, securing the fourth position in adult books and second in eBooks. Notably, the only non-fiction book to feature in both the eBook and adult book top 10 lists was “The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool that Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About” by Mel Robbins, who also hosts a renowned podcast under her name.
Here are the Hamilton Public Library’s top-10 lists for 2025:
**Top 10 Adult Books**
1. “The Grey Wolf” by Louise Penny
2. “The Crash” by Freida McFadden
3. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
4. “All You Can Kill” by Pasha Malla
5. “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach
6. “One Golden Summer” by Carley Fortune
7. “The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool that Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About” by Mel Robbins
8. “Nobody’s Fool” by Harlan Coben
9. “Paranoia: A Michael Bennett Thriller” by James Patterson
10. “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry
**Top 10 Teen Books**
1. “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins
2. “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins
3. “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas
4. “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson
5. “Throne of Glass” by Sarah J. Maas
6. “Powerless” by Lauren Roberts
7. “Nothing Like the Movies” by Lynn Painter
8. “Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross
9. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” by Jenny Han
10. “Games Untold” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
**Top 10 Children’s Books**
1. “Grover Yoga! Fun and Simple Poses” by Debbie DeFord-Minerva
2. “Brown Bear and Friends 1, 2, 3”
3. “Brown Bear and Friends Colors”
4. “Fingertrail Dinosaur Mazes” by Felicity Brooks
5. “Potty Time!” by Caroline Church
6. “Elmo’s Sports Day” by Cat Reynolds
7. “Mixed-up Construction Vehicles: A Mix-and-Match Board Book” by Spencer Wilson
8. “My First Numbers: Let’s Get Counting!” by Dawn Sirett
9. “Dinosnores” by Sandra Boynton
10. “Why I Love Diggers and Trucks” by Daniel Howarth
**Top 10 eBooks**
1. “The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool that Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About” by Mel Robbins
2. “All You Can Kill” by Pasha Malla
3. “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
4. “The Women” by Kristin Hannah
5. “Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros
6. “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
7. “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry
8. “The Grey Wolf” by Louise Penny
9. “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach
10. “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins
**Top 10 Audio Books**
1. “Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros
2. “The Crash” by Freida McFadden
3. “Pretty Girls” by Karin Slaughter
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