These books were checked out the most times in 2021 through the state’s Minerva system, a consortium of more than 60 Maine libraries that share resources.

FICTION

“The Four Winds” (2021) by Hannah, Kristin, 1990

“Dead By Dawn” (2021) by Paul Doiron, 1316

“The Midnight Library” (2020) by Matt Haig, 1299

“All The Devils Are Here” (2020) by Louise Penny, 1187

“The Vanishing Half ” by Brit Bennett

“The Vanishing Half ” (2020) by Brit Bennett,  1187

“The Madness Of Crowds” (2019) by Louise Penny, 1129

“Anxious People” (2019) by Fredrik Backman, 1055

“Hamnet: A Novel Of The Plague” (2020) by Maggie O’Farrell, 915

“One Last Lie” (2020) by Paul Doiron,  899

“The Paris Library” (2020) by Janet Skeslien Charles, 867

NONFICTION

“Mill Town: Reckoning With What Remains” by Kerri Arsenault

“Mill Town: Reckoning With What Remains” (2020) by Kerri Arsenault,  852

“Finding Freedom: A Cook’s Story; Remaking A Life From Scratch” (2021) by Erin French, 725

“Caste: The Origins Of Our Discontents” (2020) by Isabel Wilkerson, 620

“A Promised Land” (2020) by Barack Obama, 616

“Educated: A Memoir” (2018) by Tara Westover, 376

“Greenlights” (2020) by Matthew McConaughey, 352

“The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz” (2020) by Erik Larson, 325

“Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted” (2021) by Suleika Jaouad, 323

“Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times” (2020) by Katherine May, 320

“Downeast: Five Maine Girls and the Unseen Story of Rural America” (2021) by Gigi Georges, 303

PORTLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY

The top 10 books borrowed from the Portland Public Library in 2021, and how many times they were taken out.

“The Vanishing Half” (2020) by Brit Bennett, 338

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

“Anxious People” (2019) by Fredrik Backman, 239

“The Guest List,” (2020) by Lucy Foley, 235

“All the Devils are Here” (2020) by Louise Penny, 224

“Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents” (2020) by Isabel Wilkerson, 217

“The Midnight Library” (2020) by Matt Haig, 215

“The Four Winds” (2021) by Kristin Hannah, 215

“The Searcher” (2020) by Tana French, 206

“Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague” (2020) by Maggie O’Farrell, 179

“The Overstory” (2018) by Richard Powers, 167