Library

Looking for a Good Book? Check Out 2020’s Top 10 Checkouts

tablet with overdrive app
By Gig Conaughton, County of San Diego Communications Office
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Looking for a good book? A great movie, e-book, audio-book, kid-book?

There’s no better place to start than with the County Library’s Top 10 lists of books and materials readers and movie lovers checked out in 2020.

They say hindsight is 2020 vision; well, in this case 2020 vision can be foresight!

The Top 10 lists have something for everyone, whether it’s Delia Edwards “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” John Grisham’s “The Guardian,” Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studio’s “Spiderman: Far From Home,” J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway,” or Pixar’s “Toy Story 4.”

And you can get all of the material and stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic because all 33 County libraries have shifted to door-side service. Physical materials like books, audio books, DVDs and CDs can be requested online or by phone and picked up at your branch’s door-side pickup area.

And of course, library patrons can still digitally access all the Library’s digital and electronic materials around the clock — 24 hours a day, seven days a week — by downloading the Libby app for e-books, audio books and e-magazines. In fact, the County Library’s digital circulation increased 56% in 2020 to more than 3.2 million books and materials.

So, here are the 2020 Top 10 Lists.

Books

  1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  2. One Good Deed by David Baldacci
  3. Blue Moon: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
  4. Educated: a Memoir by Tara Westover
  5. The Guardians by John Grisham
  6. A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci
  7. The Night Fire by Michael Connelly
  8. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
  9. Redemption by David Baldacci
  10. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Movies

  1. Rocketman
  2. Avenger’s Endgame
  3. Spider-man Far From Home
  4. Maleficent, Mistress of Evil
  5. Aquaman
  6. Captain Marvel
  7. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
  8. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
  9. MIB International
  10. Aladdin [Live Action]

 E-books

  1. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei; One Book, One San Diego 2020 Selection
  2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  3. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
  4. The Giver of Stars: A Novel by Jojo Moyes
  5. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  6. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
  7. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  8. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
  9. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
  10. The Guardians by John Grisham

 Audio and e-Audio Books

  1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  2. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
  3. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  4. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  5. Educated: A Memoir A Memoir by Tara Westover
  6. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
  7. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (Oprah’s Book Club)
  8. So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo
  9. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  10. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

Kids’ Books

  1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball by Jeff Kinney
  2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown by Jeff Kinney
  3. Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey
  4. Dog Man: Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey
  5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway by Jeff Kinney
  6. Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson’s Journal by Jeff Kinney
  7. Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey
  8. Dog Man: Unleashed by Dav Pilkey
  9. Big Nate: Hug it Out by Lincoln Peirce
  10. The Thank You Book by Mo Willems

Kids’ Movies

  1. Toy Story 4
  2. Toy Story 3
  3. Toy Story
  4. Toy Story 2
  5. PAW Patrol: The Great Snow Rescue
  6. Lion King
  7. Aladdin
  8. Mulan
  9. Pinocchio
  10. Dumbo

Kids’ e-Books

  1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  2. I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
  3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball by Jeff Kinney
  4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
  5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School by Jeff Kinney
  6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown by Jeff Kinney
  7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
  8. Unicorn Day by Diana Murray
  9. Guts by Raina Telgemeier
  10. Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Kids’ e-Audio books

  1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
  2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
  3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
  4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
  6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
  7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
  8. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  9. Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
  10. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
Gig Conaughton is a communications specialist with the County of San Diego Communications Office. Contact