News and Stories

As 2024 comes to an end, we’re looking back at the titles that caught readers’ attention and took centre stage across our 39 library branches on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, Bella Coola and Haida Gwaii. Whether it was a gripping thriller, a spicy romance or a page-turning mystery, there were some books everyone wanted their hands on.

Browse our top 10 checkouts for adults, children and young adults to see what Vancouver Island Regional Library users were reading this year and get inspired for 2025!

Place a hold in our catalogue for any title in the list, download the Libby app for free ebooks and digital audiobooks or get Blackstone Unlimited, our new free app for digital audiobooks.

Top 10 Most Popular Adult Print Fiction

1. The Women by Kristin Hannah
2. Demon Copperhead: a Novel by Barbara Kingsolver
3. The Exchange: After The Firm by John Grisham
4. Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
5. The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves
6. Tom Lake: a Novel by Ann Patchett
7. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
8. The Secret by Lee Child
9. The Covenant of Water: a Novel by Abraham Verghese
10. The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

Top 10 Most Popular Adult Print Non-Fiction

1. The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté
2. Fire Weather: the Making of a Beast by John Vaillant
3. Doppelganger: a Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
4. Breath: the New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
5. Outlive: the Science & Art of Longevity by Peter Attia
6. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results: an Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
7. Spare by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
8. The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
9. The Wager: a Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
10. Killers of the Flower Moon the Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

Top 10 Most Popular eBooks

1. Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea
2. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
3. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
4. The Women: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
5. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Random in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Payback in Death by J.D. Robb
8. A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny
9. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
10. Tom Lake: a Novel by Ann Patchett

Top 10 Most Popular Digital Audiobooks

1. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
2. 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
3. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
4. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
5. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
6. The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros
7. The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
8. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
9. Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
10. Twisted Love by Ana Huang

Vancouver Island Regional Library’s most popular check outs for children’s and young adult novels in 2024 have just been released! Browse our booklists to see if your favourites cracked the top 10 or get inspired for what to read next year. 

Inspiration is a click away! Our team has pulled together great titles for teens to read. Have a browse! 

Whether you’re searching for romance, cozy mysteries, award-winning fiction, poetry or travel memoirs, our team has you covered! Check out our staff recommendations for adults! 

Looking for ideas on what to read to your littles, or for new books to keep your children interested in books? We have lists for that! Check out our staff recommendations for kids.