Prince Harry's Spare was the most popular book at Windsor Public Library in 2023
A memoir by former Windsor, England, resident Prince Harry tops Windsor Public Library's (WPL) list of its most popular titles of 2023.
The list includes the circulation numbers for ebooks and print books during the whole of last year.
Spare was released on Jan. 10, 2023 (Random House Canada)
Harry's Spare is a tell-all memoir ghostwritten by J.R. Moehringer.
Katie Vlanich, public service librarian at the central branch of the WPL, said that the Duke of Sussex's illustrious success amongst Windsorites was not at all surprising.
"It now holds the Guinness record for the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time [and] it superseded Barack Obama's A Promised Land," Vlanich said. "I think people have just always been fascinated with the Royal Family and especially Prince Harry, because he's always been an outlier."
Genre fiction
Spare is not the only titillating title that topped the WPL's most popular books for 2023 list.
Crime, mystery and romance novels stood firm in Windsorites reading habits.
Louise Penny's mystery novel, A World of Curiosities, pays homage to the Montreal Massacre. (Raincoast Books)
Book 18 of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series named A World of Curiosities placed fourth on the list. The novel pays homage to the tragedy of the 1989 Montreal Massacre.
"It's not unexpected," Vlanich said. "Mystery novels, crime novels are always very popular. If you look at our list, there's a very strong showing for genre fiction versus what would be considered literary fiction ... The books that are tend to be the award winners."
"The ones that are popular are the ones that people know that they're going to love — it's like going back to an old friend."
Library trends
Vlanich said that library users' habits for certain genres are somewhat unchanging across the entire country. Although, there are some exceptions.
It's like going back to an old friend. - Katie Vlanich
"I actually was talking to a friend of mine who is a librarian up at London Public Library, and we both kind of joked that the driver's handbook isn't on on either of our list," she remarked. "That's a very popular book that people check out."
"But, I think generally speaking the books that people know and love are the ones that are going to be the most popular, the most circulated."
Top Ten | Windsor Public Library's most popular books for 2023:
Spare by Prince Harry.
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover.
Desert Star by Michael Connelly.
A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny.
Simply Lies by David Baldacci.
Happy Place by Emily Henry.
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.
I Will Find You by Harlan Coben.
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover.
The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham.
