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The most taken-out books in Boston
By adamg on Mon, 12/15/2014 - 9:48pm
The BPL has released a list of the ten books taken out most frequently in 2014:
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
- Inferno by Dan Brown
- Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
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Comments
Obligatory comment that makes me feel like an intellectual
Fifty Shades of Grey?
Boston, I am very disappointed in you. Now go to your room and don't come out until you're ready to read some real adult literature.
Rest assured: there was
Rest assured: there was nothing intellectual about your comment. God forbid the public should find entertainment in books.
Pshaw!
You want to read, learn something. Current events, history, science, these are things to read about. You want entertainment, go to the movies.
In all honesty, Nancy has a point. I remember back in the day a Weekend Update bit on Saturday Night Live. I cannot remember the actress. but she was demonstrating progress and regress using a Barbie doll. The doll went forward when she noted that a woman had the #1 best seller on the New York Times list. The doll went further backwards when it was noted it was Danielle Steele. The hot pink cover was 5 steps back.
Agree but
At least they didn't buy their own copy.
Full disclosure--From that list, I've only read all the YA novels, borrowed in e-book form (in my defense, I have a 14-year-old daughter). And the Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling one, both as an actual book and electronically (I love the OverDrive app for wee hour emergency reads).
Lists like this can be misleading.
A fundamental thing need to remember about bestseller/most popular lists like this is that if someone wants to read good serious literature, there are countless options to choose from, with options going back in history centuries all pretty reasonable options. But if someone wants to read something trashy and popular, then Fifty Shades of Grey stands out in that category. So lists like this are always going to be overrepresented by superficial garbage not because most people read superficial garbage, but because the people who do are less likely to "split their vote" so to speak.
I found the Goldfinch to be
I found the Goldfinch to be completely unreadable. Overly flowery prose from what was supposed to be a 6-10 year old protagonist (can't remember, been a while since I tried to read it) just took me out of it.
I've checked out/read 4 on the list
But two of the four I checked out/read in 2013 (or in the case of #6, maybe 2012?)*, so it's interesting that the list includes titles that have been popular for more than a year.
*And no, I'm not ashamed, I read plenty of literature as well.
Title: Jeter unfiltered /
Title: Jeter unfiltered / Derek Jeter with Anthony Bozza ; photographs by Christopher Anderson.
Title: Back channel to Cuba : the hidden history of negotiations between Washington and Havana / William M. LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh.