“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” wasn’t really a surprise, and there always seems to be a John Grisham title. Dolly Parton and James Patterson’s thriller also made the Erie County Public Library’s 2022 list of best-selling titles, along with a book about the murder of an Erie bookie.
“We’re probably the only library in the country that has this in our top circulation titles,” Erie County Public Library Technical Services Director Anitra Gates said of “The Unholy Murder on Ash Wednesday.”
Gates compiled the unscientific list in late November and made some changes to it in early December. Including results from Blasco Library, the library’s branches — Edinboro, Iroquois, Lincoln and Millcreek — and the book truck, the list spans the first 11 months of the year and is meant to be “a fun thing,” she said. The results are based on library data but also “Gates’ editorial board”.
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“Only a data-driven top titles list would be characterized by adult fiction, and I wanted to make sure that the list highlighted several areas of the collection,” said Gates, who also included results in categories such as nonfiction, children’s books and DVDs.
“Not everyone is a bookie,” she said. “We have DVDs.”
Among those DVDs available at the Erie County Public Library, the Disney animated film “Encanto” came out on top with 176 copies. Another Disney production, “Jungle Cruise,” starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, also made the list, along with “Despicable Me 3,” “Sing” and “The Batman.”
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Grisham’s “The Judge’s List” topped the Erie library list this year with 402 copies. “Run, Rose, Run,” from Parton and Patterson, is a thriller that has been screened 268 times since its release in March.
“Harry Potter” books by JK Rowling usually lead among children’s titles, so Gates chose one for this year’s list: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Entries in Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series are usually top requests from young readers, too, and Gates included “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul” for this year. Another popular children’s book was “100 Ways to Rebuild the World,” which includes “fun ideas to be kind and spread joy to the world around you” using Lego bricks.
“Haikyuu!!” is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate. Gates said the 234 print run is divided into 44 volumes in the set.
Actress and Food Network personality Valerie Bertinelli reflected on her life in “Enough Now: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today,” which made the Erie County list. So did “Peril” Bob Woodward and Robert Costa on the transition from President Donald Trump to President Joe Biden. Also featured was “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty” by CNN anchor Anderson Cooper.
“I think the journals are always surprising just because every year trends tend to change for what’s popular,” Gates said.
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The cover of “The Unholy Murder of Ash Wednesday: The Stained Life and Rude Times of Mob Wannabe ‘Bolo’ Dovishaw” calls it “a cop’s moir” by Dominick D. DiPaolo as told to Jeff Pinski. The 2014 book tells the story of the 1993 gangland-style killing of Frank Dovishaw, whose nicknames included ‘Bolo’ and ‘Ashday’. Caesar Montevecchio pleaded guilty to third-degree murder related to planning the murder, and Robert E. Dorler Sr. was convicted of first-degree murder as an instigator.
Dana Massing can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @ETNmassing.
If you want to read them
These were among the “most widely distributed library titles” for 2022, as summarized by Anitra Gates, director of technology services for the Erie County Public Library:
“100 Ways to Rebuild the World,” Helen Murray “Apples Never Fall,” Liane Moriarty “Attack on Titan,” Hajime Isayama “Black Widow,” DVD “Despicable Me 3,” DVD “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul “ ,” Jeff Kinney”Dune,” DVD”Encanto,” DVD “Enough Now,” Valerie Bertinelli “Extreme Animal Rumble,” Jerry Pallotta “Game On,” Janet Evanovich “Haikyu!!,” Haruichi Furudate “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s” Stone,” JK Rowling “If You Give a Cat a Cupcake,” Laura Numeroff “Jungle Cruise,” DVD “Lego Jurassic World: The Dino Files,” Catherine Saunders “Minecraft: Guide to the Nether & the End,” Stephanie Milton” My Hero Academia,” Kohei Horikoshi “Paw Patrol: Sea Patrol,” DVD “Peril,” Bob Woodward and Robert Costa “Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes,” Kim Dean”Run, Rose, Run,” Dolly Parton and James Patterson “Shadow and Bone,” Leigh Bardugo “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” DVD “She Drives Me Crazy,” Kelly Quindlen”Sing,” DVD “Smile,” Raina Telgemeier “The Ballad of Songbirds an d Snakes, “Suzanne Collins” The Batman,” DVD “The Judge’s List,” John Grisham “The Pigeon Needs a Bath! Mo Willems “The Smart Cookie,” John Jory “The Unholy Murder of Ash Wednesday,” Dominick D. DiPaolo as told to Jeff Pinski. “The Wish,” Nicholas Sparks “Twilight,” Stephanie Meyer “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty,” Anderson Cooper “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” DVD “What is Nintendo?,” Gina Shaw
For more on these titles, visit erielibrary.org.
