Forget Bestsellers, What About Best Loaners?

As part of its excellent Words at Large program, CBC Online has been offering up lists of top holds from libraries across Canada. They feature the top holds from a different library each week.

One of the most surprising things about these lists has been how unsurprising the holds are, with the current crop of mystery heavy hitters showing up here just like they’re showing up everywhere else.

This week’s list comes from the Stratford Public Library in Stratford, Ontario:

1. Whitethorn Woods, by Maeve Binchy (McArthur & Co.)

2. Born in Death, by J.D. Robb & Nora Roberts (Penguin Group)

3. Angels Fall, by Nora Roberts (Putnam)

4. The Mephisto Club, by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine Books)

5. Step on a Crack, by James Patterson (Little, Brown & Co.)

6. White Lies, by Jayne Ann Krentz (Putnam)

7. Book of the Dead, by Patricia Cornwell (Putnam)

8. Into the Storm, by Suzanne Brockmann (Ballantine Books)

9. Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks (Warner)

10. Echo Park, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown & Co.)

If Canadian authors are underrepresented on the current holds list, they’re not elsewhere on the site, where the content represents a good mix of national and international literary flavors. According to a background page:

CBC’s Words at Large is a destination for Canadians where they can take a journey into the world of books, poetry, literature, literacy and much more.

Words at Large is a web portal which provides access to radio programming, podcasts, a blog, lists and information that will entertain and inform you on the written word in Canada and around the world.

The CBC Words at Large main page is here.