While D.C.’s public libraries have been grabbing headlines for their distribution of COVID tests this week, the system’s annual most-read list reminds us: They have books, too!

And per 2021’s list, released Thursday, patrons checked out, downloaded, and streamed more than 3 million books and videos this year, even as most branches remained closed to browsing and seating for half of the year. As the vaccination rollout expanded in the city through the spring and summer, DCPL sites slowly eased their pandemic-era restrictions. 

In 2020, books about racism rose to the top of the DCPL charts. That theme isn’t as strong this year, though some of last year’s heavy-hitters made appearances on the list. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, for example, was among the top e-audiobooks that patrons checked out this year. (While audiobooks are available at DCPL as CDs or other physical media, e-audiobooks are available on the The audiobook list refers to audiobooks available to download on the library’s Libby app.)

Brit Bennett’s second novel, The Vanishing Half, took home the top slot in three categories — fiction book, fiction e-book, and fiction audio book. Returning winner Michelle Obama landed on the list again, after her memoir Becoming came in second for most-read nonfiction book last year. In 2021, she’s traded places with her husband, Barack Obama, whose book A Promised Land was the second most-read nonfiction title, behind Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.

See the full list of top titles here.

Top 10 Fiction Books 

1. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
3. Anxious People: A Novel by Fredrik Backman
4. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
5. Such a Fun Age: A Novel by Kiley Reid
6. Dog Man. Fetch-22 by Dav Pilkey
7. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
8. Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O’Farrell
9. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
10. Dog Man. Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey

Top 10 Nonfiction Books 

1. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
2. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
3. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
4. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
5. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
6. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik  Larson
7. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
8. How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny  Odell
9. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
10. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Top 10 Fiction eBooks

1. The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett
2. The Guest List: A Novel by Lucy Foley
3. The Midnight Library: A Novel by Matt Haig
4. Anxious People: A Novel by Fredrik Backman
5. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
6. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
7. Bridgerton Collection by Julia Quinn
8. The Searcher: A Novel by Tana French
9. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
10. American Dirt: A Novel by Jeanine Cummins

Top 10 Nonfiction eBooks

1. Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder
2. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
3. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
4. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
5. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
6. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
7. Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
8. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
9. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
10. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Top 10 Fiction Audiobooks

1. The Vanishing Half: A Novel by Brit Bennett
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
3. American Dirt: A Novel by Jeanine Cummins
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by  J. K. Rowling
5. The Water Dancer: A Novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates
6. Anxious People: A Novel by Fredrik Backman
7. The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
8. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling (Tied)
9.  Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Tied)
10. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Tied)
10. The Dutch House: A Novel by Ann Patchett (Tied)
10. The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead (Tied)

Top 10 Nonfiction Audiobooks 

1. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
2. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
3. Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
4. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
5. Becoming by Michelle Obama
6. Just as I Am by Cicely Tyson
7. Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
8. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
9. How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
10. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (Tied)
10. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval N. Harari (Tied)

Top 10 Fiction  eAudiobooks

1. “The Midnight Library: A Novel” by Matt Haig
2. “The Vanishing Half: A Novel” by Brit Bennett
3. “The Guest List: A Novel” by Lucy Foley
4. “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens
5. “Anxious People: A Novel” by Fredrik Backman
6. “The Duke and I” by Julia Quinn
7. “The Overstory” by Richard Powers
8. “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V. E. Schwab
9. “The Dutch House: A Novel” by Anne Patchett
10. “The Water Dancer: A Novel” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Top 10 Nonfiction eAudiobooks

1. “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2. “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama
3. “Becoming” by Michelle Obama
4. “Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know” by Malcolm Gladwell
5. “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson
6.” Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover
7. “Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life” by Ali Wong
8. “Greenlights” by Matthew McConaughey
9. “Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones” by James Clear
10. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life” by Mark Manson (Tied)
10. “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo (Tied)