Move over New York Times bestseller list, it’s time for the annual Bentley Library Top 10! Each May we query our database to find out which books, audiobooks and DVDs have circulated the most times during the academic year (excluding any items placed on reserve for a class). There are many ties in the rankings this year, so each of the lists includes more than ten titles, giving you even more to choose from.
This year’s most popular fiction included 
blockbusters by J. K. Rowling, Gillian Flynn and E. L. James. In nonfiction, Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail appeared on the both the books and audiobooks lists. Remarkably, Malcolm Gladwell’s The Outliers landed in the Top 10 for a fourth consecutive year!
Books that were released as movies fared well, including Life of Pi, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Hunger Games and Cloud Atlas. The Top 10 DVDs list is an interesting mix of TV series and movies, from Downton Abbey to The Game of Thrones and The Avengers to The Iron Lady.
Compiling the Top 10 lists is one of our favorite annual activities; we hope you enjoy them as much as we do! Browse the BENTLEY LIBRARY TOP 10 lists for academic year 2012-2013 in the categories of Popular Reading, Stacks (regular book collection), Audiobooks, Popular DVDs, OverDrive Downloadable eBooks and OverDrive Downloadable Audiobooks:
Top 10 Most Circulated Books from the Popular Reading Collection
- 1. THE CASUAL VACANCY by J. K. Rowling [check availability]
- 2. GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn [check availability]
- 3. FIFTY SHADES DARKER by E. L. James [check availability]
- 4. FIFTY SHADES OF GREY by E. L. James [check availability]
- 5. (tie) BEAUTIFUL RUINS by Jess Walter [check availability]
- 5. (tie) THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman [check availability]
- 5. (tie) THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE HER by Junot Diaz [check availability]
- 8. (tie) THE SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes [check availability]
- 8. (tie) WHY WE BROKE UP by Daniel Handler [check availability]
- 8. (tie) WILD: FROM LOST TO FOUND ON THE PACIFIC TRAIL by Cheryl Strayed
- [check availability]
- 8. (tie) DEFENDING JACOB by William Landay [check availability]
- 8. (tie) A WANTED MAN: A JACK REACHER NOVEL by Lee Child [check availability]
- 8. (tie) THE RACKETEER by John Grisham [check availability]
Top 10 Most Circulated Books from the Stacks
- 1. STEVE JOBS by Walter Isaacson [check availability]
- 2. HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE by Dale Carnegie
- [check availability]
- 3. (tie) THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins [check availability]
- 3. (tie) QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTS IN A WORLD THAT CAN’T STOP
- TALKING by Susan Cain [check availability]
- 5. (tie) THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky
- [check availability]
- 5. (tie) MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins [check availability]
- 7. OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS by Malcolm Gadwell [check availability]
- 8. THE WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM by Robert Kirkman [check availability]
- 9. (tie) SOUL OF A CITIZEN: LIVING WITH CONVICTION IN A CYNICAL TIME by Paul
- Rogat Loeb [check availability]
- 9. (tie) LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel [check availability]
Top 10 Most Circulated Audiobooks [CD and Playaway]
- 1. (tie) THINKING FAST AND SLOW by Daniel Kahneman [check availability]
- 1. (tie) WILD: FROM LOST TO FOUND ON THE PACIFIC TRAIL by Cheryl Strayed
- [check availability]
- 1. (tie) GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn [check availability]
- 4. (tie) QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTS IN A WORLD THAT CAN’T STOP
- TALKING by Susan Cain [check availability]
- 4. (tie) THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins [check availability]
- 4. (tie) MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins [check availability]
- 7. (tie) JUDGE & JURY by James Patterson [check availability]
- 7. (tie) DRIVE: THE SURPRISING TRUTH ABOUT WHAT MOTIVATES US by Daniel
- Pink [check availability]
- 7. (tie) KILLING LINCOLN by Bill O’Reilly [check availability]
- 7. (tie) CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins [check availability]
- 7. (tie) THE WITNESS by Nora Roberts [check availability]
- 7. (tie) SOME KIND OF FAIRY TALE by Graham Joyce [check availability]
- 7. (tie) THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman [check availability]
- 7. (tie) THE CASUAL VACANCY by J. K. Rowling [check availability]
- 7. (tie) LIVE BY NIGHT by Dennis Lehane [check availability]
- 7. (tie) THE FORGOTTEN by David Baldacci [check availability]
- 7. (tie) THE BLACK BOX by Michael Connelly [check availability]
- 7. (tie) PROOF OF HEAVEN: A NEUROSURGEON’S JOURNEY INTO THE
- AFTERLIFE by Eben Alexander [check availability]
Top 10 Most Circulated DVDs from the Popular DVD Collection
- 1. DOWNTON ABBEY (Seasons 1 & 2, combined checkouts) [check availability]
- 2. HUNGER GAMES [check availability]
- 3. (tie) BRIDESMAIDS [check availability]
- 3. (tie) THE AVENGERS [check availability]
- 5. A GAME OF THRONES (Season 1) [check availability]
- 6. (tie) ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY [check availability]
- 6. (tie) THE HELP [check availability]
- 6. (tie) MONEYBALL [check availability]
- 6. (tie) PEOPLE LIKE US [check availability]
- 10. (tie) 21 JUMP STREET [check availability]
- 10. (tie) FRIENDS WITH KIDS [check availability]
- 10. (tie) THE IRON LADY [check availability]
- 10. (tie) MOONRISE KINGDOM [check availability]
- 10. (tie) SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS [check availability]
Top 10 Downloaded eBooks (OverDrive)
*check availability by logging-in at http://ezp.bentley.edu/OverDrive/bentleyu
- 1. (tie) THE ART FORGER by B. A. Shaprio
- 1. (tie) CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell
- 1. (tie) LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel
- 1. (tie) LIVE BY NIGHT by Dennis Lehane
- 5. (tie) THE 19TH WIFE by David Ebsershoff
- 5. (tie) THE END OF MONEY by David Wolman
- 5. (tie) THE RACKETEER by John Grisham
- 5. (tie) WHO STOLE THE AMERICAN DREAM? by Hedrick Smith
- 9. (tie) THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT by Mark Haddon
- 9. (tie) THE DINNER by Herman Koch
- 9. (tie) THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB by Will Schwalbe
- 9. (tie) HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford
- 9. (tie) THE WORLD WE FOUND by Thrity Umrigar
Top 10 Downloaded Audiobooks (OverDrive)
*check availability by logging-in at http://ezp.bentley.edu/OverDrive/bentleyu
- 1. SNOOP: WHAT YOUR STUFF SAYS ABOUT YOU by Sam Gosling
- 2. (tie) FALL OF GIANTS by Ken Follett
- 2. (tie) THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK by Matthew Quick
- 2. (tie) A WEEK IN WINTER by Maeve Binchy
- 2. (tie) WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks
- 6. (tie) ANTIFRAGILE: THINGS THAT GAIN FROM DISORDER by Nassim Nicholas
- Taleb
- 6. (tie) ARGO by Antonio Mendez
- 6. (tie) THE ART FORGER by B. A. Shapiro
- 6. (tie) BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS by Kurt Vonnegut
- 6. (tie) THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA by Lauren Weisberger
- 6. (tie) THE FORGOTTEN by David Baldacci
- 6. (tie) THE RACKETEER by John Grisham
- 6. (tie) HEADS IN BEDS; A RECKLESS MEMOIR OF HOTELS, HUSTLES AND
- SO-CALLED HOSPITALITY by Jacob Tomsky
Thanks Lisa! Much appreciated … You keep me up-to-date with the wonderful services Bentley has to offer. So grateful that I can still have a connection with the library even though I now live on the west coast.
Thanks, Donna! It’s always good to hear from you here & on Facebook. -Lisa