BURSTThe most popular book taken out at the Smithers Public Library last year was a historical novel.
The Women, by Kristin Hannah, is about Frances “Frankie” McGrath, a sheltered nursing student who joins the Army Nurse Corps and serves as a combat nurse in the Vietnam War. It focusses on her experiences, the profound bonds of female friendship, the trauma of war, and her struggle to be recognized and find her voice when she returns home to a divided America.
Other popular adult fiction books included The Grey Wolf by Louise Penny; Three days in June by Anne Tyler; and Battle Mountain by C.J. Fox.
The most popular non-fiction taken out last year in Smithers included cook books. Whitewater cooks the food we love by Shelley Adams and Oh she glows for dinner : nourishing plant-based meals to keep you glowing by Angela Liddon made the top four. Also on the list The widow’s guide to dead bastards: a memoir by Jessica Waite and The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness by Jonathan Haidt.
Moving over to the children’s section, the most popular picture book in 2025 at the Smithers Library was Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise, followed closely by Dragon Dreams by Roni Schotter.
The most popular teen fiction was A court of thorns and roses (series) by Sarah J. Maas.
Also, 24,000 E-items were borrowed from the library last year, including e-books, audiobooks, and e-magazines.
The most popular e-book was The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese, the most borrowed audio book was Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros, and the most ‘taken out’ e-magazine was The New Yorker.
Library Director Wendy Wright noted that classics such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and 1984 by George Orwell were also in the top five most popular audiobooks borrowed last year.