The Swampscott Public Library released its most-checked-out books of 2025, revealing a trend: female authors dominated fiction, while male authors led in nonfiction.

While the lists reflect a mix of voices, female authors were especially prominent in fiction, particularly in the young adult category. Male authors dominated nonfiction, with popular titles covering topics such as the Christian revolution, habit-building, New York City sanitation workers, and dinosaurs and animals.

The lists also featured several nationwide bestsellers, including Frieda McFadden’s mystery thriller “The Crash,” contemporary family drama “We All Live Here” by JoJo Moyes, and Jonathan Haidt’s youth mental-health study “The Anxious Generation.”

In the young adult and children’s sections, manga titles were especially popular, a trend fueled in part by streaming platforms such as Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll. The U.S. manga market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 24% from 2025 to 2030, potentially reaching $3.73 billion, according to Grand View Research. Popular titles in Swampscott included “The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All” by Sumiko Arai, “The New Girl” by Cassandra Calin and “Solo Leveling Vol. 10” by Chugong.

Below are the most-borrowed titles by category in 2025 at the Swampscott Public Library:

For the adults, the most borrowed fiction books were:

• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
• Fever Beach by Carl Hiaasen
• The Big Empty by Robert Crais
• The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict
• We All Live Here by JoJo Moyes
• We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida
• The Crash by Freida McFadden
• Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
• Isola by Allegra Goodman
• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

And the most checked out non-fiction adult books were:

• The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
• Dominion by Tom Holland
• Japan by Lonely Planet
• Milk Street Bakes by Christopher Kimball
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
• On Freedom by Timothy Snyder
• Italy by Frommer’s
• What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking by Caroline Chambers

The most borrowed young adult fiction books were:

• Passion by Lauren Kate
• Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
• Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
• The Hunger Games: Illustrated Edition by Suzanne Collins
• The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
• Bad Blood by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• Ground Zero by Alan Gratz
• This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinka

And the most checked out manga / graphic novel young adult books were:

• The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai
• The New Girl by Cassandra Calin
• Solo Leveling Vol. 10 by Chugong
• The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife Vol. 5 by Iwatobi Neko
• Blue Lock Vol. 8 by Muneyuki Kaneshiro
• I Ship My Rival x Me Vol. 2 by PEPA
• Spy x Family Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo
• The Summer Hikaru Died Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren
• The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 1 by Natsu Hyuuga
• Frieren Vol. 1 by Kanehito Yamada

The Children’s Room broke its lists into fiction, non-fiction, picture books and graphic novels. The Top 5 children’s fiction books were:

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot by Jeff Kinney
• Minecraft Ironsword Academy: It’s Now or Nether by Caleb Zane Huett
• Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-so-Bratty Little Sister by Rachel Renee Russell
• The Princess in Black at the Kitty Catastrophe by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
• The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown

Children’s non-fiction checkouts were:

• Gifts from the Garbage Truck by Andrew Larsen
• A Dinosaur a Day by Miranda Smith
• 5,000 Awesome Facts (About Everything) Updated and Expanded by National Geographic Kids
• An Animal a Day by Miranda Smith
• Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia by Elizabeth Dowswett and Hannah Dolan

The most borrowed children’s picture books were:

• The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster by Mo Williams
• 5-Minute Moana Stories by Disney
• The Sour Grape by Jory John and Pete Oswald
• Peppa Pig: Ballet Lesson by Elizabeth Schaefer
• Bluey: Swim School by Penguin Young Readers Licenses

And the most checked out children’s graphic novels were:

• Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder by Dav Pilkey

• The Baby-sitters Club: Kristy and the Walking Disaster by Ellen Crenshaw
• Besties Work it Out by Kayla Miller and Jeffrey Canino
• Cat Kid Comic Collaborations by Dav Pilkey
• The Squad by Christina Soontornvat