Queens readers turn to Grisham, Steele and Michelle Obama in 2020

The Queens Public Library released its list of the most popular books of 2020. Photo courtesy of QPL

By Rachel Vick

Queens readers turned to some familiar authors during the first chapter of the COVID pandemic, according to reports released by the Queens Public Library Monday.

The QPL shared its annual list of most checked-out books Monday, with John Grisham’s “The Guardians” and Danielle Steel’s “Moral Compass” topping the list

First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir “Becoming” came in at number three.

QPL counted digital downloads and physical copies borrowed throughout 2020 to compile lists in adult, children and young adult categories.

“Our list suggests that readers in Queens, the epicenter of the pandemic when it first came to New York City, needed comfort and escape during one of the bleakest periods our communities have ever experienced,” said QPL President Dennis M. Walcott.

“People turned to popular titles and authors to keep them connected to the familiar while struggling with so many unknowns.”

The other books in the top ten included “Lost” by James Patterson and James O. Born; “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens’ “A Minute to Midnight” by David Baldacci; “Educated” by Tara Westover; “Criss Cross” by James Patterson;  “Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel” by Celeste Ng; and “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides 

“Becoming,” “Where the Crawdads Sing”, and “Educated” were also in the top ten at the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library.

Queens teens, and other young adult fiction fans, favored “The Ballad of Songbirds” and “Snakes” by Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games series.