The Most Popular Books of May, According to Libby

For the past few months, we’ve been looking at checkout statistics for Libby—the app that patrons can use to check out ebooks, audiobooks, and emagazines. For May, we’re switching things up a bit. This time, we’re looking at the check-ourt numbers for ebooks as well as audiobooks.

Both sets of statistics offer some interesting insight into library patron interests throughout the country. The books span from a very recent mega-bestselling thriller to a book by a certain Georgian-era fave. Though, despite the diversity in publishing dates, there isn’t too much diversity in authors. This makes sense when you consider how many people want to read the most popular books that everyone is talking about. Many times, those are the books with the biggest publishing budgets.

So, if you keep abreast of our weekly bestseller list, many of the books on the list will be familiar to you. Because of this, and to look a little more at the diverse titles, the list below skips around a bit in terms of ranking.

Below is a sampling of the most popular audiobooks on Libby in May:

1. The Tenant by Freida McFadden

6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

7. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

10. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

17. James by Percival Everett

Below is a sampling of the most popular ebooks on Libby in May:

1. The Women by Kristin Hannah

2. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

13. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

16. Uncommon Measure by Natalie Hodges

20. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese

For more diverse May books, check out The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis, and Erased: What American Patriarchy Has Hidden from Us by Anna Malaika Tubbs from this list of The Best Book Club Books of May.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.