Philly residents checked out all kinds of books from the Free Library this past year — but one twisty, time-jumping mystery drew the most readers.
“The God of the Woods” by Liz Moore was the most-borrowed book from the public library system in 2025, data from the Free Library reveals. Though the novel takes place in the Adirondacks, its author has more local ties. Moore is a Temple University professor who set her previous novel, “Long Bright River,” on the streets of Kensington. A TV adaptation premiered on Peacock earlier this year, and Netflix recently announced that a series version of “The God of the Woods” is in the works, with Moore serving as a showrunner.
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“James” by Percival Everett, the Pultizer-winning re-imagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” was the second-most popular pick at the Free Library. The rest of the top five included, respectively, “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach, “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins and “Great Big Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry.
Two books in the children’s “Dog Man” series, a spinoff of “Captain Underpants,” made the top 10. So did the year’s One Book, One Philadelphia selection: “The Upcycled Self,” the autobiography from Roots emcee Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter. “The Housemaid” by Freida McFadden and “All Fours” by Miranda July took up the final spots at Nos. 7 and 8, respectively.
Check out these and the rest of 25 most-borrowed titles from the Free Library for the past year below. Technically, all of the system’s interlibrary loans claimed the No. 4 slot on the ranking, but since they represented a category rather than individual book, we eliminated them from our chart:
Book Author The God of the Woods Liz Moore JamesPercival Everett The Wedding People Alison Espach Sunrise on the ReapingSuzanne Collins Great Big Beautiful Life Emily HenryDog Man: Big Jim Begins Dav Pilkey The Housemaid Freida McFaddenAll Fours Miranda July The Upcycled SelfTariq Trotter Dog Man Dav Pilkey The Let Them Theory Mel Robbins Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt IntermezzoSally Rooney Long Bright River Liz Moore Martyr! Kaveh Akbar The Emperor of Gladness Ocean Vuong Dog Man: Fetch-22 Dav Pilkey The Frozen RiverAriel Lawhorn For Whom the Ball RollsDav Pilkey Demon Copperhead Barbara KingsolverDog Man: Grime and Punishment Dav Pilkey AtmosphereTaylor Jenkins Reid Broken Country Clare Leslie Hall Wild Dark ShoreCharlotte McConaghy Dog Man: A Tale of Two KittiesDav Pilkey
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