Philly residents checked out all kinds of books from the Free Library this past year \u2014 but one twisty, time-jumping mystery drew the most readers.<\/p>\n
“The God of the Woods<\/a>” 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<\/a>, and Netflix recently announced<\/a> that a series version of “The God of the Woods” is in the works, with Moore serving as a showrunner.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Mummers Parade 2026: Road closures, parking restrictions and how to watch<\/a><\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>: “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.<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n Book\u00a0Author\u00a0The God of the Woods\u00a0Liz Moore\u00a0\u00a0JamesPercival Everett\u00a0The Wedding People\u00a0Alison Espach\u00a0\u00a0Sunrise on the ReapingSuzanne Collins\u00a0Great Big Beautiful Life\u00a0\u00a0Emily HenryDog Man: Big Jim Begins\u00a0Dav Pilkey\u00a0The Housemaid\u00a0\u00a0Freida McFaddenAll Fours\u00a0Miranda July\u00a0\u00a0The Upcycled SelfTariq Trotter\u00a0Dog Man\u00a0Dav Pilkey\u00a0The Let Them Theory\u00a0Mel Robbins\u00a0Remarkably Bright Creatures\u00a0Shelby Van Pelt\u00a0\u00a0IntermezzoSally Rooney\u00a0Long Bright River\u00a0Liz Moore\u00a0Martyr!\u00a0Kaveh Akbar\u00a0The Emperor of Gladness\u00a0Ocean Vuong\u00a0Dog Man: Fetch-22\u00a0Dav Pilkey\u00a0\u00a0The Frozen RiverAriel Lawhorn\u00a0\u00a0For Whom the Ball RollsDav Pilkey\u00a0\u00a0Demon Copperhead\u00a0Barbara KingsolverDog Man: Grime and Punishment\u00a0Dav Pilkey\u00a0\u00a0AtmosphereTaylor Jenkins Reid\u00a0Broken Country\u00a0Clare Leslie Hall\u00a0\u00a0Wild Dark ShoreCharlotte McConaghy\u00a0\u00a0Dog Man: A Tale of Two KittiesDav Pilkey\u00a0<\/p>\n Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
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