What do love, murder and the happiest man on Earth have in common?
They're all hot-ticket subjects, if newly released borrowing data from Lake Mac Libraries, coinciding with today's 'Library Lovers' Day', is anything to go by.
Bookworms, audiophiles and movie-lovers borrowed almost one million items in the 2022 calendar year, up slightly on 2021.
Eddie Jaku's bestselling biography, The Happiest Man on Earth, proved to be the most popular biography, while Liane Moriarty's Apples Never Fall – about families, love and drama – was the most popular item overall.
Aussie murder-mystery The Dry was the year's most-rented DVD, but its star Eric Bana had a pack of animated canines nipping at his heels, with PAW Patrol and Bluey DVDs taking up the next three places.
"Our most popular titles of 2022 reflect the many and varied interests, passions and preferences of people across the Lake Mac community," Lake Macquarie City Council Manager Arts, Culture and Tourism Jacqui Hemsley said.
"They range from biographies of intrepid explorers to guides on how to garden for your soul, and from action-packed dramas to slow-burn mysteries that are hard to put down."
Australian authors and artists featured prominently among the most popular titles last year.
Close to home, Warren Taggart's Spirit of Place: Aboriginal Sites of the Hunter Region hit the top 10 in the adult non-fiction category.
Ms Hemsley said Lake Mac Libraries had almost 200,000 items on offer across its nine branches and The Rover mobile library.
"Some library patrons find it hard to know what to read next," she said.
"With that in mind, we've created a 'Shelf Help' online form to help staff find titles tailor-made to suit your preferences."
Last year's data reflects the ongoing trend towards using e-readers and other electronic devices to read, stream and watch content.
Almost one in four of the 988,624 items loaned in 2022 were 'e-loans', with adult fiction and non-fiction titles making up the lion's share.
"We're getting back to pre-COVID levels, which is fantastic, and we'll continue to evolve and adapt our services accordingly," Ms Hemsley said.
