What we're reading: The most popular books at Minnesota libraries

Minnesota loves its libraries: The state's library systems have more than 3.8 million registered users, out of a population of roughly 5.5 million.

Combined, the libraries make more than 52 million loans of books, e-books, DVDs and other items in a year.

So what was at the top of the lending list in 2016?

Libraries from around the state shared their most popular items of 2016 with us. Each library keeps records in a different manner — some mix genres, some separate out children's books — but taken together, it provides a fascinating portrait of what Minnesotans are reading.

An overwhelming trend jumps out: Minnesota loves its mysteries and thrillers, especially those with local connections. "The Girl on the Train" appears to be the most checked-out book for adults across the whole state, and Minnesota writers John Sandford and William Kent Krueger make frequent appearances on the lists.

Here's what Minnesota's reading.

Hennepin County Library

The Hennepin County Library system includes 41 libraries that serve 1.2 million county residents.

Fiction

1) "Manitou Canyon" by William Kent Krueger
2) "Night School" by Lee Child
3) "Escape Clause" by John Sandford
4) "The Whistler" by John Grisham
5) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
6) "Commonwealth" by Ann Patchett
7) "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman
8) "Order to Kill" by Vince Flynn
9) "Extreme Prey" by John Sandford
10) "The Wrong Side of Goodbye" by Michael Connelly
11) "The Sixth Idea" by P.J. Tracy
12) "Home" by Harlan Coben
13) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
14) "Living Color" by Jodi Picoult
15) "Truly Madly Guilty" by Liane Moriarty
16) "Private Sydney" by James Patterson
17) "The Girls" by Emma Cline
18) "Bullseye" by James Patterson
19) "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead
20) "A Great Reckoning" by Louise Penny
21) "The Woman in Cabin Ten" by Ruth Ware
22) "The Last Mile" by David Baldacci
23) "LaRose" by Louise Erdrich
24) "The Games" by James Patterson
25) "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah

Nonfiction

1) "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany

Yes, it's strange to see "Harry Potter" on the nonfiction list. No, this doesn't mean that Hogwarts is real. Library of Congress categorization puts plays in the nonfiction category, and this latest from Rowling was a scripted sequel to her mega-franchise.

2) "Hillbilly Elegy" by J.D. Vance
3) "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi
4) "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5) "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown
6) "The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo" by Amy Schumer
7) "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen
8) "Strangers in Their Own Load" by Arlie Russell Hochschild
9) "The Magnolia Story" by Chip Gaines
10) "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande
11) "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo
12) "Hero of the Empire" by Candice Millard
13) "Killing the Rising Sun" by Bill O'Reilly
14) "Filthy Rich" by James Patterson
15) "White Trash" by Nancy Isenberg
16) "Dark Money" by Jane Mayer
17) "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" by Ree Drummond
18) "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow
19) "American Heiress" by Jeffrey Toobin
20) "Evicted" by Matthew Desmond
21) "The Light of the World" by Elizabeth Alexander
22) "The Hidden Life of Trees" by Peter Wohlleben
23) "Quiet" by Susan Cain
24) "It's Okay to Laugh" by Nora McInerny Purmort
25) "A Good Time for the Truth," edited by Sun Yung Shin

St. Paul Public Library

The St. Paul Public Library system has more than 10 branches around the city.

Fiction

1) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
2) "Extreme Prey" by John Sandford
3) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
4) "My Name Is Lucy Barton" by Elizabeth Strout
5) "Fates and Furies" by Lauren Groff
6) "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah
7) "Rogue Lawyer" by John Grisham
8) "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee
9) "LaRose" by Louise Erdrich
10) "Tricky Twenty-Two" by Janet Evanovich

Nonfiction

1) "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
2) "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi
3) "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo
4) "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany (see above)
5) "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande
6) "The Road to Little Dribbling" by Bill Bryson
7) "H Is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald
8) "Lab Girl" by Hope Jahren
9) "The Witches" by Stacy Schiff
10) "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown

Rochester Public Library

Fiction

1) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
2) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
3) "See Me" by Nicolas Sparks
4) "Rogue Lawyer" by John Grisham
5) "The Survivor" by Vince Flynn
6) "The Martian" by Andy Weir
7) "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee
8) "Tricky Twenty-Two" by Janet Evanovich
9) "Make Me" by Lee Child
10) "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Nonfiction

1) "When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi
2) "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo
3) "Spark Joy" by Marie Kondo
4) The Minnesota drivers manual
5) "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande
6) "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
7) "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown
8) "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough
9) "Hillbilly Elegy" by J.D. Vance
10) "Thirty Rooms to Hide In: Insanity, Addiction, and Rock 'n' Roll in the Shadow of the Mayo Clinic" by Luke Sullivan

Stillwater Public Library

The Stillwater Public Library is part of the Washington County Library system. The list below is limited to Stillwater's circulation, where readers obviously have a taste for travel.

1) "Dead Wake" by Erik Larson
2) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
3) "Fodor's Italy"
4) "Rick Steve's Spain"
5) "Make Me" by Lee Child
6) "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck
7) "Our Souls at Night" by Kent Haruf
8) "Fodor's Florida"
9) "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed
10) "Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger

Kitchigami Regional Library

The Kitchigami Regional Library system has nine branches spread across five northern Minnesota counties. Their records for physical books are not available for 2016; below is a list of the most popular ebooks. For northern Minnesota residents who borrow e-books from the library, thrillers reign supreme.

e-Books

1) "Find Her" by Lisa Gardner
2) "Extreme Prey" by John Sandford
3) "15th Affair" by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
4) "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman
5) "The Last Mile" by David Baldacci
6) "Rogue Lawyer" by John Grisham
7) "Million Dollar Baby" by Lisa Jackson
8) "The Bitter Season" by Tami Hoag
9) "Blue" by Danielle Steel
10) "Fool Me Once" by Harlan Coben

Duluth Public Library

1) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
2) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
3) "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series by Jeff Kinney
4) "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown
5) "Goodbye to the Dead" by Brian Freeman
6) "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah
7) "Guinness World Records"
8) "Hillsider: Snapshots of a Curious Political Journey" by Don Ness
9) "Garfield" books by Jim Davis
10) "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrik Backman

Winona Public Library

The most popular book overall at Winona Public Library in 2016 was "Pokemon Adventures." (No one could escape Pokemon fever.) Pokemon aside, below is a list of the most popular books for adults, minus tax instructions.

1) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
2) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
3) "Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes
4) "Yotsuba" by Kiyohiko Azuma
5) "See Me" by Nicholas Sparks
6) "Tricky Twenty-Two" by Janet Evanovich
7) "Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee
8) "Extreme Prey" by John Sandford
9) "Cross Justice" by James Patterson
10) "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande

Lake Agassiz Regional Library

The Lake Agassiz Regional Library system serves residents in seven northwest Minnesota counties, with 13 branch libraries. Readers in the area clearly love thrillers: The only two books in the top 20 that aren't thrillers or mysteries are a pair of dramas set against the backdrop of World War II.

1) "15th Affair" by James Patterson
2) "Alert" by Michael Ledwidge and James Patterson
3) "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
4) "Bitter Season" by Tami Hoag
5) "Cross Justice" by James Patterson
6) "Crossing" by Michael Connelly
7) "Extreme Prey" by John Sandford
8) "Fool Me Once" by Harlan Coben
9) "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
10) "Guilty" by David Baldacci
11) "Last Mile" by David Baldacci
12) "Make Me" by Lee Child
13) "Murder House" by James Patterson
14) "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah
15) "Off the Grid" by C.J. Box
16) "Private Paris" by James Patterson
17) "Rogue Lawyer" by John Grisham
18) "See Me" by Nicholas Sparks
19) "Tricky Twenty-Two" by Janet Evanovich
20) "X" by Sue Grafton