Most popular books at Christchurch libraries this year

Photo: Linwood Library

Kiwi readers often turned to stories of wartime resilience, high-stakes thrillers and immersive fantasy, based on this year’s borrowing figures from Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington libraries.

In Auckland, the extraordinary life story of WWII spy Pippa Latour, The Last Secret Agent, was the most borrowed. Latour, who died in West Auckland in 2023, also made an impression elsewhere, placing seventh in Christchurch and 15th in Wellington.

Close behind came two homegrown successes. New Zealand novelist Olivia Spooner secured both second and third place in Auckland with her WWII-inspired titles The Girl from London and The Songbirds of Florence.

Time Out Bookstore manager Jenna Todd says they tap into a “gentler” storytelling style of wartime stories, instilling a more hopeful outlook.

Further south, readers were in the mood for something more thrilling. English presenter-turned-crime-writer Richard Osman’s We Solve Murders landed in the top three for Wellington and Christchurch — first and second respectively — though Christchurch readers ultimately crowned a more classic hero. Andrew and Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novel In Too Deep claimed the city’s top spot, with Jojo Moyes’ family-focused romance We All Live Here rounding out its top three.

Wellingtonians also gravitated toward Irish author Sally Rooney’s novel Intermezzo — a story about two brothers navigating the death of their father — which came in second. Third place went to Damien Wilkins’ Delirious – a major winner at the 2025 Ockham NZ Book Awards.

Photo: Penguin Random House

Todd says it’s heartening to see award-winners and popular word-of-mouth titles prominently represented. “So books like You Are Here by David Nichols and Sally Rooney and Richard Osman were all really big for us last year.”

Biography lovers in Wellington flocked to A Different Kind of Power, Dame Jacinda Ardern’s memoir, which was the most popular biography but tied for 12th place overall alongside Kristin Hannah’s wartime fiction The Women. Dame Jacinda’s memoir also resonated in Christchurch, where it ranked fourth overall, and in Auckland, where it placed fifth.

In Auckland, Todd says it has been one of this year’s bestselling titles.

The covers of some of the most borrowed books among libraries in New Zealand in 2025. Photos: Supplied / Penguin Books, Allen & Unwin NZ, Scholastic, Bloomsbury Publishing

Children’s and YA books?

Auckland’s young adult shelves were dominated by Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy romances A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury, with Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping — the second prequel to The Hunger Games — securing the third spot.

Todd says romantasy’s rise stems from both escapism and curiosity, with prospective buyers wanting to check what the hype is about before committing.

For children, series reigned supreme. In Auckland, Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man claimed the entire top three; Christchurch’s children showed similar devotion, with Dog Man first and Diary of a Wimpy Kid taking the next two spots. Wellington kids were even more decisive — Jeff Kinney’s series swept all 10 of the city’s top children’s titles.

“[It] really shows how important it is for kids to connect to a book,” Todd says. “And I think parents get quite relieved when a kid loves a series, because they can just go back for more and the publishers are happy with that because they can just continue selling it. So there's a lot of life to series.”

What about eBooks and eAudiobooks?

Auckland recorded more than six million digital loans this year (and 11 million physical checkouts).

Among adult eBooks, Mel Robbins’ The Let Them Theory led the pack followed by Kristin Hannah’s The Women and Wilkins’ Delirious. Children’s eBooks were dominated by graphic novel adaptations from Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-sitters Club universe — particularly Karen’s Grandmothers and Stacey’s Mistake. In eAudiobooks, meanwhile, the Harry Potter series remained unbeatable for Auckland kids.

In the adult’s eAudio category, Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series — Onyx Storm, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame — swept Auckland’s top three. Onyx Storm proved to be a national favourite as well, topping the adult eBook and eAudio chart in Christchurch, followed by Callie Hart’s fantasy romance Quicksilver.

For younger Christchurch listeners and readers, Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping, Pilkey’s Dog Man and the Baby-sitters Club graphic novels continued their strong run.

Todd says it was great to see local talent shine.

She notes that libraries and bookstores influence each other’s popularity lists. High library hold queues often push eager readers to buy instead, while long retail waitlists can send them back to the library.

“So I can imagine some books would be even more popular, if they could be…

“I think the main thing is as long as people continue to read and connect, get off their screens and really engage with reading, you can only feel better.”

*Christchurch’s eBooks and eAudiobooks figures were from end of November last year to November this year.

Top 10 physical books - adults

Christchurch

In Too Deep - Lee Child and Andrew Child
We Solve Murders - Richard Osman
We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes
A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir - Jacinda Ardern
Intermezzo - Sally Rooney
The Secret - Lee Child and Andrew Child
The Last Secret Agent - Pippa Latour
The Hidden Girl - Lucinda Edmonds
The Waiting - Michael Connelly
Death at the Sign of the Rook - Kate Atkinson

Auckland

The Last Secret Agent - Pippa Latour
The Girl from London - Olivia Spooner
The Songbirds of Florence - Olivia Spooner
The Women - Kristin Hannah
A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir - Jacinda Ardern
In Too Deep - Lee Child
See How They Fall - Rachel Paris
No Words For This: A Memoir - Alison Mau
The Let Them Theory - Mel Robbins
Intermezzo - Sally Rooney

Wellington

We Solve Murders - Richard Osman
Intermezzo - Sally Rooney
Delirious - Damien Wilkins
You Are Here - David Nicholls
Here One Moment - Liane Moriarty
Tell Me Everything: A Novel - Elizabeth Strout
Long Island - Colm Tóibín
Orbital - Samantha Harvey
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones - James Clear
My Favourite Mistake - Marian Keyes

Top 10 physical books - young fiction

Christchurch children and young adults

Dog Man - Dav Pilkey
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No brainer - Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess - Jeff Kinney
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J. K. Rowling
Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy - Dav Pilkey
Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl
Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets: The Second Epic Novel - Dav Pilkey
Captain Underpants and the Tyrannical Retaliation of the Turbo Toilet 2000: The Eleventh Epic Novel - Dav Pilkey
Dog Man - Dav Pilkey
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling