Though our doors are closed, the Library still provides access to over 300,000 e-books through our free e-reader app, SimplyE. Since the Library closed about a month ago, e-book checkouts have increased nearly 10% compared to the same period last year. The number of weekly e-book readers has also increased—by 15% compared to the average number of weekly readers last year.  So, what's everyone reading?

Topping the list is Michelle Obama's popular memoir, Becoming, a favorite across many of our branches. Also included: James McBride's Deacon King Kong—the first book being read as part of a new virtual book club being offered by the Library in partnership with WNYC—and two books featured on our 125 Books We Love list (released in February to help celebrate the Library system’s 125th anniversary): Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling and dystopian novel A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Here’s the full list of what New York City is reading to help cope with the current moment.

The New York Public Library's Top 10 List of E-Book Checkouts

1. Becoming by Michelle Obama
2. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
3. The Dutch House: A Novel by Ann Patchett 
4. Deacon King Kong: A Novel by James McBride
5. The Testaments: The Sequel to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
6. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
7. Normal People: A Novel by Sally Rooney
8. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K.  Rowling
9. The Water Dancer: A Novel by Ta-Nehisi Coates
10. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

New Yorkers can download SimplyE from the App Store or Google Play and start reading immediately with their library card. Don't have a library card? No problem. New York state residents can sign up for one through SimplyE.