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ALPENA, Mich. — 2021 was a big year for the Alpena County Library, which finally completed its renovations and returned to its original building. We popped in to ask about the most–borrowed books of 2021.

Tina Markowski, head of Public Services, broke down the top borrows by age group. She said adults took the most interest in thrillers and historical fiction.

“The top book was by Kristin Hannah; ‘The Four Winds.’ It’s a very popular book and I’ve been told it’s very good. I just checked it out, so we’ll see.”

Authors Dave Baldacci and John Grisham fill out a large chunk of the remaining adult fiction.

Over in teen books, graphic novels dominated the top of the list. Manga titles like “Naruto,” “Demon Slayer” and “Bleach” beat out popular novels like “The Firekeeper’s Daughter” and “One of Us is Lying.”

Meanwhile, authors Dav Pilkey and Jeff Kinney sat as the kings of kids’ fiction. Their series “Dog–Man” and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” made up nearly the entire list of top check–outs for juveniles.

Markowski said library traffic improved compared to 2020.

“Once people found out we were open for curbside last year, and now we’re open with our new building, borrows have been significantly larger than last year.”

As for what Alpena watched in 2021, Markowski said superhero movies like “Captain Marvel” and “Black Widow” topped the list, even among new releases.

Here’s to another year of reading!