By JOHN HARLOW | Editor-in-Chief
A survey of the most-borrowed books from Pacific Palisades Branch Library revealed a taste for well-written drama, especially if it takes place in Europe.
Four of the five most popular library books of 2016 were set more than 5,000 miles away—yet their essential humanity ensured the writing resonated with Palisadian concerns.
The most popular book was “The Girl on the Train” by former British journalist Paula Hawkins.
Her alcoholic protagonist may have witnessed a dastardly deed on her hazy commute in and out of North London. Last year Hollywood relocated the drama to New York, but kept a Brit, Emily Blunt, as the bruised blackout drunk.
Two and three on the library list, Anthony Doerr’s “All The Light We Cannot See,” a heartbreaking love story set in Nazi-occupied France, and Colson Whitehead’s award-winning “Underground Railroad,” following two slaves on the run north from Georgia, are both in negotiations to be filmed.
Already filmed in Swedish, “A Man Called Ove,” Fredrick Backman’s semi-comedic portrait of a sullen, suicidal widower battling neighbors, may have been set in a region called Västra Götalands län, but clearly felt familiar to local readers.
And the fifth most popular book, “Harry Potter and The Cursed Child,” which J.K. Rowling wrote primarily as a play, was a hit across all ages. Rowling still brings the magic.
Mary Hopf, senior librarian, said “The Girl on the Train” was probably the most requested book in every Los Angeles library last year, but the other four titles were more characteristic of the town.
“Our readers appreciate a literary touch, something well written, like a Julian Barnes. And we have a lot of writers and movie people in the town who want to know what people want right now, so they can make it. We have a very smart readership in this town.”
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