What were the most popular ebook downloads at the Free Library of Philadelphia in 2018?

As the world moves away from ink and paper, ebooks are gaining popularity across Philly-area libraries. But the new reader habit means libraries have to spend more per ebook, compared to paperbacks as publishers typically charge more for the digital version. That’s prompting libraries to band together and demand better pricing from publishers who are trying to make sure their profits are protected.

Here the top 100 ebooks at the Free Library of Philadelphia and how many times they were digitally checked out:

The Woman in the Window, 1,482.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, 1,448.

The Midnight Line: Jack Reacher Series (Book 22), 1,415.

The Handmaid’s Tale, 1,406.

Come Sundown, 1,311.

The Fix: Amos Decker Series (Book 3), 1,250.

Hardcore Twenty-Four--A Stephanie Plum Novel: Stephanie Plum Series (Book 24), 1,247.

Year One: Chronicles of The One (Book 1), 1,229.

Camino Island, 1,210.

Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir, 1,194.

The Whistler, 1,181.

Big Little Lies, 1,175.

The Rooster Bar, 1,173.

Two Kinds of Truth: Harry Bosch Series (Book 20), 1,165.

The Girl on the Train, 1,136.

Small Great Things, 1,104.

Outlander: Outlander Series (Book 1), 1,095.

Before We Were Yours, 1,044.

The Late Show: Renée Ballard Series (Book 1), 1,043.

Into the Water, 1,027.

The Underground Railroad, 1,024.

All the Light We Cannot See, 1,013.

Truly Madly Guilty, 1,001.

The Wife Between Us, 1,000.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, 994.

Origin, 994.

End Game: Will Robie Series (Book 5), 989.

When Breath Becomes Air, 980.

The Book Thief, 973.

Dark in Death: In Death Series (Book 46), 972.

The Great Alone, 970.

Y is for Yesterday: Kinsey Millhone Series (Book 25), 966.

Little Fires Everywhere, 962.

The People vs. Alex Cross: Alex Cross Series (Book 25), 957.

Seeing Red, 908.

Artemis, 899.

One Perfect Lie, 891.

Camino Island (unabridged), 887.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, 876.

Two by Two, 871.

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (unabridged), 854.

The Identicals, 847.

Between the World and Me, 834.

The Martian, 823.

The Fix: Amos Decker Series (Book 3, unabridged), 821.

After Anna, 817.

Don’t Let Go, 814.

Before the Fall, 800.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (unabridged), 799.

Still Me -- A Novel: Me Before You Trilogy (Book 3), 795.

Glass Houses -- A Novel: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Series (Book 13), 794.

A Gentleman in Moscow, 793.

Yes Please, 787.

The Girl on the Train, 782.

Now That You Mention It, 782.

An American Marriage, 777.

The Goldfinch, 775.

16th Seduction: Women’s Murder Club Series (Book 16), 766.

The Fallen: Amos Decker Series (Book 4), 761.

The Wrong Side of Goodbye: Harry Bosch Series (Book 19), 758.

Into the Water (unabridged), 755.

Sing, Unburied, Sing, 755.

Exposed: Rosato & DiNunzio Series (Book 5), 737.

The 17th Suspect: Women’s Murder Club Series (Book 17), 736.

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, 732.

Educated: A Memoir, 731.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, 726.

The Hit: Will Robie Series (Book 2), 724.

City of Endless Night, 719.

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, 718.

The Nightingale (unabridged), 713.

The Store, 711.

Gone Girl (unabridged), 709.

Wonder, 709.

Deep Freeze: Virgil Flowers Series (Book 10), 707.

Shelter in Place, 705.

Haunted: Michael Bennett Series (Book 10), 703.

A Column of Fire: The Pillars of the Earth Series (Book 3), 698.

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye: A Lisbeth Salander novel, continuing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series, 696.

The Last Mile: Amos Decker Series (Book 2, unabridged), 691.

The Giver: The Giver Quartet (Book 1), 691.

End Game: Will Robie Series (Book 5, unabridged), 690.

Secrets in Death: In Death Series (Book 45), 690.

The Hunger Games: The Hunger Games Series (Book 1, unabridged), 688.

Turtles All the Way Down, 681.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, 678.

The Good Daughter, 673.

The Ex (unabridged), 672.

Memory Man: Amos Decker Series (Book 1), 671.

The Girl Before (unabridged), 669.

Crazy Rich Asians: Crazy Rich Asians Series (Book 1), 664.

See Me, 663.

A Wrinkle In Time: Time Quartet (Book 1, unabridged), 661.

Me Before You, 657.

The Immortalists, 652.

Leaving Time (unabridged), 651.

Sisters Like Us: Mischief Bay Series (Book 4), 647.

No Man’s Land, 635.

Wired: Buchanan-Renard Series (Book 13), 635.

The Late Show: Renée Ballard Series (Book 1, unabridged), 635.