What books captivated, enthralled and riveted local readers’ attention last year?

According to Mary Mulrenen, spokesperson for the Fairfax County Public Library, Fairfax County readers selected many of the same fiction and non-fiction favorites that caught the attention of book-lovers nationwide. Dr. Seuss, science-fiction and, once again, lawyers (John Grisham’s 25th legal thriller) topped the charts.

Mulrenen compiled the following “Top Five” lists based on the top 100 checkouts from Fairfax County Public Library in the adult, teen and children’s section. The Hunger Games Trilogy leads with a combined 10,330 checkouts on all three titles. Dr. Seuss has staying power with 9,822 checkouts and John Grisham’s The Litigators has 4,868, making it the most popular title in the system. The same titles were best sellers on The New York Times list, which tracks national and independent book store sales, as well as Internet retail sellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Fairfax County Public Library system includes eight regional libraries, 14 community libraries, with more than 2.4 million items available for checkout. According to the FCPS website--www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/--in 2012, there were: 495,831 registered customers; 5,246,854 visits to library branches; 13,034,816 items loaned; 4,162,599 visits to the library's Internet website and 172,630 people attended 8,934 events.

Adult

Top Five Fiction

The Litigators by John Grisham

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton

The Drop by Michael Connelly

Zero Day by David Baldacci

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

Top Five Nonfiction

Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Top Five eBooks

The Litigators by John Grisham

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

A Game of Thrones by George Martin

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

Teen

Top Five Titles

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Top Five Series

Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini

Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

Children

Top Five Series

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney

Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

Fly Guy early readers by Tedd Arnold

Top Five Titles

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: a Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss