Fort Worth’s Top Reads of 2021

Published on December 30, 2021

As the literary hub of Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Public Library saw a banner year not only for digital checkouts but also for growing attendance at book and reading-related programs.

This year, 5,244 guests attended family and children’s story times, and 262 adults attended author talks and programs; 769 patrons joined librarians for What Fort Worth Reads, a weekly Wednesday Instagram chat where participants discuss book recommendations. As part of programming expansion, in 2022 every library location will host at least one weekly youth/family story time, and author talks will occur monthly throughout the city. Find upcoming programs for all 17 library locations. 

The Fort Worth Public Library added nearly 200,000 new items to the city’s collection and saw 3,050,185 items checked out. On Dec. 13, library patrons set a record by checking out more than 1 million books through the library’s online catalog.

Top titles, whether in print or digital, for 2021 included:

Adult fiction

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.
• Fly Away by Kristin Hannah.
• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid.

Adult nonfiction

• Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches by S.C. Gwynne.
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey.
• Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover.
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.
• Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.

Young adults

• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo.
• The One and Only Bob by Katherine Applegate.
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.
• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Youth/children

• The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway by Jeff Kinney.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney.
• The Deep End by Jeff Kinney.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal by Jeff Kinney.

Get articles like this in your inbox. Subscribe to City News.