As we’re making our way to the end of summer, we wanted to follow up on our What’s selling for summer blog post, to see what readers might have been borrowing to read for the summer. To try and learn which subjects were most popular, we looked at loans and holds in libraries during the six weeks following summer solstice using BookNet’s LibraryData tool, which collects weekly circulation data from over 85 public library systems across Canada, representing approximately 25% of the Canadian English-language population.
Top five recurring subjects
To learn more about the highest performing subjects, we looked at the six weeks (June 22nd, 2026 to August 2nd, 2026), following summer solstice for the last five years and calculated the percent change in loans from the first week to the sixth week. Of the top ten borrowed subjects, the five recurring ones are as follows in the table below.
Percent change for loans by subject in the six weeks following summer solstice, 2022 to 2026
| Subject | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juvenile / Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories | 9% | 1%% | 5% | 22% | 11% |
| Juvenile / Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / General | 7% | 8% | -2% | 20% | 11% |
| Juvenile / Juvenile Fiction / Readers / Beginner | 6% | -6% | 5% | 38% | 16% |
| Juvenile / Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Humorous | 3% | 6% | 4% | 21% | 7% |
| Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense | 3% | -2% | 1% | 24% | 12% |
Weekly loans and holds for the top five bestselling subjects
Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories
Year-over-year loans saw their highest growth during week 6 by 29%. Over this period, loans increased by 9% and 1% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
For holds, year-over-year, they increased the most in week 4, where Juvenile Fiction / Humorous Stories holds grew by 35%. Over the six weeks, holds increased by 6% and 10% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / General
When we compare year-over-year loans for this period, the highest percentage growth was in week 2, where Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / General loans grew by 37%. Over the six weeks, loans increased by 7% and 8% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Year-over-year holds for this period increased the most in week 6, growing by 34%. Over the six weeks, holds increased by 2% and 9% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Juvenile Fiction / Readers / Beginner
In 2026, in the first six weeks of loans following the solstice, we can see that loans have remained fairly steady, much like 2025. When we compare year-over-year loans for this period, we notice a notable growth in loans in 2026 in comparison to 2025, with the highest percentage growth being in week 6, where Juvenile Fiction / Readers / Beginner loans grew by 33%. Over the six weeks, loans increased by 6% and decreased by 6% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Similarly, for holds, the most year-over-year growth took place in week 5, increasing by 22%. In 2026, holds for these titles grew by 2%, while holds in 2025 remained stagnant.
Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Humorous
The highest percentage growth for year-over-year loans for these titles was in week 6, where Juvenile Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / Humorous loans grew by 54%. Over the six weeks, loans increased by 3% and 6% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Similarly, for holds, the most year-over-year growth took place in week 6, increasing by 14%. Over the six weeks, holds for these titles grew by 15% and 7% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Year-over-year loans saw their highest growth during week 3, up 12%. Over the period, loans increased by 3% and 1% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Year-over-year holds for this period increased the most in week 6, where Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense holds grew by 54%. Over the six weeks, holds increased by 3% and 18% in 2026 and 2025, respectively.
Top borrowed titles in the top performing subjects
Of the five subjects, the most popular titles that Canadian readers borrowed during the six weeks were:
- The Deep End (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #15) by Jeff Kinney
- Dog Man: Big Jim Believes: A Graphic Novel (Dog Man #14) by Dav Pilkey
- The Widow by John Grisham
- Hope Rises by David Baldacci
- The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
