Borrowed in Brooklyn

What Brooklyn is reading right now

Borrowed in Brooklyn follows the adult books most in demand across 12 Brooklyn Public Library branches—a live look at what’s squeezed at one branch, what’s scarce everywhere, and what’s newly moving across Brooklyn shelves.

Rankings are based on public BPL catalog-derived availability signals, not checkout or patron records. Methodology.

Hardest to Get

Books currently squeezed across the borough. The score combines scarcity (available vs. total copies), breadth (how many branches carry it), branches all out, neighborhood spread (how many regions of the panel are represented), and the public hold count when BPL exposes one. Titles that are well-stocked everywhere won't appear here even if they're widely read.

Availability-derivedAvailability-derived: public hold counts are too inconsistent across comparable titles to fold in. This ranking is based on shelf availability and movement only. Missing holds are never treated as zero.
  1. 1
    Yesteryear

    Caro Claire Burke

    1/67 available · 10 branches carrying · 9 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: not exposedPublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  2. 2
    Strangers : a memoir of marriage

    Belle Burden

    0/51 available · 10 branches carrying · 10 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: 1,104system-widePublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  3. 3
    The correspondent

    Virginia Evans

    0/56 available · 10 branches carrying · 10 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: 1,036system-widePublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  4. 4
    Heart the lover

    Lily King

    2/58 available · 10 branches carrying · 8 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: not exposedPublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  5. 5
    Whistler

    Ann Patchett

    1/41 available · 10 branches carrying · 9 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: not exposedPublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  1. 6
    Famesick : a memoir

    Lena Dunham

    1/39 available · 10 branches carrying · 9 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: not exposedPublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  2. 7
    Yellowface

    R F Kuang

    1/31 available · 11 branches carrying · 10 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: 0system-widePublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  3. 8
    The loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

    Kiran Desai

    0/27 available · 10 branches carrying · 10 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: not exposedPublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  4. 9
    I who have never known men

    Jacqueline Harpman

    0/25 available · 10 branches carrying · 10 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: 372system-widePublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
  5. 10
    My friends

    Fredrik Backman

    0/25 available · 10 branches carrying · 10 all out · 4 regions
    Public holds: 451system-widePublic holds: BPL exposes 'people waiting' at the bib (record) level — one number per work for the entire 60+ branch BPL system, NOT just the 12 tracked branches. We capture the number when it's there. 'Not exposed' means BPL didn't expose it on this scrape — we never substitute zero for missing data.
How we measure popularity →

Neighborhood Favorites

Books unusually in demand at one branch compared with the 12-branch panel average — neighborhood-specific picks that might fly under the borough-wide radar.

  • Inglés fluido ¡sin acento!

    stands out at Greenpoint · +45 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • Disability intimacy : essays on love, care, and desire

    stands out at Bushwick · +43 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • Inglés para latinos. Primer nivel : un camino hacia la fluidez..

    William C Harvey · stands out at Brooklyn Heights · +43 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • Food person

    Adam D Roberts · stands out at Bedford · +42 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • Well endowed : the secrets to strategic spending, building a financial foundation for you and your family, and creating lasting generational wealth

    Vivian Tu · stands out at Bay Ridge · +41 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • The backyard bird chronicles

    Amy Tan · stands out at Bedford · +40 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • We'll prescribe you a cat

    Syou Ishida · stands out at Brooklyn Heights · +40 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

  • Inglés express

    stands out at Williamsburgh · +39 vs panel avgOver-index: this branch's demand pressure for the title minus the average pressure across ALL tracked branches that carry the title (this branch included). Branches that don't carry the title are excluded so non-coverage doesn't artificially inflate distinctiveness. Positive = unusually in demand here.

On the Rise

How this works →

Newly discovered or newly moving adult books showing early signs of demand before they become hard to find everywhere. Separate from the main demand-pressure ranking.

  • I regret almost everything : a memoirKeith McNally

    Breakout score 68 · availability/movement signals only

    Availability dropped across 3 branches this week.

  • The housemaid is watchingFreida McFadden

    Breakout score 68 · availability/movement signals only

    Availability dropped across 3 branches this week.

  • The strangerAlbert Camus

    Breakout score 68 · availability/movement signals only

    Availability dropped across 3 branches this week.

  • Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë

    Breakout score 68 · availability/movement signals only

    Availability dropped across 3 branches this week.

  • Strangers : a memoir of marriageBelle Burden

    Breakout score 64 · 1104 public holds

    Already on the Hardest to get list, but its 1104-hold queue points to continuing breakout demand.

  • The correspondentVirginia Evans

    Breakout score 59 · 1036 public holds

    Already on the Hardest to get list, but its 1036-hold queue points to continuing breakout demand.