These books have the longest waitlists at NYC's libraries

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We've all been there—you go to check out a book at the library or on your e-reader and it turns out, everyone else had the exact same idea. The book you wanted is on hold...for a very long time.

There are always titles that are so popular there aren't enough copies to go around if you don't want to straight-up buy one.

We asked the city's public libraries what titles have the longest waitlists right now and they spilled the beans. Among the three of them—the New York Public Library, The Queens Public Library and The Brooklyn Public Library—the most common titles on hold with the longest waits include The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir, Heart the Lover by Lily King and Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden. And the longest waits seem to be for their digital versions.

Of course, no library likes to keep readers waiting! NYPL says it is committed to reducing wait times so its patrons can easily access the most popular books right now. For example, Project Hail Mary recently had 2,802 e-book holds and 1,182 holds for print copies—that’s a waitlist of nearly 4,000 across formats! Some had to wait about 15 weeks to check it out! Seeing this, librarians launched immediate, no-wait access to the e-book and purchased twice as many print copies as they had for their new “Trending Now” collection. This series is actually a physical book spotlight at branches that feature bestsellers and high-interest books having their “moment.” These books are prominently displayed for anyone to borrow, avoiding hold queues, the library tells us. Now? There are only 26 active holds on the Project Hail Mary e-book as a result.

The NYPL has done this before with James by Percival Everett, after it won the Pulitzer Prize, and, of course, with the Heated Rivalry, which had 3,000 patrons waiting, and Game Changers, which had 41,000 downloads. NYPL provided immediate, no-wait access to these from January 24 to February 14.

The Queens Public Library does this, too. To mark its 130th anniversary last month, it gave readers instant access to 15 popular eBooks from March 19 to 22. The Brooklyn Public Library also occasionally offers unlimited access to a title and, when possible, purchases additional e-licenses.

Now, here's a breakdown of the books with the longest wait times in New York City (note: this is just a snapshot in time because it changes so frequently, and remember, you can loan most books for three weeks or 21 days)

The top 10 holds at NYPL

For each title, the number of holds ranges from approximately 1,000 to 7,000, as per the library.

Print and e-book:

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
2. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
3. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden
4. Heart the Lover by Lily King
5. My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney
6. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
7. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
8. Kin by Tayari Jones
9. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
10. Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir

The top 10 holds at Queens Public Library

Print:

1. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - 314 holds
2. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - 273 holds
3. Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir - 186 holds
4. My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney - 161 holds
5. Judge Stone by Viola Davis - 153 holds
6. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden - 129 holds 
7. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid - 127 holds
8. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden - 117 holds
9. Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden - 102 holds
10. Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy - 97 holds

Digital: 

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - 1107 total holds
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - 881 total holds
3. The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez - 685 total holds
4. My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney - 683 total holds
5. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - 585 total holds
6. My Friends by Fredrik Backman - 580 total holds
7. Heart the Lover by Lily King - 543 total holds
8. Project Hail Mary by Andrew Weir - 506 total holds
9. The Wedding People by Alison Espach - 485 total holds
10. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy - 321 total holds

Brooklyn Public Library

Print

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - 1,095 holds
2. Heart the Lover by Lily King - 1,005 holds
3. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden - 801 holds
4. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 651 holds
5. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai - 638 holds
6. Flesh by David Szalay - 556 holds
7. My Friends by Fredrik Backman - 501 holds
8. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy - 480 holds
9. Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash - 427 holds 
10. The Let Them Theory: A Life-changing Tool That Millions Of People Can’t Stop Talking About by Mel Robbins - 422 holds

e-books (digital)

1. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans - 1,835 holds
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - 1,308 holds
3. Heart the Lover by Lily King - 1,185 holds
4. Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden - 1,088 holds
5. The Night We Met by Abby Jimenez - 910 holds
6. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai - 724 holds
7. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy- 698 holds
8. Theo of Golden by Allen Levi - 685 holds
9. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid - 568 holds
10. My Friends by Fredrik Backman - 549 holds

Book Riot has good tips for when you're wading through the library hold blues, including learning to love the delightful surprise you get when a book is finally available.

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