Best of lists almost always make a splash. Have you seen it? Read it? Heard it? Traveled there? Eaten it? Tried that diet, exercise or meditation? Is it leftover sentimental nostalgia for David Letterman’s Top Ten that makes us covet a list? Is it because lists tend to be quickly read, organized and gratifying for those of us with tiny attention spans?

Grand County Library District also likes lists. We create them, read them and use them for purchasing and weeding decisions. My desk has piles of lists.

So, without further meanderings, here are Grand County Library District’s Top Circulated Items in 2023. Enjoy, take notes, check off, cross off or add to your personal must read, watch, and visit lists.

Top 2023 Adult Fiction Titles:

• “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver
• “Mad Honey” by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
• “Treasure State: A Cassie Dewell Novel” by C.J. Box
• “Someone Else’s Shoes” by Jojo Moyes
• “Go as a River” by Shelley Read
• “Spirits of Grand Lake: Book Three in the Four Corners Mystery Series” by D.P. Benjamin

If you have not read “Go as a River” by Shelley Read, now is your chance, as it is our One Grand Book selection for March and April 2024. Read, a Colorado native, brings to life Lola, the small western town that was flooded by the Gunnison to create the Blue Mesa Reservoir in the 1940s. “With delicate precision, Read evokes both Colorado’s rugged wilderness and the landscapes of her characters’ troubled hearts.” (Kirkus Review, Issue 1/1/2023).

Her debut novel has received rave reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Goodreads, Variety Magazine, and amongst many library readers. Keep your eye out for more on author Shelley Read, including a visit on March 15, as well as a variety of Grand County cultural and educational organizations offering connected programs throughout those months. Check gcld.org for the location and further details.

Top 2023 Adult Non-Fiction Titles:

• “Cheap Land Colorado: Off-Gridders at America’s Edge” by Ted Conover
• “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who      Stopped Them” by Timothy Egan
• “Dinner in One: Exceptional & Easy One-Pan Meals” by Melissa Clark
• “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder” by David Grann
• “The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100” by Dan Buettner

Top 2023 DVD Titles:

• “A Man Called Otto”
• “Top Gun”
• “The Fabelmans”
• “Avatar: The Way of Water”

Top 2023 Young Adult Titles:

• “Five Survive” by Holly Jackson
• “Magic The Gathering:  The Visual Guide” by Jay Annelli
• “The Ballad of Never” After by Stephanie Garber

Top 2023 Games:

• Do You Really Know Your Family?
• Hoot Owl Hoot! Board Game
• Newton Interactive Game
• Ticket to Ride: First Journey
• Pete the Cat Cool Cat Math Game

Graphic Novels:

• “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy (This book is one of my personal favorites for all of 2023.)

The Top Access Grand Reservations:

• Snow Mountain Ranch
• Fraser Valley Rec
• Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• The Butterfly Pavilion
• Denver Zoo
• Winter Park Ski Resort

If you want to dive deeper into book and DVD lists, check out the lists in our online catalog: “Best of 2023,” “Highly Anticipated 2024 Titles,” or “Feel-Good Lit.”  Find these lists in the browse the catalog section at GCLD.Marmot.org.