FIFE authors are firm favourites in the Kingdom as libraries have revealed their most borrowed books of 2021.
Keeping it local, the lists include names like James Oswald, Ian Rankin, and Val McDermid.
The top fiction book category was overrun with crime thrillers, with the top five all coming under the genre.
James Oswald, who writes, and farms, in North-East Fife, topped the list with his Inspector McLean novel, What Will Burn.
James was stunned to hear he had beaten out writers such as Lee Child and Ann Cleeves for first place.
He said: "I always knew Fifers had good taste!
"It's been a difficult couple of years for everyone, and I think people have found refuge in books.
"I'm a huge fan of libraries and love visiting them to meet reading groups, as well as borrowing the odd book or two myself!
"Public libraries are one of the greatest achievements of civilised society, and we must do all we can to protect them.
"While I take a certain satisfaction in beating such illustrious names as McDermid, Rankin and Child, it's not really a competition.
"The more books borrowed the better, regardless of who the author is.
"I would encourage anyone who's not visited one in a while to go and see what their local library has to offer. It's much more than you might think."
Fellow Fifers Ian Rankin and Val McDermid also clearly made an impact on readers in the Kingdom, with In a House of Lies and How The Dead Speak coming second and fourth respectively.
Top five adult fiction books:
Author Title Total loan transactions
- Oswald, James What Will Burn 332
- Rankin, Ian In a House of Lies 328
- Child, Lee Blue Moon 314
- McDermid, Val How The Dead Speak 282
- Cleeves, Ann The Long Call 274
The top five adult non-fiction titles also included a connection to the area, with former Prime Minister and Fife MP, Gordon Brown's book, Fife: A History from Earliest Times to the Present Day, coming second only to Michelle Obama's autobiography.
Mr Brown said: "I'm delighted a book on Fife comes in the top two of non-fiction reads.
"It's great that local history is becoming so important to people and that interest in what has happened over centuries in Fife is growing."
Top five adult non-fiction titles
Author Title Total loan transactions
- Obama, Michelle Becoming 116
- Brown, Gordon Fife: a history from earliest times to the present day 95
- Winn, Raynor The salt path 86
- Glenconner, Anne Lady in waiting: my extraordinary life in the shadow 70
- Khan, Amir The doctor will see you now: The highs and lows of my life as an NHS GP 43
Fife libraries issued nearly half a million books (483,103) during 2021.
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