Most Popular Check-outs for February 2014

Want to know what you guys read last month? Here is a list of the ten most popular books checked out of the MRL system in February 2014:

1. First Love by James Patterson and Emily Raymond
2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth
4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
6. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
7. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
8. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
9. Matched by Ally Condie
10. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Are you surprised? Or maybe not at all. It seems like book series have been becoming increasingly popular, especially in the young adult genre. Once you read the first one you have the read the sequel, whether you like the author or not. And to make them even more popular, studios turn them into a blockbuster movie series with some of the biggest names in the business. That's why we see the Percy Jackson, THG, and Divergent series of books in the top ten, especially when the last one is set to premiere in about two weeks (more on that next week!).

But there are other popular book-to-screen adaptations that are in the MRL top 20. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (bought by 20th Century Fox with Tim Burton to direct) is #12, The Fault in Our Stars (premiering in June) is at #15, The Book Thief (which came out last year) is #17, and Thirteen Reasons Why (which Universal Studios purchased the rights to in 2011 and cast Selena Gomez to star in) came in at #18.

Does this explain why these books are so popular? Does having a movie adaptation make a book more appealing? Do you want to see what all the buzz is about? Comment with your thoughts.