Top 10 ebooks Downloaded in October 2015

By Peter SM RSS Fri, November 20, 2015

Here are the Top 10 ebooks downloaded from the Free Library's OverDrive Digital Library in October 2015.

More than 84,400 ebooks were checked out and downloaded for the month!

Children's Fantasy and YA Fiction jumped to the top of this month's most downloaded books with a collection of fairy tales from Robin McKinley and horrorific historical fiction from Cat Winters. Downloads for Andy Weir's outerspace survival adventure The Martian have spiked now that it has been turned into a movie starring Matt Damon. Paula Hawkins' The Girl On The Train and Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchman are still being read on many devices. Finally, Mystery and Suspense Thriller genre titles from the usual suspects such as John Grisham, Gillian Flynn, Harlan Coben, and David Baldacci filled out the rest of this month's top ten.

The following list comprises titles from across all genres, downloaded from both our website and mobile site.

1. The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley The Door in the Hedge and Other Stories (fiction, children's fantasy)
by Robin McKinley

Newbery Medal winner Robin McKinley's world of fairy tales and fantasy springs to life in this republished collection of stories including "The Stolen Princess", "The Princess and the Frog", "The Hunting of the Hind", and "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". Recommended read for the children in your life or the child still in you.


2. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters In the Shadow of Blackbirds (YA fiction, horror)
by Cat Winters

A deadly virus, an even deadly World War, and the act of spirit photography are at the forefront of this spooky and enveloping YA historical fiction horror novel. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches her world unravel as desperate mourners abound and ghosts congregate. Can the soul of a boy turned revisiting spirit be the key to her understanding what is really going on?


3. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins The Girl on the Train (fiction, suspense)
by Paula Hawkins

Continuing with the "unreliable narrator" theme, The Girl on the Train is a classic and suspensefully thrilling page turner. Rachel rides the same commuter train every morning, a boring and predictable experience each ride, until she catches a shocking glimpse of the unspeakable. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?


4. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee Go Set a Watchman (fiction)
by Harper Lee

Overdrive would have you believe this is book two in the To Kill A Mockingbird Series. Um, NO. What this book is—depending on what you read or believe—is a separate novel set after the events in the Pulitzer Prize–winning To Kill A Mockingbird or excerpts from said novel that were edited out of the published draft.
Set in Maycomb, Alabama, twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Civil rights tensions and political turmoil still abound in the South and Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her.


5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr All the Light We Cannot See (historical fiction)
by Anthony Doerr

Set in England and France during World War II, Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See is a book about the human spirit and the will to survive under insurmountable odds. The story of a blind French girl and an orphaned German boy whose lives cross paths, children thrust into a war-torn world and forced to make life a death decisions. Emotional and suspenseful, with intricately written detailed passages among the backdrop of history.

6. The Stranger by Harlan Coben The Stranger (fiction, suspense thriller)
by Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben checks in with another shocking thriller full of all the genre's requisite lies and secrets. Adam has a perfect life but doesn't realize how close he is to losing everything until he meets "The Stranger". He soon finds himself tangled in dark deception and conspiracy. 
Who is "The Stranger" exactly? This page turner will have you reading feverishly as you go along with every twist and revelation. 

7. The Martian by Andy Weir The Martian (fiction, sci-fi)
by Andy Weir

Recently adapted from book to screen, Andy Weir's story of astronaut Mark Watney is one of survival, determination, and the true meaning of living life to the fullest. After becoming one of the first people to walk on Mars, Mark is suddenly stranded by a freak dust storm. With no way to signal Earth from the mysterious red planet, he puts his engineering and science skills to the test to stay alive. The journal entry style storytelling and dramatic action really immerse the reader in the events of this sci-fi thriller.

8. The Escape by David Baldacci The Escape (fiction, thriller)
by David Baldacci

U.S. Army special agent John Puller is back for his 3rd and most dangerous mission yet in David Baldacci's The Escape. A prisoner has escaped one of the most secure military prisons in the world and Puller is called in to track the fugitive—his own brother. Once on the case, questions quickly arise about the validity of his brother's conviction. But if his brother is innocent, who framed him and why? Pick up this pulse-pounding, action-adventure tale and find out!

9. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Gone Girl (fiction, mystery suspense thriller)
by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl, the best-selling book now turned blockbuster movie, is the tale of a wife gone missing, a suspected husband, a nosey community, sensational media blitz, and the lies everyone tells to themselves and others to safegurad their own dark secrets.

10. Sycamore Row by John Grisham Sycamore Row (fiction, suspense thriller)
by John Grisham

John Grisham returns readers to Ford County as A Time to Kill's lawyer protagonist Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial that exposes a tortured history of racial tension. A man dying from cancer hangs himself from a sycamore tree but leaves a very incendiary note for certain townspeople to find. What's on the letter and what does it have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?

You can check out these ebooks, plus browse for audiobooks, music, and videos, across all kinds of different genres, all from your desktop, tablet, or smartphone!

Check out our Digital Media Portal and comprehensive ebook guide for step-by-step information on accessing all the latest digital media available from the Free Library today!

What ebooks are you looking forward to downloading and reading? Tell us in the comments!


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