Revealed - the most borrowed books of the year. Have your favourites made the list?

Thrillers, romance and mystery have been revealed as among the nation’s favourite reads.

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The Public Lending Right has released figures for print books, audiobooks and regional borrowing and, for the first time, e-books.

The statistics cover the period July 1 2018 to June 30 2019.

The release coincides with a surge in e-book borrowing from public libraries as physical spaces remain closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Libraries Connected last month estimated a 358 per cent increase in the number of people borrowing e-books during the first three weeks of lockdown in England.

Continuing the trend of previous years, the list of most borrowed print titles is dominated by thrillers, with James Patterson taking the title of most borrowed author for the 13th year running.

US writer Patterson is most famous for his Alex Cross series, which has also inspired film versions of his books including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider.

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Also in the list is the sublimely talented MC Beaton, author of the Cotswold amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin series and creator of Highlands cop Hamish Macbeth.

Children’s writers Daisy Meadows and Julia Donaldson - of The Gruffalo fame - are second and third in that list.

Daisy Meadows is the pseudonym used for the four writers of the Rainbow Magic children’s series ... Narinder Dhami, Sue Bentley, Linda Chapman and Sue Mongredien.Rainbow Magic features differing groups of fairies as main characters.

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Children’s literature continues to feature heavily across UK print borrowing with Roald Dahl, Julia Donaldson, Daisy Meadows, Francesca Simon and David Walliams appearing among the top ten most borrowed authors.

This continues another long-term trend, highlighting the crucial and enduring role libraries play in supporting children’s literacy and sparking a lifelong love of reading.

Costa prize-winning Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman has been revealed as the UK’s most borrowed e-book of 2018 to 19, with Sally Rooney’s Normal People, Circe by Madeleine Miller and Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt among the top ten.

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All three titles have been in the bestseller lists for months with the TV adaptation boosting sales of the Costa prize-winning Normal People.

Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage, said: “It is brilliant that, thanks to digital services, so many people can still engage with their local library and enjoy the nation’s most popular titles.

“E-books are a fantastic way to entertain and educate, especially as we spend more time at home,” he added.

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Public Lending Right Advisory Committee chair Tom Holland said: “The fact that the first payments for the remote loans of e-books were made this year demonstrate that PLR is swimming with the fast-moving currents of the times”.

Top 10 most borrowed authors (2017-18 ranking in brackets)

1 James Patterson (1)2 Daisy Meadows (2)3 Julia Donaldson (3)4 Lee Child (10)5 Francesca Simon (4)6 David Walliams (8)7 M C Beaton (7)8 Adam Blade (5)9 Roald Dahl (6)10 Danielle Steel (11)

Top 10 Top 10 most borrowed e-books

1 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman2 The Midnight Line: (Jack Reacher 22) by Lee Child3 This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay4 Circe by Madeline Miller5 Origin by Dan Brown6 Still Me by Jojo Moyes7 Into the Water by Paula Hawkins8 Normal People by Sally Rooney9 Blood Road by Stuart MacBride10 Killing Floor: (Jack Reacher 1) by Lee Child

Top 10 most borrowed print titles:

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1 The Midnight Line: (Jack Reacher 22) by Lee Child2 The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams3 NYPD Red by James Patterson4 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman5 Past Tense: (Jack Reacher 23) by Lee Child6 Dead if You Don’t by Peter James7 Night School: (Jack Reacher 21) by Lee Child8 Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves9 Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly10 Origin by Dan Brown

Top 10 Top 10 most borrowed children’s authors:1 Daisy Meadows (1)2 Julia Donaldson (2)3 Francesca Simon (3)4 David Walliams (6)5 Adam Blade (4)6 Roald Dahl (5)7 Jeff Kinney (9)8 Jacqueline Wilson (8)9 Liz Pichon (15)10 J K Rowling

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