Thrillers, romance and more: Here's what Stark County read in 2025
Grace Springer
Canton Repository
What are people reading in Stark County?
We asked three of the county's largest library systems to find out.
Here are 2025's top titles at Stark Library, Rodman Public Library and Massillon Public Library.
Here's what Stark County library visitors were reading this year.
Here are 2025's top titles at Stark Library...
Here's what Stark County library visitors were reading this year.
Stark Library visitors circulated over 1.5 million items in 2025. What were people reading this year?
Stark Library patrons favored popular fiction titles.
Stark County readers circulated more than 1.5 million physical and digital items in 2025, according to the Stark Library.
The library system has 10 locations around Stark County and a main branch in Canton. There were over 548,000 visits to the library locations this year.
Here are the top 5 most-circulated physical adult book titles across the Stark Library system in 2025.
Kristin Hannah's "The Women" was Stark Library's most popular book of 2025. 
No. 1: "The Women" by Kristin Hannah
Circulated over 228 times this year, "The Women" was also one of the most popular titles of 2024, the year it was released. The historical fiction book follows 20-year-old Frances "Frankie" McGrath, a nursing student who joins the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. The story follows Frankie's life, struggles and relationships during the war and after coming home.
No. 2: "The Let Them Theory" by Mel Robbins
"The Let Them Theory" by Mel Robbins is the only nonfiction book to crack the top 5 for adult titles. The self-help book was checked out over 210 times within the Stark Library system. In the book, Robbins explains her theory to living a less anxious life: when other people are doing things that bother you, let them. Instead of worrying, control what you can control, yourself and your own actions.
No. 3: "The Crash" by Freida McFadden
Coming in third place is "The Crash" by Freida McFadden, which was circulated over 200 times. This fast-paced psychological thriller was published in 2025 and follows 23-year-old Tegan Werner who's eight months pregnant and looking for an escape. She's in her car on the way to her brother's house when she gets into a crash in the middle of a blizzard.
No. 4: "The Frozen River" by Ariel Lawhon
This historical fiction novel circulated more than 160 times. Set in Maine in 1789, the story follows real-life historical figure Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer, who is tasked with investigating the death of a man found frozen in the Kennebec River.
No. 5: "The Tenant" by Freida McFadden
Also checked out over 160 times is another book by Freida McFadden. "The Tenant" is a mystery thriller following Blake Porter who is abruptly fired from his job. He's struggling to make his mortgage payment, so he agrees to rent a room to a woman named Whitney. But strange things start to happen once she moves in. Something isn't quite right.
Dav Pilkey's "Dog Man" series was highly popular among young Stark Library patrons in 2025.
Titles from Dav Pilkey's "Dog Man" series dominated top children's books of 2025.
Nearly all of the top 10 circulating children's titles went to Dav Pilkey's "Dog Man" series. One other children's title managed to make its way into the top 10: "Hot Mess," the 19th book in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series by Jeff Kinney. "Dog Man" is a spinoff of Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" series following a half-man, half-dog police officer. The "Dog Man" movie based on the comic book series came out in January 2025.
Stark County Main Library. Monday, Dec. 22, 2025.
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