Greetings, salutations, and welcome back to another radically neutral, objectively data driven, entirely randomly selected edition of the High Demand Hold Digest - your source for everything wanted by our beloved patrons, but not delivered by a big fat man in a red suit who currently has outstanding warrants in all fifty states for breaking and entering.

I've been rolling a few marbles around my scattered brain in the hopes they would pick up enough mental lint to formulate a narrative for this preamble.  I thought about reflecting on the last seven years, because as I ran through my files I saw the very first edition of the High Demand Hold Digest was delivered via solely through MINERVA-L (because at the time I didn't want to interrupt anyone's day with useless information), came without a preamble (because, again, I didn't think people would pay much attention to a list of highly requested items, let alone the random musings of some dude mumbling from the woods of Maine), and was sent on January 20, 2015.  So happy 7th Birthday HDH!  Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what it would become, what these introductions would grow into, and, most surprisingly to me, the overwhelming and often humbling support I've received from more corners of Maine than I knew existed.  It has truly been my honor.

With tomorrow's anniversary of the Capitol Riot/Siege/Insurrection/Protest/Attack rising like a bad nightmare, I realized that another thing that this list secretly whispers to anyone who consumes it is a note of hope.  As of the list being created, there are over 300 people waiting for Towle's "The Lincoln Highway".  If one were to take those three hundred people, sit them all in a room, and throw out one or two triggering sentences, my prediction is a full-blown fist fight.  We all seemed primed and ready to jump down someone's throat, ready to suppose the worst about our neighbors if they display some symbol that we disagree with, and on the deepest levels believe that about half of the country is "the enemy".  Take those same three hundred people, have them all read "The Lincoln Highway", and invite them to discuss the book and I believe many of those illusionary boundaries and boarders simply evaporate.

This list is a commonality among people we are supposed to have nothing in common with.  This list, to me, demonstrates that there is more that unites us than divides us.  I know it may be naive, foolish, or just plain gullible to believe this; but I have also made my living for over twenty years based on the notion that community members are willing to pool their resources to provide for the common good by providing educational, informational, and recreational resources for everyone who walks through the doors to use free of charge - because everyone is deserving of respect, trust, and access.  If it weren't already successfully working across every community in the United States, the belief that libraries could succeed would also be seen as naïve, foolish, and gullible.  So keep those dreams alive.

For the fine print - the below titles are the most widely requested items in the Minerva system of libraries where there are at least twice as many holds as there are items available in the system.  So while there are 25 holds on Jonathan Franzen's "Crossroads", there are 44 copies in the system - hence, it is not included on this list.  And if you happened upon this list through some glitch in the matrix and want it again without going to the bother of subscribing to the various Maine Library listservs through which it is published, shoot me a note and you will be added to a direct distribution list (and can always unsubscribe at any time you wish).

Hang on tight folks, no one really knows where or what 2022 is hurtling towards - all I know is that it isn't going to be boring.  But if the ride gets too much and the demons of doubt, despair, and division overwhelm you, just keep the good words of Buddha in your heart:

Suffering is temporary, enlightenment is forever.

Remember that the hotter the fire, the stronger the steel.  We are all being put through our own private and public crucibles.  Try to practice those virtues of patience, empathy, compassion, and understanding.  And if that doesn't work, bury your nose in a book and wait until the storm passes.

Until next time, thank you for your kind attentions, your continued toil in the fields of library-land, and for all the visible and invisible good libraries do for anyone who walks through the door.

Be well,
Josh

High Demand Hold Digest January 2022
Fiction Books

  1.  The Lincoln Highway (Towles) - 336 holds on 100 items
  2.  Oh William! (Strout) - 162 holds on 65 items
  3.  The Sentence (Erdrich) - 158 holds on 54 items
  4.  Wish You Were Here (Picoult) - 141 holds on 64 items
  5.  Small Things Like These (Keegan) - 45 holds on 12 items
  6.  Criminal Mischief (Woods) - 37 holds on 16 items
  7.  The Maid (Prose) - 30 holds on 3 items
  8.  The Power of the Dog (Savage) - 23 holds on 2 items
  9.  Invisible (Steel) - 22 holds on 10 items
  10. A Flicker in the Dark (Willingham) - 22 holds on 1 item
  11. The Replacement Wife (Kane) - 21 holds on 2 items
  12. Paradise (Gurnah) - 19 holds on 8 items
  13. The Anomaly (Le Tellier) - 19 holds on 3 items
  14. Miss Elizab's English Kitchen: a novel of Victorian cookery and friendship (Abbs) - 17 holds on 6 items
  15. The Defense Lawyer (Patterson) - 16 holds on 7 items
  16. Reckless Girls (Hawkins) - 16 holds on 4 items
  17. The School of Good Mothers (Chan) - 14 holds on 3 items
  18. The Lost Daughter (Ferrante) - 14 holds on 3 items
  19. The Copenhagen Trilogy (Ditlevsen) - 13 holds on 2 items
  20. A Season for Second Chances (Bayliss) - 11 holds on 3 items
Non-Fiction Books

  1.  These Precious Days: Essays (Patchett) - 81 holds on 34 items
  2.  There is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century (Hill) - 65 holds on 29 items
  3.  Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience - 51 holds on 20 items
  4.  Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (Burkeman) - 31 holds
  5.  The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health (Kennedy Jr.) - 25 holds on 3 items
  6.  Both / And: A Life in Many Worlds (Abedin) - 23 holds on 10 items
  7.  Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America (McWhorter) - 22 holds on 9 items
  8.  How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You are to Where you Want to be (Milkman) - 19 holds on 8 items
  9.  The Indomitable Florance Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs (Mrazek) - 15 holds on 7 items
  10. Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness (Samet) - 11 holds on 3 items
  11. The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic (Boss) - 11 holds on 2 items
  12. The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma's Kitchen (Lee Molinaro) - 10 holds on 4 items
  13. Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes (Berens) - 8 holds on 3 items
  14. The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again (Price) - 7 holds on 3 items
  15. The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal (Mercola) - 7 holds on 2 items
  16. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight (Bacon) - 7 holds on 1 item
  17. Self-compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself (Neff) - 6 holds on 3 items
  18. When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection (Mata) - 6 holds on 2 items
  19. For Such a Time as This: My Faith Journey Through the White House and Beyond (McEnany) - 6 holds on 2 items
  20. Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experiences on Mind, Body, and Society - 6 holds on 1 item
Pre-Order

  1.  The Recovery Agent (Evanovich) - 63 holds
  2.  Something to Hide (George) - 48 holds
  3.  Abandoned in Death (Robb) - 45 holds
  4.  Robert B Parker's Bye Bye Baby (Atkins) - 37 holds
  5.  One Step Too Far (Gardner) - 35 holds
  6.  The Maze (DeMille) - 35 holds
  7.  A Sunlight Weapon (Winspear) - 35 holds
  8.  Find Me (Burke) - 33 holds
  9.  Dream Town (Baldacci) - 32 holds
  10. City of the Dead (Kellerman) - 31 holds
Large Print

  1.  The Lincoln Highway (Towles) - 81 holds on 15 items
  2.  The Dark Hours (Connelly) - 41 holds on 15 items
  3.  Better Off Dead (Child) - 24 holds on 12 items
  4.  These Precious Days (Patchett) - 23 holds on 5 items
  5.  Flying Angels (Steel) - 16 holds on 6 items
  6.  Autopsy (Cornwell) - 14 holds on 7 items
  7.  Criminal Mischief (Woods) - 9 holds on 2 items
  8.  The Christmas Bookshop (Colgan) - 8 holds on 2 items
  9.  The Midnight Lock (Deaver) - 8 holds on 1 item
  10. Taste: My Life Through Food (Tucci) - 4 holds on 2 items
Audiobooks

  1.  These Precious Days (Patchett) - 8 holds on 2 items
  2.  The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Reid) - 4 holds on 1 item
  3.  Eight Perfect Hours (Louis) - 4 holds on 1 item
  4.  Mother Night (Estas) - 2 holds on 1 item
  5.  The Midnight Lock (Deaver) - 2 holds on 1 item
  6.  Good Eggs (Hardiman) - 2 holds on 1 item
  7.  The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds (Kinsey) - 2 holds on 1 item
  8.  Wholehearted Faith (Evans) - 2 holds on 1 item
  9.  The Best Friends (Berry) - 2 holds on 1 item
  10. Smile: The Story of the Face (Ruhl) - 2 holds on 1 item
Graphic Novels

  1.  5 Worlds.  Book 5, The Emergal Gate (Siegel) - 12 holds on 2 items
  2.  Karen's School Picture (Baby Sitters Club #5) - 5 holds on 2 items
  3.  Tunnels (Modan) - 4 holds on 2 items
  4.  The Making Of (Evens) - 2 holds on 1 item
  5.  Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Blinding Darkness (Akutami) - 2 holds on 1 item
  6.  W.I.T.C.H Part VII, New Power, vol. 3 - 2 holds on 1 item
  7.  W.I.T.C.H Part VII, New Power, vol. 2 - 2 holds on 1 item
  8.  Best Friends for Never (Venable) - 2 holds on 1 item
Blu-ray

  1.  No Time to Die - 17 holds on 5 items
  2.  Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 7 holds on 3 items
  3.  The French Dispatch - 7 holds on 2 items
  4.  The Last Duel - 6 holds on 2 items
  5.  Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins - 3 holds on 1 item
DVD

  1.  No Time to Die (2-disc edition) - 28 holds on 11 items
  2.  The Last Duel - 18 holds on 8 items
  3.  The French Dispatch - 18 holds on 5 items
  4.  Venom: Let There Be Carnage - 17 holds on 8 items
  5.  No Time to Die (Single disc edition) - 11 holds on 4 items
  6.  South of Heaven - 3 holds on 1 item
  7.  Pretty Poison - 2 holds on 1 item
  8.  Holiday Affair - 2 holds on 1 item
  9.  Cranberry Christmas - 2 holds on 1 item
  10. Small Engine Repair - 2 holds on 1 item
TV Series

  1.  My Life is Murder: Series 2 - 8 holds on 3 items
  2.  Blue Bloods: Season 11 - 7 holds on 3 items
  3.  Death in Paradise: Season 10 - 6 holds on 3 items
  4.  When Calls the Heart: Year 8; 6-movie collection - 3 holds on 1 item
  5.  Pitching In: Series 1 - 2 holds on 1 item
Video Games

  1.  Mario Party.  Superstars (Nintendo) - 8 holds on 3 items
  2.  Metroid Dread (Nintendo) - 5 holds on 2 items
  3.  Pokémon.  Shining Pearl (Nintendo) - 2 holds on 1 item
  4.  Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Nintendo) - 2 holds on 1 item
  5.  Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (Nintendo) - 2 holds on 1 item
  6.  Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4) - 2 holds on 1 item
MISC

  1.  No Time to Die (Blu-ray + DVD Combo) - 8 holds on 1 item

BLAST FROM THE PAST...
Since I mentioned it, the High Demand List sent out in January 2015...
Top 10 most requested books:

  1.  All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Dorr - 330 holds on 86 copies
  2.  The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - 222 holds on 36 items
  3.  Being Mortal by Atul Gawande - 129 holds on 50 copies
  4.  The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant - 103 holds on 42 copies
  5.  Private Vegas by James Patterson - 95 holds on 29 copies
  6.  The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Konda - 75 holds on 14 copies
  7.  Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder - 44 holds on 5 copies
  8.  It Was Me All Along by Andie Mitchell - 19 holds on 3 items
  9.  Life in Prison: 8 hours at a time by Robert Reilly - 18 holds on 2 items
  10. America's Bitter Pill: by Steven Brill - 16 holds on 4 items
Top 5 most requested large print titles

  1.  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Dorr - 45 holds on 6 items
  2.  The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant - 27 holds on 7 items
  3.  Hope to Die by James Patterson - 22 holds on 11 items
  4.  Euphoria by Lily King - 21 holds on 3 items
  5.  Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell - 8 holds on 1 item
Top 10 Most Requested Audiobooks

  1.  The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant - 22 holds on 10 copies
  2.  Euphoria by Lily Kind - 19 holds on 6 items
  3.  The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - 19 holds on 5 items
  4.  The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters - 11 holds on 4 items
  5.  Voyager by Diana Gabaldon - 10 holds on 4 items
  6.  Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - 7 holds on 2 item
  7.  Cold Cold Heart by Tami Hoag - 6 holds on 3 items
  8.  Dark Places by Gillian Flynn - 6 holds on 3 items
  9.  Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon - 6 holds on 3 items
  10. Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie -5 holds on 1 item

Top 10 most requested DVDs

  1.  Gone Girl - 114 holds on 23 items
  2.  Boyhood - 111 holds on 21 items
  3.  Downton Abbey: Season 5 - 90 holds on 7 items
  4.  Homeland: The Complete Third Season - 77 holds on 27 items
  5.  The Maze Runner - 68 holds on 27 items
  6.  Fury - 59 holds on 5 items
  7.  The Hundred Foot Journey - 58 holds on 28 items
  8.  This is Where I Leave You - 56 holds on 17 items
  9.  The Equalizer - 48 holds on 11 items
  10. 22 Jump Street - 37 holds on 14 items
Top 10 most requested music CDs

  1.  Hozier by Hozier - 12 holds on 2 copies
  2.  1989 by Taylor Swift - 19 holds on 9 copies
  3.  Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack (2 disc edition) - 7 holds on 1 item
  4.  Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack (1 disc edition) - 6 holds on 2 items
  5.  Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack - 6 holds on 2 items
  6.  Ultimate Collection by Joe Cocker - 5 holds on 1 item
  7.  Lunatic by Kongos - 4 holds on 1 item
  8.  Tell 'Em I'm Gone by Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) - 4 holds on 1 item
  9.  Title by Meghan Trainor - 4 holds on 2 items
  10. Begin Again: music from the motion picture - 3 holds on 1 item
Top 10 most requested Blu-rays or Blu-ray / DVD combo packs

  1.  Gone Girl - 30 holds on 2 item
  2.  The Boxtrolls - 26 holds on 1 item
  3.  Lucy - 25 holds on 2 items
  4.  Get On Up - 21 holds on 1 item
  5.  Guardians of the Galaxy - 19 holds on 1 item
  6.  The Good Lie - 18 holds on 2 items
  7.  Grand Budapest Hotel - 13 holds on 1 item
  8.  The Maze Runner - 13 holds on 2 item
  9.  X-Men: Days of Future Past - 13 holds on 2 items
  10. Belle - 12 holds on 2 items



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