Until Evalin Stearns moved to the remote town of Oquossoc in western Maine in the early 1970s, she hardly read at all. Now the 63-year-old caterer is Portland’s most prolific borrower, according to the Portland Public Library.

In 2015, Stearns checked out 399 library books – and counting. She called the library “the favorite place in my life.”

Stearns attributes her reading habit to the time she spent deep in the Maine woods, living without electricity or running water. At night, she read by the light of kerosene lamp.

“I had nothing else to do but read, other than strum the dulcimer,” she said.

Stearns moved to Portland in 1980. She visits the downtown library two or three times each week and always returns to her home off Baxter Boulevard with books to read.

But she cautioned that just because she’s checked out nearly 400 books this year, she hasn’t read them all: “That would mean I read more than a book a day. I don’t. I read a book or two a week. I sometimes read 15 or 20 pages to see if I like it, then send it back if I don’t.”

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The library posted its list of the most popular books of 2015, based on checkouts of printed and e-books at the main library and all branches. Based on those statistics, “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins was the most popular book among Portland library users, with 485 checkouts. Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” was No. 2, with 479.

No. 3 on the list was Maine writer Lily King and her latest novel, “Euphoria.” Library users checked it out 237 times in 2015.

The other Maine writer on the list is Paul Doiron, whose Mike Bowditch mystery “The Precipice” was checked out 84 times.

Stearns is a new fan of King, with whom she was not familiar before reading “Euphoria.” She loved King’s story about three anthropologists entwined in a love triangle on New Guinea in 1933.

“I was so excited to discover how good she is,” Stearns said. “I just loved that book.”

Library Director Sarah Campbell said the list offers insight into Portlanders’ reading habits and interests. It turns out, we’re not that different from the rest of the country. With a few exceptions, the books on the list generally reflect the titles that show up on the national best-seller lists. They are mostly novels written by popular writers: John Grisham, Sue Monk Kidd, Michael Connelly, Judy Blume and David Baldacci.

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There are a couple of surprises, too. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo made the list, as did “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End” by Atul Gawande. The former is about simplifying your life and the latter is about end-of-life issues. Both were big sellers this year, though the topics are not typically associated with pop culture.

Among teen readers, the top two titles were “Insurgent” and “Allegiant,” both by Veronica Roth.

Stearns read most of the books on the list – other than those by Grisham, Blume and other mega-sellers. “I don’t read authors who write a million books. They write books to make money, and that bothers me,” she said. “I read for pleasure, and I try not to read things that bring me down.”

 


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