What Lithuanians read in 2025: The country’s most-borrowed library books and authors revealed

Romance novels remained Lithuania’s most popular library reads in 2025, while detective stories for children led the young readers’ rankings, according to new library lending rankings compiled by the Lithuanian copyright association LATGA. Library users borrowed more than 4.3 million registered books during the year.

The rankings were based on lending data from iBiblioteka, Lithuania’s nationwide integrated library information system. In total, readers borrowed LATGA-registered books 4,334,272 times in 2025 — an increase of 115,734 loans compared with the previous year.

Romance writer Irena Buivydaitė remained Lithuania’s most-borrowed fiction author. Five of her novels appeared among the ten most-borrowed Lithuanian fiction titles, led by “Trečias kartas nemeluoja” (“Third Time’s the Charm”). The second and third places went to “Atgimusi melodija” (“A Melody Reborn”), co-authored with Jolita Herlyn, and “Kas būtų, jei” (“What If”). Herlyn ranked second among Lithuanian fiction authors, while romance novelist Agnė Bausienė placed third.

Image: Irena Buivydaitė, “Trečias kartas nemeluoja,” Alma littera, 2025.

Image: Irena Buivydaitė and Jolita Herlyn, “Atgimusi melodija,” Alma littera, 2024.

Image: Irena Buivydaitė, Irena Buivydaitė, “Kas būtų, jei,” Alma littera, 2023.

One of the year’s most internationally recognised Lithuanian novels was Kotryna Zylė’s “Mylimi kaulai” (“Beloved Bones”). The novel received the 2025 European Union Prize for Literature. An English-language edition has been announced for publication in 2027, while an official English sample translation is already available through the Lithuanian Culture Institute.

Image: Kotryna Zylė, “Mylimi kaulai” (“Beloved Bones”), Aukso žuvys, 2024.

Children overwhelmingly chose detective adventures by Tomas Dirgėla, who dominated both the authors’ and titles’ rankings. Eight of the ten most-borrowed Lithuanian children’s books were written by Dirgėla, including “Kompiuterinių žaidimų turnyro byla” (“The Computer Game Tournament Case”), “Domas ir Tomas. YouTube kanalo byla” (“Domas and Tomas: The Case of the YouTube Star”), and “Dingusių mandarinų byla” (“The Case of the Missing Mandarins”). Writer and illustrator Lina Žutautė, creator of the popular “Kakė Makė” (“Nelly Jelly”) series, ranked second among children’s authors and remained Lithuania’s most-borrowed illustrator.

Image: Tomas Dirgėla, “Domas ir Tomas. Kompiuterinių žaidimų turnyro byla,” Tyto alba, 2024.

Image: Lina Žutautė, “Kakė Makė ir Sapnų pagalvėlė,” Alma littera, 2026.

Historical nonfiction also proved popular with Lithuanian readers. Journalist Žilvinė Petrauskaitė topped the nonfiction authors’ ranking, while “Ambicingos ir įtakingos: ryškiausių istorinės Lietuvos didikių likimai” (“Ambitious and Influential: The Lives of the Most Prominent Noblewomen of Historical Lithuania”), written by Petrauskaitė together with historian Eimantas Gudas, became the most-borrowed Lithuanian nonfiction title. Their second collaboration, “Gedimino kraujas” (“The Blood of Gediminas”), ranked second.

Image: Eimantas Gudas and Žilvinė Petrauskaitė, “Ambicingos ir įtakingos: ryškiausių istorinės Lietuvos didikių likimai,” Alma littera, 2024.

Lithuanian readers also continued borrowing translated fiction extensively. Lucinda Riley’s “The Hidden Girl” topped the international fiction ranking, followed by Colleen Hoover’s “Confess” and “Without Merit.” Other bestselling translated titles included novels by Daniel Hurst, Karen Swan, Emily Gunnis, and Kristin Hannah.

Image: Colleen Hoover, “Confess,” Atria Books, 2015.

Image: Colleen Hoover, “Without Merit,” Atria Books, 2017.

LATGA also announced the creators whose works generated the highest number of library loans. Translator Viktorija Uzėlaitė ranked first among literary translators, while Asta Puikienė remained the country’s most-borrowed book designer.

Lithuania allocated 600,000 euros in public lending remuneration for library loans recorded in 2025. The payments were distributed among 2,426 creators, including authors, translators, illustrators, and book designers.

As reported earlier, Estonia allocated more than €1.4 million in public lending remuneration based on over four million library loans recorded in 2025, with 27 authors receiving the maximum annual payment.

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