2008 Year-End Zeitgeist

As we get to the end of the year, it's interesting to take a moment to reflect upon what people wanted to know about over the past year. Each year Google brings us a fascinating peek into the billions of searches performed through their search box in the past year. They publish the highlights as a glimpse into the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times.

2008 Year-End Google Zeitgeist

This end-of-year compilation offers a look at the fastest rising global searches--the most popular searches in 2008 based on their increase in frequency compared to 2007. Once you've looked at the global perspective, you can also see what's been most popular by country. While "sarah palin" and "beijing 2008" topped the global lists, people in the United States searched more frequently for information about "obama" and "facebook," with "palin" and "beijing 2008" coming in at #7 and #8 respectively.

Those of us who are interested in libraries are sure to be curious about the fastest rising U.S. Google Book Search list, in particular. Perhaps not surprisingly, the #1 book search of 2008 was the fourth and final book in the bestselling teen Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. You can get your hands on this highly popular book in either print or audio (CD or downloadable file for PC) format through the Palo Alto City Library catalog.

You might be wondering, what about more local interests? What's been hot in the Palo Alto City Library book collection? How do our local reading interests compare to national trends? We too can take a peek into the "spirit of the times" right here in our own community by looking back at the most circulated books in our collection:

• Non-Fiction - The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch



• Fiction - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows



• Mystery - The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith



• Science Fiction & Fantasy - The Host by Stephenie Meyer



• Young Adult - Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Want to keep up with what's hot in the collection as we head into 2009?

Click on the "Bestsellers and Other Lists" menu option across the top of the library catalog.
It's an easy way to find out about the latest additions to the library collection and the weekly San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area Bestsellers lists.
These are popular titles, so request early!