Some say, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but one could judge Hillsdale students by their books.
Since July 2021, Hillsdale students, faculty, and staff have checked out 49,703 books from the library’s catalog of more than 262,000 volumes, revealing data about student reading habits, or at least the students who refuse to buy the books. Below is the list of the top 10 most checked-out books at the library, after accounting for duplicate copies that have been checked out.
- “Shakespeare: Complete Works”
The Bard of Avon obliterates his competition. While this anthology of his work is the most checked-out of his books, many other titles under his name appear in the top checked-out list. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is Shakespere’s most popular title not in an anthology.
But before Jane Austen fans challenge his supremacy as Britain’s greatest writer, the data seems to be intentionally skewed toward the famous playwright.
According to Libby Gannon, junior and president of the Shakespeare Society, the club checks out 10 collected works or plays per week.
“If any other author were the most checked out I would be both surprised and a little disappointed. Shakespeare is kind of the best,” Gannon said.
Other groups who wish to memorialize their British author in the library records should follow in the Shakespeare Society’s footsteps. Jane Austen club, anyone?
- “Tolkien: A Celebration: Collected Writings on a Literary Legacy,” edited by Joseph Pearce.
The second book on the list isn’t J.R.R. Tolkein’s own work but a collection of essays analyzing his fiction.
“Tolkien: A Celebration” contains essays titled “Christian heroism in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings,” “The sense of time in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings,” and “A far-off gleam of the Gospel: salvation in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.”
The essays in this book provide excellent sources for a student looking to find a connection between their Great Books II reading lists and “Lord of the Rings.”
3.“Piranesi,” Susanna Clarke
Hillsdale students are checking out a book written after 2000 that is popular among the wider culture. “Piranesi” won the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction and has more than 288,000 mostly positive reviews on GoodReads.
Despite the stereotype surrounding critically-acclaimed novels, “Piranesi” stays true to Hillsdale literature with fantasy themes that draw from Greek mythology.
A GoodReads review described it as “wild, twisted and surreal ride.” “Piranesi” is a first-person narrative of a man trapped in a house with endless corridors who slowly begins to discover its secrets.
4.“The Odyssey,” Homer
It is obvious why this book has so many checkouts: Polyphemus is one of the most endearing characters of Western Literature. It was not his fault Odysseus ended up in his cave. His devotion to his sheep in the face of the trickery of Odysseus parallels the undying love of the shepherd in Psalm 23. While Odysseus acted with deceit, Polyphemus kept his word, saving Odysseus to be eaten last and accepting his gift of wine. Among Great Books heroes, Nobody hates Polyphemus.
- “Panda and Polar Bear,” Matthew Baek
Although Shakespeare, Tolkien, and Homer are respectable authors who have perhaps changed literature forever, they lack charming illustrations and they lack pandas. “Panda and Polar Bear,” an illustrated children’s book, adds spirit and youth to the canon of Western literature, earning its place on the most checked-out book list.
Why this book has been checked out so often is a mystery. At the time of this article, the book is currently checked out. It may be a Hillsdale student’s emotional support book, but more likely a professor’s child cannot sleep without it.
But no matter who is checking it out, the Hillsdale library statistics have spoken: a new “Great Book” must be added to the English core requirements.
- “Lord of the Rings,” J.R.R. Tolkien.
There is a disease on campus that biology students have traced back to the ownership of this library book collection called “Hobbititis.” The symptoms include a lack of shoes, the sudden desire to go on an adventure, and an addiction to tea and breakfast. Many infected students can be found at Afternoon Tea or smoking pipes with English professors.
- “The Great Divorce,” C.S. Lewis
As children, Hillsdale students read “The Chronicles of Narnia,” but as adults, they read C.S. Lewis’ more mature writings, such as “The Great Divorce.” Lewis wrote the book to contradict the message of William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” which describes heaven and hell as two sides of the same coin and both necessary for life. “The Great Divorce” allegorically describes the sharp divisions between heaven and hell and the difficult journey to cross between them.
- “Brideshead Revisited,” Evelyn Waugh
Protestants and those who do not have a Catholic Great Books professor are forgiven for having not heard of this novel.
Clare Horvath, a sophomore, said the book is about conversion to the Catholic faith.
“It’s a story of a young college student and his journey,” Horvath said. “He starts out as having no thoughts about things and then you see his conversion and he gets to know this family. It is a very broken family, but the mother is very Catholic and very faithful.”
- “Dune,” Frank Herbert
Yes, Hillsdalians like their books British, but students can be proud that the most popular American novel in the library (besides “Panda and Polar Bear,” of course) is the work that inspired “Star Wars.”
The 2021 movie has affected people’s perceptions of the book. When junior and English major Maggie Baldwin saw this book was on this list, she said she was shocked.
“I’m just disappointed,” Baldwin said. “I think the movie must have made people want to read the book, but I’ve heard it’s not very good.”
- “The Weight of Glory” and other addresses, C.S. Lewis
The tenth book on the list is another one of C.S. Lewis’ excellent but less well-known works. It is a collection of transcribed addresses that Lewis gave during World War II, each touching on the Christian life amid war.
