“What we read and why we do so defines us in a profound way. You are what you read, I suppose. Browsing through someone’s library is like peeking into their DNA,” filmmaker Guillermo del Toro once said. Studies show what we read says a lot about who we are.

Our February cover story was all about numbers, breaking down the neighborhood by census data, crime statistics, real estate and more. In that research, the Dallas Public Library system came through for us big time, collecting the most-checked-out books of each branch in 2016.

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What did we learn? Lakewood and Skillman-Southwestern readers love classics and best-sellers, along with how-to and organizational books. Lochwood and White Rock readers are all about graphic novels. When it comes to the kids, everyone loves “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Bob’s Books.”

Here they are, broken down by type and branch:

Lakewood Library

Adult books:

  1. “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins
  2. “Go Set a Watchman,” Harper Lee
  3. “Career of Evil,” Robert Galbraith
  4. “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing,” Marie Kond
  5. “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania,” Erik Larson
  6. “100 Days of Real Food: How we did it, what we learned, and 100 easy, wholesome recipes your family will love,” Lisa Leake
  7. “My Name is Lucy Barton,” Elizabeth Strout
  8. “Purity,” Jonathan Franzen
  9. “Rogue Lawyer,” John Grisham
  10. “Gray Mountain,” John Grisham

Juvenile books:

  1. “Bob Books: Beginning Readers Set,” Bobby Lynn Maslen
  2. “Comet Crisis 11,” Jolyon Yates and Greg Farshtey
  3. “Pokemon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl Platinum, vol. 10,” Satoshi Yamamoto and Hidenori Kusaka
  4. “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, vol. 8,” Heather Nuhfer and Amy Mebberson
  5. “Bob’s Books: Set 5,” Bobby Lynn Maslen
  6. “Pokemon Adventures, vol. 29,” Satoshi Yamamoto, Bryant Turnage and Hidenori Kusaka
  7. “Adventures of Beekle the Unimaginary Friend,” Dan Santat
  8. “The Return of Zita the Spacegirl,” Ben Hatke
  9. “Dreamworks Dragons: Riders of Berk, vol. 6,” Iwan Nazif and Simon Furman
  10. “Bob’s Books: Set 3,” Bobby Lynn Maslen

Lochwood Library

Adult books:

  1. “The Walking Dead: No Turning Back, vol. 25,” Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard
  2. “07-Ghost 17,” Yukino Ichihara and Yuki Amemiya
  3. “Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game, vol. 6,” Lianne Sentar, Quinrose, Mamenosuke Fujimaru
  4. “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins
  5. “Otomen, vol. 18,” Aya Kanno
  6. “Gray Mountain,” John Grisham
  7. “Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat’s Waltz, vol. 7,” Lianne Sentar and Mamenosuke Fujimaru
  8. “Avengers: Infinite Avengers,” Francis Leinil and Jonathan Hickman
  9. “Astonishing X-Men: Exogenetic,” Phil Jimenez and Warren Ellis
  10. “Spice & Wolf, vol. 11,” Keito Koume and Isuna Hasekura

Juvenile books:

  1. “Sonic the Hedgehog, vol. 24,” Ken Penders, Ronald Lim, James Fry, Steven Butler and Karl Bollers
  2. “Pokemon Adventures, vol. 9,” Hidenori Kusaka, Gerard Jones and Kaori Inoue
  3. “Sonic Universe: Scourge Lockdown, vol. 8,” Tracy Yardley, Ian Flynn and Jim Amash
  4. “Bob’s Books Fun,” Bobby Lynn Maslen
  5. “One Piece New World: Ever at Your Side, vol. 74,” Elichiro Oda
  6. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School, vol. 10,” Jeff Kinney
  7. “Bob’s Books First,” Bobby Lynn Maslen
  8. “Comet Crisis 11,” Jolyon Yates and Greg Farshtey
  9. “El Gran Granero Rojo/Big Red Barn,” Margaret Wise Brown
  10. “Oresama Teacher, vol. 19,” Izumi Tsubaki

White Rock

Adult books:

  1. “Go Set a Watchman,” Harper Lee
  2. “Fairy Tale, vol. 41,” Hiro Mashima
  3. “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins
  4. “Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, vol. 10,” Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki
  5. “The Deadliest Stunt,” Scott Lobdell and Franklin W. Dixon
  6. “The Walking Dead: No Turning Back, vol. 25,” Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard
  7. “Bless Me, Ultima,” Rudolfo A. Anaya
  8. “Rogue Lawyer,” John Grisham
  9. “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams: Stories” Stephen King
  10. “Windows 7 for Dummies,” Andy Rathbone

Juvenile books:

  1. “One Piece New World: Ever at Your Side, vol. 74,” Elichiro Oda
  2. “Pokemon Adventures, vol. 29,” Satoshi Yamamoto, Bryant Turnage and Hidenori Kusaka
  3. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School, vol. 10,” Jeff Kinney
  4. “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” Eileen Christelow
  5. “The Sword in the Stone,” T.H. White
  6. “The Bunny Rabbit Show,” Sandra Boynton
  7. “The Mouse and the Motorcycle,” Beverly Cleary
  8. “Dreamworks Dragons: Riders of Berk, vol. 6,” Iwan Nazif and Simon Furman
  9. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, vol. 9,” Jeff Kinney
  10. “Comet Crisis 11,” Jolyon Yates and Greg Farshtey

Skillman-Southwestern

Adult books:

  1. “The Girl on the Train,” Paula Hawkins
  2. “Go Set a Watchman,” Harper Lee
  3. “Vampire Night, vol. 19,” Nancy Thistlewaite and Hino Matsuri
  4. “Gray Mountain,” John Grisham
  5. “Rogue Lawyer,” John Grisham
  6. “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Daniel Kahneman
  7. “Tricky Twenty-Two,” Janet Evanovich
  8. “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania,” Erik Larson
  9. “Make Me 20,” Lee Child
  10. “Life After Life,” Kate Atkinson

Juvenile books:

  1. “Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures,” Kate DiCamllio
  2. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School, vol. 10,” Jeff Kinney
  3. “A Wrinkle in Time,” Madeleine L’Engle
  4. “The Snow Day,” Ezra Jack Keats
  5. “Fancy Nancy: Super Secret Surprise Party,” Jane O’Connor
  6. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” J.K. Rowling
  7. “The Bunny Rabbit Show,” Sandra Boynton
  8. “Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear,” Lindsay Mattick
  9. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” J.K. Rowling
  10. “Space Case,” Stuart Gibb