The top-ten book lists of public libraries in Armenia have a peculiar feature - they are compiled by the readers themselves without any direct influence from the education system. Except for Derenik Demirchyan's play Homeland and Goethe's Faust, the remaining eight books on the list are chosen by library users for their independent reading pleasure, rather than for academic purposes like taking exams or writing essays. It's worth noting that Armenian classic writers are highly popular among readers, and their works occupy the most important places in the circulation of library collections.

Novels by Hovhannes Tumanyan, Raffi, Chaos by Shirvanzade, Our District and The Killed Dove by Nar-Dos, novels by Zohrap, stories by Derenik Demirchyan and Aksel Bakunts, The Story of One Life by Stepan Zoryan, Life on an Ancient Roman Road by Vahan Totovents and the works of many other authors practically do not linger on bookshelves. In 2023, Agatha Christie, the queen of detective stories, was the most popular foreign author in Armenian libraries. Her novels and stories were present in dozens of libraries. Among the more than twenty books by Agatha Christie published in our country in recent years, the most popular ones were Murder on the Orient Express and The Body in the Library.

In the year 2023, Armenian readers showed a preference for foreign authors such as Khaled Hosseini, the Afghan American writer of the book "The Kite Runner", Canadian author, Alex Michaelides' book "The Silent Patient", the English writer Jojo Moyes' book "Me Before You", and Hermann Hesse's book "Steppenwolf". Erich Maria Remarque is the most popular writer among young people, with his novel "There are No Chosen for Heaven" being the most preferred. Contemporary popular writer Hovik Afyan once said that seeing someone reading fills him with optimism. Afyan's books often rank among the top ten most popular books.

Compiling library lists is an important task that involves studying reader demand for works by contemporary authors. It's always nice to see new names added to the classics, which already have their own stable readership. In December, the novel "The Eye of Enoch" by Gurgen Khanjyan, a recognized modern master of Armenian prose, was included in the top ten best books. Ashot Agababyan, the author of "Alone", "Lord of Secrets," "Black Panther," and other novels, also made it to the top ten most popular books with his latest novel "Trap." Throughout the year, contemporary authors Gohar Navasardyan and Syune Sevada have consistently featured in numerous book lists, known for film adaptations of their novels. It is concerning that libraries rarely include books of poetry by classical and contemporary poets in their collections. This may be due to the ease of finding poems online, or perhaps we are living in a less poetic era.