Top 10 Most Borrowed Books in Milan’s Libraries (Led by “The Postwoman”)

6 November 2026

What are the most borrowed books in Milan’s libraries? Which novels are most sought after by readers in the Italian publishing capital? The answer is available in the latest AIE Observatory for BookCity study, just released and referring to 2025, on the Cultural, Library and Museum Consumption in Milan.

In the survey, now in its sixth edition, it is highlighted that purchases made in the Milan area through physical and online bookstores and supermarkets in 2025 amounted to €155.8 million. As in 2024, in 2025 more than one book in ten bought in Italy was purchased in the City of Milan which, with its over 100 events per day and more than 6 million visitors per year to the museums, confirms once again the Italian cultural and publishing protagonist.

Here is the ranking of the 10 books most borrowed in Milan in 2025

Moreover, in Milan the role of municipal libraries is on the rise: with more than 93,000 members, up 4% in 2025, they reached just under one million physical loans throughout 2025.

Here are, therefore, the 10 most borrowed books in the Milan Library System in 2025 (if you want to compare, here you can find the top ten most borrowed – and sold – books in 2024 in the Lombard capital).

  1. The Postwoman by Francesca Giannone, Nord (released January 2023)
  2. Changing the Water for the Flowers by Valérie Perrin, et al. (released July 2019)
  3. The Chestnut Tree of a Hundred Horses by Cristina Cassar Scalia, Einaudi Stile Libero (released June 2024)
  4. Tàtà by Valérie Perrin, et al. (released November 2024)
  5. Great Wonder by Viola Ardone, Einaudi (released September 2023)
  6. A Wild Animal by Joël Dicker, La Nave di Teseo (released March 2024)
  7. Black Heart by Silvia Avallone, Rizzoli (released January 2024)
  8. Volver by Maurizio de Giovanni, Einaudi Stile Libero (released November 2024)
  9. The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming, Emme Edizioni (released September 2021)
  10. Tomorrow, Tomorrow by Francesca Giannone, Nord (released June 2024)

Here, Giannone and Perrin reemerge as protagonists, their titles already appearing in the previous year’s ranking. Once again, the spotlight is on fiction, with a title dedicated to the youngest readers.

Amelia Hartwell

I write about books the way I read them: slowly, curiously, and with attention to the details that linger after the final page. At Lythrum Press, I cover literary fiction, essays, memoirs and the wider culture of reading, with a particular interest in voices that challenge familiar ways of seeing the world. My work is guided by one simple idea: a good book deserves more than a reaction — it deserves a conversation.

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