Londoners leave love on the shelf

Valentine's day may be less than two weeks away but romance is dead - at least it is in London's libraries.

Although Catherine Cookson's sagas of passion in the North-East are by far the most borrowed titles in libraries across the country, Londoners, it seems, are unmoved by such tear-jerkers.

Nationally, five of the 10 most borrowed titles are Cookson's but in London she only has one title in the top 10 - and that, The Thursday Child, ranks tenth.

Instead children's books and thrillers claimed the lion's share of London library-goers' reading time over the past year, according to data released today by Public Lending Right, the body charged with distributing royalties from library-loans to authors.

JK Rowling's Harry Potter books bewitched most in the capital with The Prisoner Of Azkaban coming first, just beating The Goblet Of Fire into second place.

Two other children's books, both by Jacqueline Wilson, also made the London top 10 - The Story Of Tracy Beaker at number four and Cliffhanger at number nine.

Although there are two tearjerkers in the London list - Miss You Forever by Josephine Cox at number seven and Catherine Cookson's lone ef for t - Londoners seem to prefer a bit of blood-and-thunder. Two of John Grisham's legal thrillers, The Street Lawyer and The Brethren, come fifth and sixth respectively.

Another American author, Patricia Cornwell, scores two hits in the London library top 10 with the morbid thriller Hornet's Nest coming third and the gore-spattered Black Notice coming eighth.

Although book sale royalties - typically about eight per cent of the cover price - are published authors' main source of income, a good showing in the library lending league can be a significant money-spinner. The PLR will pay out £4.5million this month for 12 months' worth of library book loans across Britain.