Aug 6, 2026 - Culture

Hennepin County's hot summer read: "The Odyssey"

Christopher Nolan's film adaptation of the "The Odyssey" is driving high demand for the ancient Greek epic at Hennepin County Libraries.

What we're hearing: Requests for Homer's roughly 500-page poem nearly quadrupled between June and July, the library system tells Axios.

By the numbers: As of Wednesday, there were 869 holds for the system's 48 e-book copies of one 2018 edition.

Nearly 200 patrons are in the queue for one of 28 copies of that edition's print version.

Plus: Requests for "Circe," a 2018 novel inspired by one of "The Odyssey's" characters, tripled over the same period.

The bottom line: Based on the numbers, it's not just students plowing through their summer reading assignments checking this one out.

More Twin Cities stories