The Most Popular New Books on Goodreads in 2024 (So Far)

A few weeks ago, Goodreads shared its most read books of the 2024 Goodreads Reading Challenge so far this year. But that’s not the only way to measure a book’s popularity on Goodreads. As any reader knows, there’s a difference between the books we actually read and the ones we are interested in reading. Also, many of the most read books on Goodreads this year aren’t new releases. So, let’s take a look at a different view: the most popular books on Goodreads published in 2024, at least at this halfway point of the year. These are the books published in 2024 that have been added to a shelf (like “Want to Read”) by the most Goodreads users this year so far.

If you’ve been keeping up with our weekly round ups of the most read books on Goodreads this week and the bestseller lists, you’ll recognize most of the titles in the top ten. Genre dominates this list, including romance, romantasy, and thrillers. One author has two books in the top ten — and it’s not Sarah J. Maas or Emily Henry. Now, let’s jump into the most popular 2024 releases on Goodreads so far this year.

One thing you might notice about this list is that it’s disproportionately by white authors. Even as the publishing industry improves in the number of books by authors of color it puts out every year, the books that get big marketing pushes tend to be by white authors, which translates to them rising to the top of bestseller lists and popularity lists like this one.

Here are a few of the books by BIPOC authors that make the most popular long list:

King of Sloth by Ana Huang

A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

James by Percival Everett