The Empyrean series has finally been dethroned from the #1 spot on the Goodreads Most Read list this week—can you guess by which book? Still, Rebecca Yarros continues to claim three of the top five spots. We also have a new title on this list this week: the latest romance from Abby Jimenez, Say You’ll Remember Me. You might recognize Jimenez from her very popular novel Just for the Summer, her other romance books, or even from the Food Network!
In case you’re curious, the StoryGraph most popular list is pretty similar to the Goodreads list, though Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green and Fearless by Lauren Roberts make it to the top five there. The StoryGraph also has a few more authors of color in the top 50, at least, including Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, James by Percival Everett, and One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad.
Two New Books Out This Week You Should Know About
Unfortunately, the most read books on Goodreads tend not to be diverse by any definition of the word. So, here are a couple of new books out this week that deserve wider readership.
Zeal by Morgan JerkinsMorgan Jerkins, the bestselling author of Caul Baby, pens a modern-day love story that rights the wrongs of a star-crossed past. When Ardelia and Oliver find each other, they discover each of them has a family history full of holes and secrets. Is it possible that their love story stretches back through the generations to a newly freed man looking for the woman he loves whose family fled in the Great Migration? — Rachel Brittain |
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee BakerCrime scene cleaner Cora Zeng has seen truly horrifying messes at her job, but nothing comes close to witnessing her sister being pushed in front of a train. The trauma continues to play over and over in her head, especially the words the murder shouted at her before fleeing the scene: “Bat Eater.” She fights to set these thoughts aside to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival, when the gates of hell open. Still, Cora can’t seem to tell the difference between fiction and reality anymore, and she keeps finding bat carcasses at crimes scenes. It’s almost like a message waiting for her. Horror author Paul Tremblay calls Kylie Lee Baker’s new novel “a compelling, gory, ghostly romp.” — Emily Martin |
The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week: April 11, 2025
#5:
Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) by Rebecca YarrosAfter the third book in the series came out, Iron Flame saw a bump in readership alongside Fourth Wing and Onyx Storm. Almost 16,000 users read it this week, and it has a 4.4 average rating. |
#4:
Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca YarrosUnsurprisingly, book one in the Empyrean series also appears in the top five. Somehow, there are still readers discovering this series even now. Almost 17,000 users marked this dragon riding academy romantasy book as read last week. It has a 4.6 average rating. |
#3:
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby JimenezFrom the author of Just for the Summer comes a new romance novel that’s already one of the most popular books on Goodreads just a week after its release! It follows Samantha, who has a perfect, endless date with handsome Greek veterinarian Xavier. Then Samantha admits that it can only be for one night because her family is in crisis. But despite the distance, neither of them can forget the time they spent together. Almost 23,000 Goodreads users read it this week, and it has a 4.3 average rating. |
#2:
Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) by Rebecca YarrosOnyx Storm has been at the top of this list since it was released, but it’s finally been bumped down to second place—and by another SFF sequel! The newest Empyrean novel was read by 27,000 Goodreads users this week and has a 4.2 average rating. |
#1:
Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins#1 by far this week is the new Hunger Games book! This series is still just as relevant (if not more so) than it was when it was first published more than 15 years ago. Collins’s latest, which tells Haymitch Abernathy’s story, also sold 1.5 million copies in English in its first week. It was read by 70,000 users last week and has a 4.7 average rating. |
If you’re looking for more buzzy books, check out The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
