Anyone who spends time on the bookish internet receives a flood of book advertisements and recommendations. Publishers spend a lot of money getting books to the right influencers to try to jumpstart that magical word of mouth snowball that makes books a hit. Sometimes, that means it feels like everyone is talking about the same title — but is that because it’s the hit book of the moment, or is it just a flash in the pan because it had a big marketing budget?
One way to measure the books people are actually picking up is scanning the bestseller lists. It can be eye-opening: the book everyone is buzzing about on BookTok has a hard time standing up to book #37 in a James Patterson series. Of course, the bestsellers don’t tell the whole story, either. It’s easy enough to buy a book without actually reading it, as most of us know. It also doesn’t account for the books people are reading through the library or buying secondhand or borrowing from friends. That’s where the Goodreads Most Read Books This Week page comes in.
This is the list of the books that have been marked as finished on Goodreads by the most users this week. Not every reader is on Goodreads, but it is the closest approximation that we have. It’s interesting to see just how long a tail many of these books have: the most read books have often been out for years, and that word of mouth recommendation system is still going strong!
The Goodreads list can be pretty stagnant and not exactly diverse, so I’ve also included a couple of books off of the StoryGraph’s most popular this week page. Now, let’s get into the books!
#5:
Fourth Wing by Rebecca YarrosFourth Wing has been jumping in and out of the top five most read on Goodreads list for the past few weeks. The sequel, Iron Flame, is not far behind: it’s #7. I expect to see this get another boost of popularity when the next book in the series, Onyx Storm, comes out — but that won’t be until 2025. The first book in this romantasy series has 1.6 million ratings with a 4.6 average rating. More than 14,000 people finished reading it this week. |
#4:
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. MaasSpeaking of romantasy, here’s another very popular series in the subgenre! In fact, many people credit Maas for the popularity of romantasy right now — though romantic fantasy novels have been widely read for much longer than the portmanteau has existed. Of the 50 most read books on Goodreads this week, Maas wrote 14 of them. This title has 2.6 million ratings with a 4.2 average rating. 15,000 people finished reading it this week. |
#3:
Just for the Summer (Part of Your World #3) by Abby JimenezFrom romantasy to romance, this summer romance novel is the third in a series that started with Part of Your World. This one is about two people who both believe they’re cursed in love: people always seem to find their soulmate immediately after breaking up with them. So they decide to date each to see if it will cancel out their curses. It’s only been out since April, but it has 132,000 ratings with a 4.5 average rating. Almost 16,000 Goodreads users finished reading it last week. |
#2:
The Women by Kristin HannahThe Women is holding strong in the second spot on the Goodreads most read books of the week page, as it has for many weeks. It’s also a 2024 release, and this historical fiction title is a popular book club pick. You might remember Kristin Hannah as the author of another big book club book: The Nightingale. This one has 361,000 ratings and a 4.7 average rating — that’s the highest average rating on the entire top 50 list! It was marked as finished by almost 20,000 Goodreads users last week. |
#1:
Funny Story by Emily HenryBut the #1 spot by a long shot goes to popular romance author Emily Henry’s newest title. Like Just for the Summer, this is a romance where two people get together because of their exes. When Daphne and Miles’s partners leave them for each other, they bond over their heartbreak — and even move in together. Their plan was originally to make their exes jealous with some misleading photos of their time together, but then they start to fall for real. This has 191,000 ratings with a 4.4 average rating, and 37,000 Goodreads users finished reading it last week — almost double the users who finished The Women! |
Two of the Most Popular Books on the StoryGraph This Week
The above books are all likely familiar — this list doesn’t change a whole lot from week to week. It’s also not very diverse: the bestseller list and the most read books on Goodreads list tend to be almost entirely white authors, as a result of the racism that still pervades the publishing industry. So, let’s take a look at a couple of books on the StoryGraph most popular books of the week page — while this has some overlap with Goodreads, they have some interesting differences.
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. SutantoIf you’re looking for a cozy mystery, pick up this one by the author of Dial A for Aunties. It follows Vera Wong, a “lady of a certain age,” who finds a dead body in her tea shop and decides to solve the murder herself. The StoryGraph users describe it as funny, lighthearted, and mysterious. |
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey TrousselotIn this series originally published in Japanese, visitors to this café can travel back in time — but only if they’re back before the coffee gets cold. The StoryGraph users describe it as emotional, hopeful, and reflective. |
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.
