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The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week

Here are the five most read books on Goodreads this week! These are the buzziest books of the moment, from thrillers to romantasy.

Danika Ellis Jul 12, 2024

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Danika Ellis

Associate Editor

Danika spends most of her time talking about queer women books at the Lesbrary. Blog: The Lesbrary Twitter: @DanikaEllis

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The most read books on Goodreads this week looks pretty similar to last week, but we do have a title appearing on this list for the first time: Reckless by Lauren Roberts, the second book in the Powerless romantasy trilogy. This one has been going viral on BookTok — in fact, many online sellers list the title as “Powerless: TikTok made me buy it! An epic and sizzling fantasy romance not to be missed.” I think we can all agree that’s a little wordy for a fiction subtitle, but we do live in an age of keyword stuffing. In any case, fans have been eagerly awaiting the new installment, and tens of thousands of them have read it cover-to-cover within a week of the release date!

#5:

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah’s newest historical fiction looks to be sliding off the most read list after being a fixture since it’s February release. It was #4 last week and has now dropped one more spot. Still, The Women was read by almost 18,000 Goodreads users this week and has a 4.7 average rating.

Argentina: Un lugar soleado para gente sombría (A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories) by Mariana Enríquez

Singapore: The Housemaid Is Watching by Freida McFadden

Ukraine: Катананхе by Sofia Andrukhovych

#4:

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

As the hot weather continues for so many readers, this summer romance novel continues to be a popular choice. It was marked as read by 19,000 readers this week and has a 4.4 rating.

Argentina: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Singapore: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Ukraine: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

#3:

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Romance has been a popular genre of the most read books on Goodreads lately, and the reigning queen of romance novels is Emily Henry. Her newest was read by almost 25,000 Goodreads users last week and has a 4.3 average rating.

Argentina: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Singapore: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Ukraine: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

#2:

Reckless (The Powerless Trilogy #2) by Lauren Roberts

Here’s a brand-new title to this list! Reckless is the sequel to the popular romantasy novel Powerless, and it just came out July 2nd. It was marked as read by almost 30,000 users last week and has an average rating of 4.3.

Argentina: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Singapore: Funny Story by Emily Henry

Ukraine: Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter

#1:

The Housemaid Is Watching by Freida McFadden

Speaking of sequels, McFadden’s newest psychological thriller, the third in the Housemaid series, is holding onto its place as the #1 most read book on Goodreads in the last week. It was read by more than 31,000 users and has an average rating of 3.9.

Argentina: Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

Singapore: Reckless by Lauren Roberts

Ukraine: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Two of the Most Popular Books on the StoryGraph This Week

The StoryGraph doesn’t have quite as many users as Goodreads, but it’s still worth taking a look at — not least of all because the most popular this week list seems to have a little more diversity than the Goodreads most read this week list. So, here a couple a couple of books on the StoryGraph’s most popular this week page. It doesn’t specify how it determines this page — is it most read, the books most added to the “to read” shelf, or a combination? Regardless, it says something about the books their users are paying attention to now.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Kate Krug named this one of the most beautiful books about the saddest stories: “Vuong’s first non-poetry work, this book incorporates both vivid imagery and poignant language to tell the story of Little Dog and his family, Vietnamese refugees living in the United States. Written as a letter to his illiterate mother who will never read it, the book is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale that explores the complexities of adapting to a new home, sexuality, and overall, just the feeling of belonging in a place that feels like it wants to reject you.”

Unsurprisingly, the StoryGraph users describe this as emotional, reflective, and sad.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa

Rachel Rosenberg called this one of the best books about reading: “Takako is living a great life until her boyfriend Hideaki lets it drop that he’s been cheating on her and plans to marry the other woman. Then everything begins to crumble as she loses her job, her home, and her friends. When her uncle Satoru offers her a position at his second-hand book store, she reluctantly takes it — mostly so she can live in the rent-free apartment above the shop — but it does eventually lead her to discover a love of reading and allow her to meet new people.”

The StoryGraph users describe this as emotional, lighthearted, reflective, and fast-paced.

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.