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What are the biggest, buzziest books of the moment? You can consult the bestseller lists, but they all seem to disagree with each other. You can even check out Book Riot’s roundup of the bestselling books on all the lists, but that still only tells one part of the story: are people actually reading the books they’re buying? And what about the books they’re reading that they didn’t just buy? That’s where Goodreads comes in.
Goodreads doesn’t have an exact record of what everyone in the world is reading, of course, but as the most widely used book cataloguing system, it’s the closest thing we’ve got. If you want to know what people are reading right now, Goodreads has a page where they record the books the most users have marked as read this week.
Here are the top five most-read books on Goodreads this week, including historical fiction, romance, and fantasy. This list continues to not be very diverse, so stick around afterwards to see a few more selections from the most-read books on Goodreads and The StoryGraph this week that didn’t make it into the top five.
#5:
Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros’s romantasy series has slipped down a spot from last week: Iron Flame is the #6 most-read book of this week, and Fourth Wing takes spot #5. The first book in what’s slated to be a five book series, Fourth Wing has 1.6 million ratings, with an average of 4.6. It came out in 2023, but it still continues to be a bestseller — one that helped cement romantasy as the genre of the moment.
#4:
A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas
Of course, the author who propelled romantasy to the top of the bestseller lists before Fourth Wing was Sarah J. Maas, and she has leapfrogged over Yarros this week. She also made the top ten bestsellers on The New York Times, Amazon, Indie Bestsellers, and Publishers Weekly lists this week. A Court of Thorns and Roses currently has 2.6 million ratings on Goodreads, with a 4.2 average rating, and that’s just one title of Maas’s many popular series.
#3:
Just for the Summer (Part of Your World #3) by Abby Jimenez
This title has slipped down one spot since last week. While romantasy is a genre of the moment, there’s still plenty of room for contemporary romance — two of which make the top five most-read books on Goodreads this week. Just for the Summer has only been out for a month, but it has 81,000 ratings (that’s 20,000 more than last week!) with an average rating of 4.5. You can also check out Jimenez’s previous bestselling romance novels, Part of Your World and Yours Truly.
#2:
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Women has been dominating the bestseller list and Goodreads’s most-read list in recent week, but it’s been unseated this time! Still, this is by all accounts one of the buzziest books of the moment. It currently has close to 300,000 ratings, with a 4.7 average. Kristin Hannah is a popular book club author: you might remember her name from The Nightingale, another hugely successful historical fiction title.
#1:
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Today’s #1 most-read book on Goodreads wasn’t on the list at all last week, and that’s because it only came out on April 23rd. It’s hard to overstate how popular Emily Henry’s romance novels are, and this one has been eagerly anticipated. It follow Daphne as she reels from being left by her fiancé Peter for a woman named Petra. One thing leads to another, and now Daphne is living with Petra’s ex…and falling for him. This new release already had 67,000 ratings, with a 4.5 average.
Two of the Most Popular Books on the StoryGraph This Week
This list isn’t very diverse, so here are a couple more of the most popular books on the StoryGraph this week. The StoryGraph’s most popular this week page has many of the same books at the Goodreads most-read list, but with enough variation to make it worth taking a look at both.
Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
This list is pretty romance-heavy, so here’s a buzzy crime novel to add some variety. It was first published in Japanese in 2017, but the English translation came out in mid-April. It follows a journalist interviewing a serial killer who gains her trust by talking about food and cooking. The StoryGraph users categorize it as dark, mysterious, and reflective, with a slow pace. It has an average rating of 3.9.
Twisted Love by Ana Huang
And we’re back to romance! This is book five of the Kings of Sin series, and it came out April 30th. If you like billionaire romances and workplace romances, this one is for you. The StoryGraph users categorize it as emotional, funny, and lighthearted, with a medium pace. It has an average rating of 4.1.
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.