The Most Read Books on Goodreads In July

The first book in the Housemaid thriller series was read by more than 80,000 Goodreads readers last month with a 3.9 rating, and it’s not the only McFadden book on this list. In fact, McFadden is currently outselling John Patterson and John Grisham!

Mikkaka Overstreet recommends this as a book you can’t put down: “Rich people are truly terrifying. A woman becomes a housemaid for a rich family. She finds that the wife is an asshole, the husband is downtrodden, and the kid is a pawn. But here’s the twist: the housemaid has a dark secret that her suburban antagonist doesn’t know about. Who should you root for? Who can be trusted? Readers won’t know until the very last page.”

This summer romance was marked as read by almost 87,000 readers in July, and it has a 4.4 average rating.

Erica Ezeifedi recommends this as one of the most popular books on BookTok this summer: “This April release is all up and down BookTok. It’s a romance that starts with Reddit, of all things. Justin reveals in a Reddit thread that he’s cursed, and how every woman he goes on a date with finds her perfect match right after she breaks up with him. And Emma, feeling like she has nothing to lose, especially since her next assignment as a traveling nurse will place her in Minnesota, thinks that dating Justin might prove to be fruitful. But then Emma’s raggedy mother turns up, and Justin has to take care of his siblings, and suddenly, the idea that the two of them may be perfect together starts to form.”

This is the second book in the romantasy trilogy that began with Powerless. It was read by almost 99,000 Goodreads users last month, with a 4.2 average rating.

Silvana Reyes Lopez recommends Powerless as one of the slowest slow-burn romances ever written: “In this first novel, we meet Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary — someone with no power or ability. The king has decreed that all Ordinaries must be banished to preserve the Elites, the people who were blessed with powers. Because of this new law, Paedyn has taken matters into her own hands, and she now pretends to be an Elite to survive. But when she unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, her life suddenly changes.”

Emily Henry’s newest contemporary romance had a staggering 102,000 readers in July, with a 4.3 average rating.

Emily Martin recommends this as the feel-good book of the summer: “There’s so much to love about this book. Yes, you’ve probably guessed there is a cute little love story. But the part of the book that really hugged my heart was Daphne’s journey to rediscovering herself post-breakup. This is so much more than a romance. This is the story of a woman making friends, thriving in her job, learning more about who she is and what she cares about, and generally just coming into her own. This was such an empowering story in ways I couldn’t have predicted.”

Finally, the most read book on Goodreads last month is the third book in the Housemaid series. Almost 118,000 Goodreads users marked this as read in July, and it has a 3.9 average rating.

In this suburban psychological thriller, the main character thinks she’s made it now that her and her husband can afford their own house…but something is strange in this neighborhood, and a stranger warns her not to trust her neighbors.