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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 romantasy to thrillers.

Community Oct 18, 2024

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This week’s most read books on Goodreads looks pretty similar to last week, with one exception: for the first time in many months, The Women by Kristin Hannah is not in the top five. It’s been overtaken by Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros, which means two of the top five are books in the Empyrean series! This is planned to be a five book series, so it will be interesting to see if it can maintain this momentum through to the final volume. Book three, Onyx Storm, comes out in January.

Because the rest of the books on this list are repeats, I thought I’d mix it up by adding the top five most-read books from a few countries from around the world. This time, we’re taking a peek at Brazil, Finland, and Singapore. It’s always fun to see the titles that are popular in one country that haven’t broken out into global fame. For example, the #1 most read book on Goodreads in Finland this week is Asioita joista en tiennyt pitäväni by Annukka Salama, which doesn’t have an English translation. Now, onwards to the overall most read books on Goodreads this week!

#5:

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Perhaps because book three’s release date is on the horizon, book two of the Empyrean series is seeing a bump in readers. It was marked as read by almost 11,000 users this week and has an average rating of 4.4.

Brazil: Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

Finland: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Singapore: Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

#4:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Book one in the Empyrean series is also getting plenty of new readers, likely because of its recent paperback release. It was read by over 12,000 users last week, and it has a 4.6 average rating.

Brazil: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Finland: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Singapore: Funny Story by Emily Henry

#3:

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

McFadden continues to be the biggest name in thrillers at the moment. The first book in the Housemaid series was read by almost 14,000 Goodreads users this week, with a 4.3 average rating.

Brazil: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Finland: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Singapore: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

#2:

The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore

The perfectly seasonal romance The Pumpkin Spice Café is holding onto the #2 spot this week. 17,000 Goodreads users read it, and it has a 3.4 average rating.

Brazil: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Finland: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

Singapore: The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

#1:

The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden

McFadden’s newest thriller, which came out in October, is #1 for the second week in a row. It had 40,000 readers on Goodreads this week — more than double the readers of the title in spot #2 — and it has a 4.1 average rating.

Brazil: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Finland: Asioita joista en tiennyt pitäväni by Annukka Salama

Singapore: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Han Kang just won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and she’s the first South Korean author to get that prize. It was originally published in 2007, with the English translation coming out in 2016 — which is when it won the International Booker Prize. It follows a woman who decides to stop eating meat and the fall out from her decision to go against the norm. The Storygraph users describe it as dark, sad, and tense.

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

Rey Rowlands says, “M.L. Wang tends writes epic, magical stories full of violence and conflict that are reminiscent of R.F. Kuang’s. If you like the academic and magical conflicts of Babel, you’ll probably enjoy Blood Over Bright Haven.” The Storygraph users describe this as dark, emotional, and tense.

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.