The 10 Most Popular Books on Book Riot in July 2024
We talk about a lot of books on Book Riot every month…a lot. Between our dozens of newsletters, our podcasts, and our on-site content, we’re recommending hundreds of books every month in all genres, age categories, and formats. Hopefully, these recommendations connect you with your next favorite book. But how do we know which of these recs were successful? We don’t have comprehensive data on which recommendations made you read a book — that would be creepy. What we do have, though, is data on which books we linked last month that you clicked on. It’s not a perfect metric for popularity, since we don’t know why you clicked on them, but it’s the closest thing we have. So, here are the top ten most clicked on books on Book Riot last month.
But first, a quick shout-out to our most popular articles of the month. Interestingly, the post that inspired many of these clicks, The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, According to the New York Times, did not make the top five most viewed. Our #1 most-viewed article was first published in 2020, but you can guess why it gained renewed popularity in July.
The Most-Viewed Articles on Book Riot in July
Now, onto the most popular books on Book Riot last month!
The Most Clicked Books on Book Riot in July
#10:
A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon, translated by Anton Hur
Emily Martin recommended this in the Read This Book newsletter, where we send book recommendations to your inbox a few times a week. She says, “As a millennial and lover of all things magical girls, I adored this celebration of all things magical girl and how they might play out in the real world. The illustrations by Kim Sanho took me back to all of my favorite mangas I read growing up. This one was such a fun read.”
#9:
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
This is a book that was mentioned a lot on Book Riot in July because it’s continually been one of the bestselling books of the week and one of the most read books on Goodreads of the week. The Housemaid is just one of the Freida McFadden books on this list! She’s the thriller writer outselling James Patterson and John Grisham. If you’re interested in readalikes, Erica Ezeifedi recommended some Diverse Authors Like Freida McFadden.
#8:
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
That brings us to the first — but not the last — book on this list that was named one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by the New York Times. This 2010 nonfiction title got the second spot overall. We’ve recommended The Warmth of Other Suns many times previously on Book Riot, including as one of the best history books of all time.
#7:
Reckless by Lauren Roberts
This romantasy sequel is another one that’s been on several of our July round ups of bestselling and most read books of the week. It’s the second book in the trilogy that began with Powerless, which won the 2024 Barnes & Noble Young Adult Book Award. Silvana Reyes Lopez also named the first book in the series as one of the slowest slow-burn romances ever written.
#6:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
This is another book that was on the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, According to the New York Times — and it showed up on the Readers Pick list, which Jeff said put it in the running for the book of the century. Afterwards, it made an appearance on the Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week list. We’ve previously recommended this modern classic many times, including in our guide to Must-Read Genre-Blending Literary Fiction Books and Grace LaPointe’s exploration of the book: No One Should Be Asked to Prove Their Humanity.
#5:
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
You remember this one! We just talked about the sequel! This was one of the most read books on Goodreads one week — at least in the Netherlands. Here’s how Silvana Reyes Lopez describes it as a slow-burn romance: “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.
Even though it’s filled with top-notch banter and angsty tension, Powerless provides not one kiss.”
#4:
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
We arrive back again to the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century, According to the New York Times. My Brilliant Friend is the #1 book of the 21st century, according to the NYT. In fact, three Ferrante books made the list: My Brilliant Friend at #1, The Story of the Lost Child at #80, and The Days of Abandonment at #92. We’ve recommended and discusses Ferrante quite a bit in the past, so check out the Elena Ferrante archives for essays, quotes, readalikes, and more.
#3:
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Women might take the crown for being mentioned in the most bestselling and most read books round ups in July. In fact, it’s one of the bestselling books of 2024 so far. It was also included as one of the hosts’ favorite books of the year on the All the Books! podcast and was mentioned in the Book Riot podcast this month. Fun fact: this is of the highest rated historical fiction books on Goodreads. It has a 4.6 average, which is almost unparalleled in any genre.
#2:
The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden
Here’s the second McFadden book on the list! This is the third and most recent book in the series, and it’s been appearing on a lot of bestselling and most read books lists in July. This is a psychological thriller about moving into a suburban neighborhood where the neighbors are keeping secrets…
#1:
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Finally, the most popular book of July is the book of the summer: The God of the Woods. It’s the next Jimmy Fallon book club pick, it’s being adapted to the screen, and it’s one of the best new mystery books of the month. Erica Ezeifedi called it the best book club book of the summer. We also recommended it on All the Books, discussed it as an “It Book” of July, and recommended it in depth for Read This Book. And honestly, that’s not even all the mentions of The God of the Woods on Book Riot in July. I could go on. The interesting part is most of these mentions were written or recorded by different people, so it represents a chorus of Book Riot voices talking up this title. No wonder it got so many clicks!
Those are the most clicked books on Book Riot in July. Do any of these surprise you?
