The 10 Most Popular Books on Book Riot in October 2024
Between all of our newsletters, podcasts, and on-site content, Book Riot recommends hundreds of books every month in a wide range of genres, formats, age categories, and more. Most of the time, though, we have no idea how successful these recommendations are. Which titles are you most interested in? We don’t have a perfect measure of that, but we do have a rough proxy: the books you clicked on the most. 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.
Now, onto the most popular books on Book Riot last month!
The Most Clicked Books on Book Riot in October
#10:
James by Percival Everett
James is a Book Riot favorite, so it’s no surprise to find it here! This was named as one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly and Barnes & Noble. As more year-end lists come out, expect to see this title again! This month, it also won the Kirkus Prize, was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals, and was shortlisted for the National Book Award. It’s also a finalist for Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year.
#9:
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Erica Ezeifedi recommends this as one of the biggest book club books of the fall as well as one of the best books out in October: “discussing the reality of Blackness in America can be depressing, but Coates does it so well. At the risk of sounding clichéd, his latest is timely. It’s a collection of essays that explores how the stories we construct distort reality. He travels to Senegal, South Carolina, and Palestine, contending with myth and reality in each place.”
#8:
The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori
This one is a surprise. The only times it’s been mentioned Book Riot were last month’s most popular books on the site and as a bullet point in the post The Spiciest Books on BookTok in 2024, According to Readers, which was posted in June. That article didn’t get a big spike in traffic in September or October, so I’m not sure why it’s getting a lot of clicks. This was the #1 book on that list of spiciest books on BookTok, and it’s a mafia romance.
#7:
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Sally Rooney is one of the biggest names writing today, so of course her newest has gotten attention on Book Riot. It’s a finalist for Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year and a bestselling book of the week. The reviews have been rolling in from all over the book world, as a Check Your Shelf link round-up pointed out.
#6:
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
The paperback release of Fourth Wing in September put it back on the bestseller lists, and was also one of the 10 Most Popular Books on Book Riot in September 2024. It has also been on all the Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week round-ups. Book three in the series, Onyx Storm, comes out in January, and it’s one of the Most Anticipated Romance Novels of 2025.
#5:
The Women by Kristin Hannah
This is another book that’s a staple on the Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week round-ups as well as the bestseller lists. It’s also a finalist for Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year. Erica Ezeifedi recommends it as a great book club pick: “In the ’60s, a young nursing student, Frankie, comes of age. When her brother is deployed to Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps, thinking of herself as serving her country. But the reality of war sets in, and she finds her friends and herself broken. What’s more, her return to the U.S. and normalcy is anything but—the country is divided on its involvement in Vietnam, making her and other women’s sacrifices that much easier to forget.”
#4:
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Most of the clicks for this one come from the Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week round-ups, though Jamie Canavés also shared some news this month about the upcoming adaptation. Mikkaka Overstreet recommends this as a pageturner you won’t be able to put down: “A woman becomes a housemaid for a rich family. She finds that the wife is a cruel, 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.”
#3:
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
Here’s a fun one! It was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Here’s how Liberty Hardy recommends it: “This charming novel was a runaway hit in Japan! How can you go wrong with cats? In this magical fantasy, being kind to cats really pays off. Because the legend goes, if you’re kind to the right cat, it will take you to a magical coffee shop that you can’t find on your own. This special shop is staffed by talking cats (purristas?), who will impart wisdom, read your star chart, and supply you with delicious food and drink.”
#2:
The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore
I hate to be a broken record, but this is another book that has shown up on this list because of its prominence on the October round-ups of the Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week. Courtney Rodgers recommends it as a cozy fall read: “Order your favorite seasonal coffee and curl up with this cozy mystery romance. Ready for a fresh start, Jeanie is thrilled when her aunt gifts her the Pumpkin Spice Café in the sleepy town of Dream Harbor. When things start going slightly wrong, Jeanie turns to a local farmer, Logan, for help. Logan just wants to get back to his normal routine, but he finds Jeanie’s charm irresistible.”
#1:
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
It’s no coincidence that this is also #1 on the the Most Read Books on Goodreads in October 2024. McFadden’s reign over the thriller category continues: she has two of the books in our top ten! This book follows Sydney, who just met the perfect guy…at the same time that news stories come out about a serial killer is dating women before murdering them.
Those are the most clicked books on Book Riot in October. Do any of these surprise you?
More breaking news here
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- The New York Times Announces its Best Books of 2024
- The Best New Books Out in December, According to Indie Booksellers
- Most Costco Locations Will Stop Carrying Books
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads in November
- Voting Begins for the Final Round of the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards
- The New York Times Announces its 100 Notable Books of 2024
- NPR Shares Their Big List of Favorite Books for 2024
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week