The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
This week’s most read books on Goodreads showcase the same thriller, romance, and historical fiction authors we saw last week, but slightly reordered. Freida McFadden claims two of the top five spots, which shouldn’t be a surprise, because she’s the thriller writer outselling James Patterson and John Grisham: “McFadden, a physician who writes under a pseudonym to protect her relationship with her patients, self-published for a decade before signing a deal with Sourcebooks’s Poisoned Pen Press. Her 23 (!) books have sold more than 6 million copies, making her the fastest-selling thriller writer in the U.S., outpacing heavy hitters James Patterson, David Baldacci, and John Grisham, who all show up beneath her on current sales charts.”
To prevent this being identical to last week’s list, I included the top five most read books within a few different countries. This time, it’s Egypt, France, and Indonesia. It’s interesting to see the titles that are being read all over the world and the ones that are hugely popular only in their home country. Some of these don’t have an English translation — hopefully their popularity will change that soon!
Without further ado, here are the most read books on Goodreads this week, plus a couple of the most popular books on the StoryGraph right now.
#5:
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
The new release of the third book in this thriller series has continued to buoy the first book’s popularity, giving McFadden two of the top five spots this week. Just shy of 17,000 users marked it as read this week, with an average rating of 4.
Egypt: Funny Story by Emily Henry
France: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Indonesia: Laut Bercerita by Leila S. Chudori (The Sea Speaks His Name by Leila S. Chudori)
#4:
The Women by Kristin Hannah
This title has been pretty reliable in being in the top three spots on both this list and the bestseller lists since it came out, but it might be slowly sliding from that position. Still, The Women was read by more than 17,000 users this week, with an impressive 4.7 average.
Egypt: Powerless by Lauren Roberts
France: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Indonesia: Love Unwritten by Lauren Asher
#3:
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Jimenez’s summer romance is holding strong as the hot weather continues, with almost 18,000 users marking it as read this week. It has a 4.4 average rating.
Egypt: Love Unwritten by Lauren Asher
France: Un printemps pour te succomber by Morgane Moncomble
Indonesia: Agensi Rumah Tangga by Almira Bastari
#2:
Funny Story by Emily Henry
The newest Emily Henry romance holds onto its second place spot, with more than 24,000 people marking it as read this week. It has a 4.3 average rating.
Egypt: مُر by ميرنا المهدي (The Investigations Of Noah Al-Alfi #2 by Myrna Almahdi)
France: Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Indonesia: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
#1:
The Housemaid Is Watching by Freida McFadden
And finally, the newest Freida McFadden novel is still in the #1 spot, and by a large margin: close to 37,000 users marked it as read this week, which is more than double the readers of the #3 title! It has a 4 average rating.
Egypt: قضية ست الحسن by ميرنا المهدي (The Case Of Sitt Al-Hassan by Myrna Almahdi)
France: Un été pour te retrouver by Morgane Moncomble
Indonesia: Teka-Teki Rumah Aneh by Uketsu
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 Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
This was one of the best SFF releases of 2023! Rey Rowland also calls is a must-read genre-defying fantasy book: “The Spear Cuts Through Water is a wonderful Russian doll-esque novel that tells a story within a story. It also mixes fantasy and literary fiction to create a super unique and epic adventure!” The StoryGraph users calls it adventurous, dark, and emotional.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
This cozy fantasy romance is a favorite here at Book Riot. Alice Nuttall calls it one of best witch books of all time: “If Diana Wynne Jones wrote cosy romance, it would look a lot like The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.” The StoryGraph users describe it as funny, hopeful, and lighthearted.
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.
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