Readers seem to love these

Most Popular Books in July

Goodreads has a way of showing the most popular books on its site for a month. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what they had for the month of July.

This list is for books that were shelved by Goodreads members. " Shelved” on Goodreads means someone added a book to their “want to read”, “currently reading”, or “read” shelf. 

The fantasy and mystery/thriller genres were the most popular categories. There were three fantasies, two of which were young adult romantic fantasy, and three mystery/thrillers, one of which was young adult.

Here is a top 10 of the most popular books:

1. Reckless by Lauren Roberts. Book 2 in the Powerless trilogy.
Release date: 7.2.24
Shelved: 385k
Ratings: 125k

2. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Release date: 7.2.24
Shelved: 264k
Ratings: 30.5k

3. Play Along by Liz Tomforde. Book 4 in the Windy City series
Release date: 7.6.24
Shelved: 179k
Ratings: 74.9k

4. The Wedding People by Alson Espach
Release date: 7.30.24
Shelved: 178k
Ratings: 4.13k

5. The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
Release date: 7.9.24
Shelved: 150k
Ratings: 10.9k

6. Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight
Release date: 7.30.24
Shelved: 119k
Ratings: 2k

7. The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin
Release date: 7.9.24
Shelved: 107k
Ratings: 13.1k

8. The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Book 1 in the Grandest Game series.
Release date: 7.30.24
Shelved: 105k
Ratings: 3.6k

9. The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
Release date: 7.16.24
Shelved: 97.6k
Ratings: 7.3k

10. The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller. Book 2 in The Shadow Between Us series.
Release date: 7.16.24
Shelved: 94.8k
Ratings: 3.8k

Book News of the Week

• Thriller novels aren’t what they used to be. Is television to blame? (The Washington Post)

• Steamy book sales have doubled – and I soon found out why (The Guardian)

• Emily Henry Books-to-Movies: A Guide to All TV Adaptations (J-14)

• An Upcoming Adaptation of Stephen King's The Running Man Could Reunite Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell (MOVIEWEB)

• J.R. Ward writing 4-book romantasy Kingdoms of the Compass (Entertainment Weekly)

• BookTok's 2024 Romantasy Hit Is The Perfect Fourth Wing Replacement While You Wait For Onyx Storm (Screenrant)

• 5 Fantastic Novels That Business Leaders Need To Read Now (Forbes)

• Silvia Moreno-Garcia talks new book, 'The Seventh Veil of Salome' (Good Morning America)

• It Ends With Us author Coleen Hoover is divisive. Here’s why she’s so polarizing. (Vox)

• 10 most underrated fantasy books (Destructoid)

• BookTok is the latest literary movement. Is it a consumerist obsession or productive democratization? (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

• Flatiron to Debut Pine & Cedar Imprint with S.A. Cosby's Next Book (Publisher’s Weekly)

• Read Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson: Chapters 1 and 2 (Reactor)

• Ellie Palmer Wants While You Were Sleeping Reunion for Book Adaptation (Us Weekly)

• Audible Rolls Out AI-Generated Recommendations (Book Riot)