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Freida McFadden’s reign over the bestseller and most read lists continues! Move over John Grisham and James Patterson, because McFadden is the new name in thrillers. The Housemaid series has been in the top five most read books on Goodreads for many weeks, and now her newest thriller, The Boyfriend, joins them.
This list is a good reminder of just how popular and widely read the romance and mystery/thriller genres are: they consistently make up the majority of the most read list, despite both genres often going underrepresented in literary coverage. Breaking news: it turns out people want to read exciting, fast-moving books — like thrillers — and heartwarming and/or sexy books — like romance.
Unfortunately, this list continues to be extremely white. At a glance, I only see one book by an author of color on the top 50 most read books on Goodreads this week: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. A 98% white list is a bad look. I’ve included a couple of books by authors of color at the end of this post, both of which appear on the Storygraph’s most popular books this week list.
#5:
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Women continues to hold onto its spot in the top five, despite being published in February, but it is sliding down the ranks a bit. It was read by 11,000 Goodreads users this week and has an impressive 4.6 average rating.
#4:
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
This is one of two books by McFadden in the top five this week! It’s the first in her Housemaid series — you can pick up The Housemaid’s Secret and The Housemaid is Watching, too, if you want to catch up with the whole series. It was marked as read 11,000 times this week, with a 4.3 average rating.
#3:
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Fourth Wing continues to enjoy a bump in readership (and sales) with its recent paperback release. It will be interesting to see how long that lasts. It was read by almost 13,000 users last week, adding to its two million total ratings. It has a 4.6 average rating.
#1:
The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden
The number one spot this week goes to a brand-new title: The Boyfriend. McFadden’s newest thriller came out October 1st, and it 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. It had 22,000 readers on Goodreads this week, and it has a 4.1 average rating.
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 Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
This is a Book Riot favorite! Erica Ezeifedi recommends it as a cozy, comforting BIPOC book: “Witches are few and far between in the UK, which is why Mika Moon and her group of witches meet only so often — safety is the priority, and too many witches in one place tend to draw attention. Even though Mika is used to the loneliness, a big part of her rejects it, and she posts videos on a YouTube-like site where she shares magic tips, pretending to be a witch. But someone sees her for what she really is and invites her to a house out in the middle of nowhere to tutor three young witches into their magic. Somehow, she agrees and finds with the inhabitants of the house — especially a grumpy librarian—a family like none she’s ever experienced. But the transition from being a loner orphan witch to a loved one isn’t easy, and she’ll have to make some changes to adjust.”
The Storygraph users describe it as funny, hopeful, and lighthearted.
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Erica Ezeifedi recommends this as one of the biggest book club books of the fall: “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.”
The Storygraph users describe it as challenging, informative, and reflective.
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.
