100 of the Most Popular YA Books of the Past Five Years

While it’s hard to truly quantify what catches on in the realm of pop culture, it’s often fun to try. Looking forward is basically impossible—if book publishers knew how to do that, they’d be gazillionaires. But looking back in time? That’s generally fascinating.
 
We’ve collected below the 100 most popular YA books on Goodreads over the past five years, as determined by overall shelvings—books that Goodreads members have already read or Want to Read. We’ve also selected for enthusiasm: We’ve culled anything that scored under a 3.5 in average star ratings. Finally, we’ve collapsed popular series into a single representative book. If multiple titles from a series made the list, we included only the first book from the time period in question.
 
You’ll find several familiar names on the list and an eclectic mix of genres, themes, and styles—from existential romance to classic sci-fi, from labyrinthine mystery to insightful contemporary fiction. Also: enchanted cranes and snow leoponaires.
 
Scroll over the book covers below for more details about each title. If you see any interesting books conspicuously absent from your own shelves, don’t forget about your Want to Read list.
 

How many of these popular YA books have you read? Let us know in the comments below!