The Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge (So Far)

It's time once again, gentle readers, for our midyear status check on the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge, in which members pledge to read a designated number of books before the calendar year is out. It’s a relatively straightforward process: Click on over to the 2024 Reading Challenge page, enter in the number of books you plan to devour, then get busy with page-turning.
The numbers are pretty astounding: As of this writing, more than 7 million Goodreads members have signed up for the Challenge, worldwide. Total books pledged: more than 295 million.
Below you will find the most popular books being read by Goodreads regulars who have signed up for this year’s Challenge. We’ve sorted the titles by genre, then ranked the titles by overall popularity within the genre. So, for instance, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry is the most read Historical Fiction book among those taking the 2024 Reading Challenge.
Several of the books making the list are relatively recent releases that have crossed over into the general cultural conversation: James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, say, or Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize winner, Demon Copperhead. You’ll also find a good cross section of Goodreads Choice Award winners, such as Emily Henry’s Happy Place, Nita Prose’s The Maid, and Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Scroll around below to get a sense of it all, and click on the book cover images for more information about each title. You can also click the link below to check in on your own Reading Challenge progress, or to sign up if you haven’t already. It’s never too late, and the six-month Challenge is a perfectly honorable tradition.
Fiction
Historical Fiction
Mystery
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Horror
Romance
Young Adult
General Nonfiction
Comments Showing 151-200 of 298 (298 new)
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Marla
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Jun 26, 2024 07:24PM
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I'm so excited to see books I've read when I was younger and books that I am reading as an adult on these lists!
Jane wrote: "I am very happy to note that I haven't read a single one of the books which are 'trending'. Up to this point in time I have read 52 books this year. (My target was 50). Some have been outstanding..."
But...there are several on this list that are absolutely worth the time! Just because they are popular does not mean they are the best or most promoted, they are just really good. Not all of course, some are all hype for sure!
Law wrote: "I plan to read Dune soon. Is it any good?"I've been struggling to finish Dune for a couple of years now. I love the concept and the writing style, but I find Paul (the main character) so insufferable that I haven't managed to get through it yet. One of these days...or years... :)
Sooo IRead - 3
Want to read - 9
And Icebreaker is #1 in Romance? I don't know if I should be glad or cry, because I gave this book 1 or 2 stars.
Michael wrote: "I find it curious that so many who comment on this list find it necesssary to count. I think it may be significant that we replicate the publisher's desire to follow what is popular, but I still fi..."I'm a checklist fan girl. I love spreadsheets and keeping track. So, with that being said, I love numbers lol
I AGREE WITH THE PERSONAL STAR RATINGS BACK. PLEASE AND THANK YOU!Lisa wrote: "Read - 45
Dnfed -2
Want to Read - 10
Of those ten, I should get to at least five before the year is out. Of the newer books, The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is really good!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE..."
Surprised to say that I’ve already read 5 books off of this list (that normally never happens!) but I have 16 more already on my ‘want to read’ list! And 100s more that I want to read that didn’t make this list!! It’s definitely a good problem to have, so many books…
Not interested in many of these, just Before the Coffee Gets Cold. I mostly read mysteries but not the ones listed.
My goal in this year is to read 50 English books. English isn't my mother tongue. In previous year I've read about 13 books in English. For now I've already read total 26 books where 24 from them are in English.
Probably because this list is mainly intended for adults, I've only read two, Dune and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which are both amazing.
15 problematic books/authors 🤦🏽♀️9 read
4 on various tbr's.
Disappointed that Children's or Middle-Grade books are consistently left off these lists.
i have read 14 books i wanna read almost all of them😭
specially the famous ones 😭 AND THE ONES W BEAUTIFUL COVERSSSS
18 for me read - a great listThis looks interesting - such a high rating
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van Pelt
What a shame no Fredrik Backman made the list
24 read already (and 1 DNF); 19 on my Want to Read list, and they are all books that I have purchased so will read pretty soon!
Kristen wrote: "HUGE fan of Before the Coffee Gets Cold series! So happy to see it made the list!"I enjoyed it too!
I've read eleven from this list. I read about two books a week yet most of them are not on this list. There are only about six more on this last that I want to read.
Read: 11DNF: 1
Want to read: about 8
Looks like I read mostly fiction and historical fiction, with some dabbling in other genres.
Great list.
Michael wrote: "I find it curious that so many who comment on this list find it necesssary to count. I think it may be significant that we replicate the publisher's desire to follow what is popular, but I still fi..."Agree, it’s not a competition. I did some counts to get a sense of what I have read and in what categories. I am happy that I dabbled in science fiction, but I make no apology for avoiding horror.
Now I am going to read on, with a few new ideas of books that look interesting.
Lisa wrote: "Read - 45Dnfed -2
Want to Read - 10
Of those ten, I should get to at least five before the year is out. Of the newer books, The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is really good!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE..."
I agree with you. I would also like that information available without having to click on the book.




























