From No. 1 to No. 60, Readers' Top Books Published in the Past Five Years

Spend enough time on this planet and random questions will gradually surface in the brain. Who invented the window? Why are oranges orange? And what are the 60 most popular books on Goodreads over the past five years?
We’re here to tackle that last question with today’s collection of the 60 top books published in the last half-decade, according to Goodreads members. This particular list is strictly by the numbers. We counted up the number of times Goodreads members marked these books as Want to Read, Currently Reading, or already Read. Then we looked at the average ratings on each title, with all of these books earning at least a 3.5-average star rating from fellow readers.
The books are sequenced according to overall popularity, without regard to genre or categorization. As such, for now, Alex Michaelides’ 2019 psychological thriller The Silent Patient is the most popular book overall. It seems that Goodreads regulars are also enjoying mysteries, romance, and the relatively new hybrid designation known as romantasy.
Authorwise, you’ll notice the usual suspects list of Goodreads fan favorites here—perennially popular writers including Sarah J. Maas, Taylor Jenkins Reid, Kristin Hannah, and Emily Henry. But the discerning reader will find all manner of things to catch the eye. Hockey lust, say, or Dickensian updates, or octopi.
Click on the book cover images for more information about each title. If you spot anything promising, use the Want to Read button to add the book to your digital shelf.
How many of these books have you read? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments Showing 51-100 of 631 (631 new)
I’ve read 7 and DNF’d 2. Out of what I read, I only really enjoyed 2: I’m glad my mom died and crying in h mart.
Teddi wrote: "I've read 3 of them. I don't tend to read trendy books 😊"Yo, I read some of these, and you're not missing out. To be honest, you might actually get dumber reading most of what's on here.
варежка wrote: "What a disappointing list with a bunch of pornographic "romances" taking the lead of today's teens and young adults' interests. Shame."I certainly feel that current trends are more towards Pop / Teen Romance/ True crime themes.
I read, Yellowface by R. F. Kuang and that's the only one. I mostly read dark literary fiction, horror, and gothic. So there's nothing on this list even on my shelf. *shrugs*
I had all but 1 marked as read or want to read... haha apparently I like the popular books! I've read 35/60 :o
I've read 5. A few more are on my TBR as "some day, maybe" reads. But there are so many great books that aren't even on the radar of most people that I enjoy reading so I may never get all the trending books read, and that's ok with me! :)
16, and there are no others on the list I want to read. Sometimes trendy books work for me, sometimes not.
Oksimoronka wrote: "I've read only 7 from this list, but almost all my TBR)Some of them I even already bought to read)"
Which were your favourite 2 of the 7 that you've read?
I’ve read none so far, but have marked 4 as “want to read”. That’s because I read mainly in Spanish and some of these have not made it there yet.
I’ve read 8, but a lot of these books look interesting! I’m hoping to read 130 books this year like last year.
Idamus wrote: "Well, I dnf'ed 1 and the rest are not on my to be read list...And in average I only read about 200 books per year."
only?
#36 is truly the worst written book I've ever read in my life. What the heck, people??A great, creative thriller that should be on this list is Wrong Place, Wrong Time.
This list seems a touch biased, I feel like it should be based on books read & high ratings rather than just simply numbers. I've also read/own half this list and very few are actually 5 stars in my opinion. So many books out there in the world and I continue to see the same books. You know what's a true good list? The NYT top 100. Those are books I've NEVER heard of, yet they have high reviews/criticism.
A lot of these books aren’t that great plot wise, but I can proudly say I’ve read a good amount of these!
I've read 23, am currently reading 2 and had 22 on my TBR, lol, I may as well add the other 13 to my list.
Miguel wrote: "Was the goal to make the most basic and mid list of all time? Fourth Wing at number 3 is wild"EXACTLY...
I read 2 books on this list and I don't have the intention of reading the others. I guess my reading taste is quite different from the one of mainstream readers and I must admit, I don't mind if I have a good look at this list.
I've read 8/60. None of the rest are on my to-read list. As previously mentioned, popular doesn't necessarily mean good.






























Only 23(or 25 depending on what you classify as romance) out of the 60 books on this list are romance though. This is just a general data of books a lot of people have read that we're published in the last 5 years. Though there's probably lists for what men are reading if you want to look