The 144 Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge

Posted by Cybil on December 2, 2024



Goodreads regulars will be aware that our 2024 Reading Challenge is coming to a glorious conclusion with the ringing in of the new year. This is, of course, our annual group reading exercise, in which members pledge to read a certain number of books over the course of the calendar year. Think of it as a fitness class for book nerds.
 
Well, the numbers are in, and they’re kind of eye-popping: More than 9 million readers signed up to read more than 356 million books in the year 2024. It’s inspirational! It’s aspirational! It’s amazing!
 
Perhaps you’re curious: Which books were the most popular in this year’s Reading Challenge? We were curious, too. Below are the top 12 books marked as Read by participants in this year’s challenge, sorted by genre.
 
Scroll around and you’ll see that several familiar names placed multiple books in the collection—some across different genres: R.F. Kuang, Alex Michaelides, Ali Hazelwood, Taylor Jenkins Reid, David Grann, Sarah J. Maas. Quite a few hugely popular recent books made the charts, too: Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Demon Copperhead and James McBride’s Kirkus Prize winner, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store.
 
There’s also a fun scattering of old genre classics, high-school English class favorites, popular memoirs, modern queer fiction classics, deeply weird true stories, and even a bit of fan fiction. Plus, of course, you’ll find the enduring delights of hockey romance.
 
Click on the book cover images for more information about each title, and use the Want to Read button if you’re already thinking about 2025.  

 
 
 

Fiction

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Historical Fiction

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Mystery & Thriller

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Fantasy

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Romantasy

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Science Fiction 

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Horror

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Romance

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Young Adult

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

Memoirs

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

History & Biography

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

General Nonfiction

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

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

Comments Showing 201-250 of 250 (250 new)

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message 201: by Julie (new)

Julie Wow, I’ve read 19 on the list!


message 202: by Cheryl (new)

Cheryl I’ve read 5 of these, with another 9 on my Want to Read list.


message 203: by Kathleen (new)

Kathleen Moore 28


message 204: by Angela (new)

Angela Ah Dune i want to read this Year...but need to find & good place for reading..
And get out from toxic place first 😅


message 205: by Danita (new)

Danita Hollander I’ve read 19 of them all!


message 206: by Sharon (new)

Sharon Knudsen I have read 27 of the books listed. A nice variety of genres. Some were great, some were meh, but none were terrible.


message 207: by Monica (new)

Monica Simon 37!!


message 208: by Lottie (new)

Lottie Collett I have read SO many of the young adult books - this is paradise.


message 209: by Marta (new)

Marta Read a book from this challenge but it wasn’t counted! How to fix this?


message 210: by Susan (new)

Susan Hylton 8, I have read 8. Some in nearly every genre.


message 211: by Connie (new)

Connie 40 (should be 42, but I see there are 2 that I forgot to add to my read list).


message 212: by Rina (new)

Rina I have read a couple and all of them are horrible. I’m not a fan of modern literature at all.


message 213: by Ashley DeAbreu (new)

Ashley DeAbreu Read 26 and 33 TBR, lol story of my life.


message 214: by Ashley DeAbreu (new)

Ashley DeAbreu Demon copperhead, covenant of water, bunny, and things that move the dead were some of my favorite reads for 2024. Just saying.


message 215: by Yolanda (new)

Yolanda Jones Read 19
16 want to read
Some of the categories I don’t read


message 216: by Paulina (new)

Paulina If you’re trying to introduce new authors to readers, there shouldn’t be so many repeats on this list. You do know there are other authors than Sarah J Maas, right?


message 217: by Helen (new)

Helen 6 read, 16 on my wtr list


message 218: by Nadezna (new)

Nadezna My bookmark reward isn't working. I just finished a book that's included in this list and the reward isn't showing up


message 219: by Jennifer (new)

Jennifer Kessler I read only 2 of them so far. Fantasy must be the popular genre and I’m not so sure it’s mine.


message 220: by John (new)

John Paul Surprising that not one book on health and ways to improve our being have made the “popular’ listings. But then as I look at the human shapes surrounding me I realize that maybe we as a society should make more of an effort to promote wellness above fantasy and romance.


message 221: by Mads (new)

Mads Gonzales i’m surprised at how many of these i’ve read! whether lately or in the past. the young adult is a little messed up, i think. TOG is definitely fantasy and not for teens (explicit-ness) lol


message 222: by eepyshxji (new)

eepyshxji ive read 2 of these lmao, heartstopper and agggtm, twisted love is tbr bc my bestie is obsessed with the series lmao, the rest kinda seem terrible (especially icebreaker, literally a wattpad fanfic)


message 223: by Holly (new)

Holly Young As with others I have not received my bookmark for the book I finished last week. And the book appears on another challenge as well so I'm intrigued to see if I get a two for one or not.


message 224: by Kyle (new)

Kyle I finished Demon Copperhead 3 days ago but I have not received credit for completing the challenge 🤷🏻‍♂️


message 225: by Sherry (new)

Sherry Erdly I read, "This is how you lose the time war". It hasn't counted for my buzzy book selection. I was wondering why and how I can get credit?


message 226: by Nightfalltwen (new)

Nightfalltwen Gross. Fanfiction does not deserve to be on this list. 🙄


message 227: by Carmen (new)

Carmen Has anyone received their achievement bookmark/credit yet?
I'm having the same problem.

Tried to contact Goodreads via the contact us form and got back a VERY fast response that told me to check things I'd already mentioned checking and then said it could take a few hours to receive credit. It's been almost 3 hours and still nothing, and the fact that it's a common comment here makes me think more time isn't goin to help...


👒 Inés 💛🌼💫 Have read 63 of these. But 2024 was my worst reading year since starting goodreads yearly challenges


message 229: by Calliss (new)

Calliss Carmen wrote: "Has anyone received their achievement bookmark/credit yet?
I'm having the same problem.

Tried to contact Goodreads via the contact us form and got back a VERY fast response that told me to check t..."


Marked completed one of them today that also goes into one of the other categories and also reviewed the book. But it does not complete the challenge for some reason..

So yeah I also have the same problem Carmen


message 230: by Honest Mabel (new)

Honest Mabel I did 17 of them already most last year lol I am so happy to see David Mitchell on here. I adore him!


message 231: by Lori (new)

Lori Thalmann Pytlik Read The Housemaid and The Housemaid's Secret. Very good. Hello Beautiful and Remarkably Bright Creatures were 2 of my favorite reads in 2024. 💖


message 232: by Kate (new)

Kate Strain Sad how few are on Kindle unlimited 🙃


message 233: by Summer (new)

Summer Dawn Smith 19, maybe 20. I can't remember if I read Into the Wild while on my Krakauer kick. The more I think about it, the more I think I did.

Mostly I read a lot of indie horror though, so despite being an avid reader, not many of my books have made the list. I'm definitely think they should be.


message 234: by Elizabeth (new)

Elizabeth Robertson Just curious...why isn't there a Banned Book challenge? They cover many of the categories listed, some old classics, some modern. All seem to challenge our ethnic, cultural, religious norms, etc. I've read a total of 42. They are "eye openers", and make you think.


message 235: by Mark (last edited Jan 23, 2025 07:01PM) (new)

Mark Henkel I have read 2 of the "General Non-Fiction" and have a third one that I own and it is in the queue for this year of 2025. I have also read one of the listed "Science Fiction" books but only because it is a famous classic.


message 236: by lovemyshelf (new)

lovemyshelf I have read. 42!


message 237: by Shainlock (new)

Shainlock 15 w quite a few on tbr


message 238: by Sharon (new)

Sharon Orlopp 44 read
37 TBR


message 239: by Shilo (new)

Shilo I wish I could read every single title listed. That would be the dream.


message 240: by Michele (new)

Michele Read 5 / 15 on the want to read list, many are on my shelf already.


message 241: by Stephany (new)

Stephany Geerman I read Manacled; finished it today and Goodsread didn’t give me the badge.

Also… my heart. I literally cried on the bus reading the last epilogue


message 242: by Megan (new)

Megan I read This is How You Lose the Time War this January and it's not showing in my challenge as a "Buzzy Book". I've checked the read date is in January 2025 and yes it is, I've checked that it's showing as "read" on this page and yes it is. It's just not showing as a bookmark in the challenge. I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't hated reading this particular book and stubbornly just got through it so it'd count towards the genre reading challenge!


message 243: by Mariann (new)

Mariann 7 want to read and 1 read not a very interesting list for me and the majority of the want to read is dry so they're just on the TBR list


message 244: by Becca (new)

Becca Gooding Please for hells sake remove the fanfiction off here, its not a book and this labelling fanfiction on goodreads is not what ao3 authors want. You are damaging the fanfiction spaces by binding books, listing them on goodreads.
does no one remember when authors were suing fanworks, leave fanfiction on fanfiction sites


message 245: by Renee (new)

Renee Read 22 of these. A lot on TBR!


message 246: by Shannon (new)

Shannon I’ve read 20.


message 247: by Rhiannon (new)

Rhiannon I’ve read 48 books on this list. I’m actually pretty impressed with myself.


message 248: by Megan (new)

Megan Helen wrote: "6 read, 16 on my wtr list"

same! I wouldn't mind so much but I really didn't enjoy it and finished it thinking at least it would give me the satisfaction of a bookmark.


message 249: by Megan (new)

Megan Lottie wrote: "I have read SO many of the young adult books - this is paradise."

Same happened to me. I've checked the date and it's fine. It's showing as "read" on this page so I've no idea why it's not counting. Frustrating!


message 250: by Mary-Anne (new)

Mary-Anne I had trouble with the Buzzy Book & I contacted Goodreads directly about this. Their suggestion was:

Search and find another qualifying book;
Then mark that book as "Read" with a qualifying read date;
Once this has been done, please remove that book from your shelves. This should then refresh your challenge, and the missing achievement should be attributed to your beta challenge.


I tried this & it worked. I used Fahrenheit 451 (I had rated it & read it before, but there was no reading date). I added a read date for today; then, it activated the Buzzy Book Challenge Award. I removed the book from the main reading challenge & the Buzzy Book Award remained.


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