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Readers’ Most Read Books of the Reading Challenge (So Far)
The 2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge has reached the approximate halfway mark, so it’s time once again for our annual summer check-in. Curious about what everyone is reading this year? So were we!
We’ve gathered below the most popular books chosen by Goodreads regulars, so far, in this year’s challenge. In other words, these are the titles most marked as “read” by participating bookworms. The list begins with the overall top 12, followed by genre-specific categories. So, for instance, the most popular title overall is Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary, while the most popular historical fiction novel is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Atmosphere.
Some interesting bits: You’ll see that recent TV and film adaptations often drive readers back to the source books, as with Hail Mary, Wuthering Heights, Heated Rivalry, and Hamnet. Even Mary Shelley is back in vogue with her 1818 cautionary tale, Frankenstein.
Meanwhile, particularly hot genre fiction authors are well represented in their respective categories—Taylor Jenkins Reid and Kristin Hannah in historical fiction; Alice Feeney and Freida McFadden in mystery/thrillers; Rachel Reid and Emily Henry in romance; Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros in romantasy. Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series continues to kill it in sci-fi, while Patrick Radden Keefe and David Grann are perennial favorites in narrative nonfiction.
Anyway, it makes for some fun browsing and sorting. Click on the book cover images for more details about each title, and you can use the Want to Read button to populate your digital shelf. If you’re not already onboard with this year’s Reading Challenge, there’s still time to hop in for the back nine—just click on over to the 2026 Reading Challenge page.
The overall most read books of the Goodreads Reading Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read contemporary fiction novels of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read historical fiction novels of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read mysteries and thrillers of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read romances of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read romantasies of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read fantasy novels of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read science fiction novels of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read horror novels of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read memoirs of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read general nonfiction of the Challenge (so far)
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The top 12 most read histories and biographies of the Challenge (so far)
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