The 2016 Reading Challenge's Most-Read Books

What about The Knife of Never Letting Go

Come on people!! it's a good book!!

TheBookLover wrote: "What about The Knife of Never Letting Go"

Published in 2008. Not going to make most popular lists until a movie comes out.

It is no surprise this list is rather bland. Most people who read a lot of books a year read bland books that do not make them think much. Thinking slows down one's reading speed, which is one reason many people lose significant reading speed in college. Another reason for the blandness is the nature of many who sign up for the challenge. I occasionally look at the list under "view challenge" to see what others are reading, and notice most people listed are young people who have listed few books, and often list more friends than books, so I suspect they sign up primarily for social reasons and not book reasons.

Add to the list of male authors Paul Kalanithi. Easy to miss if one ignores non-fiction, I guess, as that was the only NF on the lists.

For those interested in least read books, GR has lists of Only One Rating, Only Two ratings, etc. I've added two to the one rating myself in the last two years, both excellent books, and demoted one book from one to two.

My peeve with this list is that there are gaps starting as low as #13 overall.

Another popular list with romanticized eugenics on it. No wonder the world is so screwed up.

Megan wrote: "I read "The Girls" and "The Girl on the Train" this year. Loved "The Girls," but not so much "The Girl on the Train.""

I want to read "The Girls." I didn't get the hype about "The Girl on the Train." I really wanted to like it but I found it really slow and predictable. Maybe if I hadn't figured out what happened early on it would've been better, not sure.

Aubrey wrote: "Another popular list with romanticized eugenics on it. No wonder the world is so screwed up."

LOL...I live in a country that has sleazy guys and girls everywhere...it's really annoying

When is the 2017 challenge going to be posted?

Deanne wrote: "None of these interest me. I am an avid reader of Christian fiction. I've read 329 books so far this year. Currently reading 2 more."

I love Francine Rivers and Lynn Austin! Sometimes I look at Bethany Books and see what is coming up! Like you, very little on this list interests me

It's unfortunate that these are all best-sellers and only one is non-fiction. Doesn't anyone get bored reading the same genres all the time? Maybe GR should encourage variety, and not the same old books that everyone reads because they are marketed and hyped to the nth degree.

Bill wrote: "Don't adults read adult books anymore?"

Ha ha ha h ah ah ha ha...yeah...way too much YA. But so many adults LOVE these books!

Bill wrote: "Don't adults read adult books anymore?"

Darned if I know. These lists distress me beyond words. Cue Johnny's "Was I bored?" rant from the movie, "Naked" (1993).

(P.S. And no, I'm not going to "relax" about it, either.)

There's nothing wrong with reading brain candy (which is what I call most/almost all of the books in this list) once in a while. I've read about ten of the books on this list (although none this year). But I think I'd lapse into a coma if the titles on this list comprised everything I'd read in a year. I don't think I'm going to do the reading challenge next year because it encourages you to read more for quantity than quality.

Robert wrote: "Kay wrote: "Man, this list is incredibly bland."

It's an overall list, obviously it's going to be more mainstream."

its not just mainstream, the books are hardly challenging....there are better choices of fiction that could be on this list

Monica wrote: "I have absolutely nothing in common with the majority of goodreads readers. hmmm...

Yep confirmed...I don't care"

neither do I

Lol, the only on this list that I read as part of my challenge is The Girl on the Train.

I didn't hate it, but it's not my favorite, either.

Very judgemental/degrading comments on here.

.Maybe they think adults just don't have time to read..."


Reply to post 95: (Amber)

Lol. I averaged about a book a day, but didn't include many of them in my challenge (and most of what I've read in those 300+ books was, admittedly, brain candy, although not all fit into that description). Even what I recorded in the challenge doesn't quite describe the range of what I've read this past year.

I've read some YA and foresee reading a lot more, simply because my kids are going to be moving into that target age range, and I want to be able to discuss the content with them. Right now, though, we're still working through Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dear Dumb Diary, and Dogman.

Brooke wrote: "Very judgemental/degrading comments on here."

^^^^^^

Jo wrote: "I've read only 2 books from the whole list ... Obviously my books selection is completely different from the rest ... Was hoping to see more original books ... Lets hope next year people get more c..."

Same here only 2 books on the list that I read this year (and couple more on my to read list). Hope we move beyond Harry Potter and add more original books to this list next time around.

Brooke wrote: "Very judgemental/degrading comments on here."

Reread my own comments...I didn't mean to come across as judgmental and I apologize if that's how I came across. I have nothing against YA...if anything, the list gives me a place to start pre-reading books that my kids may be interested in reading soon.

If you want, you could mock my reading list, which predominantly consists of hysterical romances...er...I mean, historical romances.

If you want, you could mock my reading list, which predominantly consists of hysterical romances...er...I mean, historical romances.

Best comment of 2016 right here.

Brooke wrote: "Very judgemental/degrading comments on here."

Right?? And I find it interesting that majority of those complaining about the quality of the books are people who clearly haven't read them. There are some fantastic books on this list that I thoroughly enjoyed. After reading and writing documents all day at work, often the last thing I feel like doing when I get home is picking up a book about Nazis or some other heavy "adult" subject matter. Some of us read to unwind and be entertained. Relax people!

Katie wrote: "Brooke wrote: "Very judgemental/degrading comments on here."

Right?? And I find it interesting that majority of those complaining about the quality of the books are people who clearly haven't read..."

^^^^^

Elaine wrote: "When is the 2017 challenge going to be posted?"

January 1, I presume?

Readers of the Broken Wheel Recommend - followed closely by Boys in the Boat

I read 10 books from the list and most of them I loved. So happy!

KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES LODESTAR BY SHANNON MESSENGER!!!!!

DANG, Harry Potter! I never thought it was still so popular. I never found desire to read them though...

I invite everyone to come judge my reading challenge! But yes, way too many YA books on this list.

Cate wrote: "My favorite reads this year was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Very intense."

Excellent book!

Elaine wrote: "When is the 2017 challenge going to be posted?"

I have been searching the site and can't seem to find it either.

I've read 11 of these but not all in 2016. But yes I did read a lot of grown up books too. I just happen to enjoy ya and even children's books at times.

I read tons of young adult books, but I have a 13 and 14 year old. We take turns choosing books. Sometimes the books are good, sometimes, they aren't, but that isn't the point. We read so we can discuss the topics and ideas presented. No, young adult isn't my favorite genre, but it has value. I wish we could stop being so snobby and simply celebrate reading! Just because it isn't some dusty old tome written in ole English discussing death and falling leaves, doesn't mean it isn't good. If its not your thing, then fine, just don't dog on people who do truly enjoy it.

Christy wrote: "I read tons of young adult books, but I have a 13 and 14 year old. We take turns choosing books. Sometimes the books are good, sometimes, they aren't, but that isn't the point. We read so we can di..."

^^^^^^

It was interesting to see just how many snobs can exist in one GR comment section. I haven't read any of these books nor do I want to. However, that doesn't mean that they are horrible. Maybe the reason why people don't like reading adult books is because they can be incredibly dry sometimes. I mean if you're a fantasy lover like me, there is really nothing there. I mean sure there is some fantasy but if you stay in the MG-YA range of books you're actually able to read a fantasy that is all consuming and isn't dreary and dead all the time. Bottom-line is why hate on people's taste. If you don't like them, fine, just don't be rude.

Miss wrote: "It was interesting to see just how many snobs can exist in one GR comment section. I haven't read any of these books nor do I want to. However, that doesn't mean that they are horrible. Maybe the r..."

^^^^^^

Miss wrote: "I mean if you're a fantasy lover like me, there is really nothing there."

Bullshit.

The Wheel of Time. The Dragonriders of Pern The Dresden Files. The Nightside. Weaveworld. Imajica. The Belgariad. The Mallorean. The First Law and its sequels. Hell, there's horror novels that would make amazing fantasy reads, like Stinger.

There's plenty of fantasy geared towards adults out there that doesn't come off as "dreary and dead."

Also...

It was interesting to see just how many snobs can exist in one GR comment section.

This would be the first time preferring darker, more adult horror novels would mark me as a "snob." Nice.

Aubrey wrote: "Another popular list with romanticized eugenics on it. No wonder the world is so screwed up."

+1

This is purely statistics people. Don't get mad about it. I am just happy that the numbers are so big and that more children and teens are reading books. :)

its nice to know there are so many passionate readers. what makes reading so great that it is so individualistic. it does not matter what other people like to read, we can read what we like to read. i do like to keep-up with whats popular and see what other people are reading.

Why all the Sci-fi/fantasy/YA! Although I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan, those have been read several years ago. Not sure I agree with this list. Goodness, I read 70 books this year and only 3 are on this list!

I can't chose my favourite!!

Jessica wrote: "Ženija wrote: "Wow, the Harry Potter series is still going strong! I kind of had a feeling that after the last movie came out, the series would eventually die out. I've been proven severely wrong."..."

I feel like HP will be a series that is reread constantly by the generation that grew up with it. I always do an annual (or sometimes biannual, lets be honest) reread of it because it's comfy and familiar, like watching old disney movies when you have the flu, and I know I'm not the only person that does! Which may be how it ended up on this list, I don't think it was necessarily new readers discovering it, rather 20-something year olds that can't let go :')

I've read 6 books of this list. 2 of them (The Girl on the Train and Divergent) were this year. Very interested in The Girls and The Nest.

I've read none of the new releases. I've read 8 of the overall top 12, but none of them this year. I read 48 books this year, and gave 10 of them 5 stars. It would be hard for me to pick a favorite!

I've noticed something interesting. There are huge discrepancies of the ratings of books between this site and on Amazon. After getting a few recommendations from this site, I'm going to check Amazon before continuing. People here are extremely generous with their reviews on Goodreads.

Kay wrote: "Man, this list is incredibly bland."

tottally mainstream

Jo wrote: "I've read only 2 books from the whole list ... Obviously my books selection is completely different from the rest ... Was hoping to see more original books ... Lets hope next year people get more c..."

They are original right, compared to you?

Kay wrote: "Man, this list is incredibly bland."
You can say that again. IMO, most, and definately the top rated YA books are generally cliched, rely too much on tropes and/or still follow the unfortunate precedent of those sparkly vampire books (the titles of which are escaping me for the moment)