The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week

Samuel Barkley is the only Black detective in 1970’s Wenton, Mississippi. He’s just trying to keep his head down when he’s assigned a case about a man found dead in the bathroom of a local gay bar. Keeping a low profile is made difficult by two things, though: Harvey, his vexing new partner, and a UFO crash. This promises to be a queer thriller “with shades of The X-Files and S. A. Cosby.” —Danika Ellis

When fledgling witch Lucy’s new roommate, Retta, goes missing at the start of their first year of university, Lucy needs the help of her coven to find her. Lucy got the weird feeling that Retta had unrealized powers, and with the help of her bruja friends, she uncovers an anti-magic regime and a hidden forest under the school’s campus. —Liberty Hardy

In preparation for the sixth A Court of Thorns and Roses book, plenty of fans are rereading the previous volume to refresh themselves on where the story left off. And fair enough to not remember it all: this is an almost 800-page book, and it came out five years ago! Almost 19,000 users read (or reread) it this week, and it has a 4.5 average rating.

Still in the top five is Yesteryear, which came out in April. It’s one of several buzzy tradwife novels out this year. In this one, a tradwife influencer wakes up one day in the time period she’s been romanticizing, and real-life homesteading turns out to be much more difficult—and dangerous—than it looks on Instagram. Yesteryear was read by almost 21,000 users this week and has a 3.8 average rating.

The fourth book in the Empyrean series still doesn’t have a release date, so fans likely have a long time to wait. In the meantime, they can revisit the world in this new novella, which follows 13 characters on their Threshing Days, when they endure a deadly trial in attempts to bond with a dragon. It was read by almost 41,000 users this week and has a 4.5 average rating.

The reigning queen of thrillers is back, this time with an October-appropriate story. After losing her job, Julia moves in with her elderly grandmother in their family’s 17th-century estate in Massachusetts. Soon, she begins to suspect the house is haunted by a woman executed for witchcraft in 1692. It was read by 53,000 users this week and has a 4.0 average rating.

With more than triple the readership of the #2 book on this list, the latest A Court of Thorns and Roses book is by far the most popular book of the moment. It’s the first in the Valkyrie Cycle, following the Night Court as they face off against the return of Koschei the Deathless. The next book in the Valkyrie Cycle comes out in January. This one was read by almost 173,000 users this week and has a 3.9 average rating.