The Most Read Books of the 2024 Reading Challenge (So Far)

Posted by Cybil on June 3, 2024

It's time once again, gentle readers, for our midyear status check on the annual Goodreads Reading Challenge, in which members pledge to read a designated number of books before the calendar year is out. It’s a relatively straightforward process: Click on over to the 2024 Reading Challenge page, enter in the number of books you plan to devour, then get busy with page-turning.

The numbers are pretty astounding: As of this writing, more than 7 million Goodreads members have signed up for the Challenge, worldwide. Total books pledged: more than 295 million.

Below you will find the most popular books being read by Goodreads regulars who have signed up for this year’s Challenge. We’ve sorted the titles by genre, then ranked the titles by overall popularity within the genre. So, for instance, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry is the most read Historical Fiction book among those taking the 2024 Reading Challenge.

Several of the books making the list are relatively recent releases that have crossed over into the general cultural conversation: James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, say, or Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize winner, Demon Copperhead. You’ll also find a good cross section of Goodreads Choice Award winners, such as Emily Henry’s Happy Place, Nita Prose’s The Maid, and Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.

Scroll around below to get a sense of it all, and click on the book cover images for more information about each title. You can also click the link below to check in on your own Reading Challenge progress, or to sign up if you haven’t already. It’s never too late, and the six-month Challenge is a perfectly honorable tradition.