It’s time to pause, take a step back, and review the books we’ve read and enjoyed this year so far. Other booksellers — Amazon and Barnes & Noble — have already shared what they think are the first half of the year’s best books, but the advantage of this list is that it’s the most popular books on Goodreads, meaning that it takes readers’ views into account way more.
This roundup shows the nine most popular books in different genres and age categories — mystery, science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, romance, nonfiction, and young adult. It seems that storm hags, death doulas, happy places, family sagas, bandit queens, and more have resonated with readers the most so far this year.