The Most Read Books on Goodreads in May 2025

You’ve seen many coming-of-age novels by now, I’m sure, but have you ever seen a coming-of-middle-age one? In Curtis’s debut, Abe Jacobs is a 43-year-old Ahkwesáhsne man who begrudgingly returns to the reservation where he grew up after more than 20 years. The reason for his return? Doctors have told him he’s dying, and he’s decided on the way treatment he never thought he would: a healing at the hands of his unceremonious, recovered alcoholic great uncle Budge. Now, he remains skeptical of being healed, but in his exploring it, there’s a seed of hope. Through witty lines and the musings of Abe’s poet alter ego, Dominick Deer Woods, we see him confront all those things that kept him away from his home for all that time. —Erica Ezeifedi

Onyx Storm came out in January, but it has hung onto its spot in the top five most read books on Goodreads. This is book three in the romantasy series set at a dragon-riding academy. The newest Empyrean novel was read by more than 79,000 Goodreads users in May and has a 4.2 average rating.

This is the newest romance novel from the author of Just for the Summer. It follows Samantha, who has a perfect, endless date with handsome Greek veterinarian Xavier. Then Samantha admits that it can only be for one night because her family is in crisis. Despite the distance, though, neither of them can forget the time they spent together. More than 79,000 Goodreads users read it in May, and it has a 4.1 average rating.

McFadden has been a familiar name in this feature ever since The Housemaid exploded onto the bestseller lists. In her newest thriller, Blake and his fiancée rent out a room in their house to a new tenant. Soon, strange things start happening around the house, and the neighbors begin treating them differently. This one was read by almost 120,000 Goodreads users in May, and it has a 3.9 average rating.

The Hunger Games series is still just as relevant (if not more so) than it was when it started more than 15 years ago. Collins’s latest, which tells Haymitch Abernathy’s story, also sold 1.5 million copies in English in its first week. It was read by 136,000 users in May and has a 4.6 average rating.

Emily Henry is a staple author on the bestseller lists and the Goodreads most read list, so it’s no surprise to see her newest title here. It follows two writers competing to write the official biography of a reclusive heiress. It was read by almost 164,000 users and has a 4.1 average rating.