Are These Really the Top 100 Romances? A Deep Dive into Goodreads' Rankings

In this episode, Laura from What to Read Next and Francesca from Under the Covers Book Blog break down the Goodreads Top 100 Romances list from the past three years. They discuss trends, surprises, snubs, and whether the list accurately represents romance readers today. They also explore how shifting reading habits and platforms like BookTok have influenced the rankings.

Topics Discussed:

• The Impact of BookTok on the Goodreads Top 100
• Whether Goodreads is still relevant for tracking books
• The dominance of specific authors on the list
• Missing romance subgenres like historical, paranormal, and romantic suspense
• Underrepresented diverse authors and LGBTQ+ romances
• The marketing and advertising influence on the rankings
• Their personal hits and misses from the list

The List: https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2887?ref=toprom25_eb

Books & Authors Mentioned:

• Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry
• The Confidence of Wildflowers by Micalea Smeltzer
• The Love Hypothesis & Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
• The Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
• Praise by Sara Cate
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• Nocticadia by Keri Lake
• The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy
• The Dixon Rule by Elle Kennedy
• Spell Shop by Sarah Beth Durst
• Missing subgenres: Mafia romance, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and historical romance

Connect with Us:

• 📚 Follow What to Read Next: Website | YouTube | Substack
• 📚 Follow Under the Covers Book Blog: Website | YouTube
• 🎥 Join us next week for a live Novel Hour episode on Galentine’s Day & Friendship Reads

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