8 Things Can We Learn From the Top 30 New Releases on Goodreads

Nerd alert: data geeks, this one’s for us!

Hi book pals,

Last week I was procrastinating on writing my own book and clicked over to the Goodreads “Popular New Releases” tab¹, where I get a lot of intel that shapes my reading guides and personal TBR. I’ve learned that if you toggle the filters in a specific way², you can zoom out to view the whole year. And less than three full months into 2025, the YTD data was at once surprising and also not at all.

Behind the paywall we’re talking about:

• The actual scope of Rebecca Yarros’ dragon domination

• The books that aren’t even out yet, but are bringing the buzz

• Key predictors for success

• How there’s no 2025 breakout debut (yet)

• & lots more!

Let’s go!