How are the best books chosen?

Every book on this page is added and rated by The Bookends readers. Rankings use the average reader rating, with the number of ratings breaking ties.

Can I add my own recommendation?

Yes. Create a free account, add a book with its cover and description, and it becomes part of the community shelves right away.

Reader-ranked

The best books to read right now

A cozy, always-updating shortlist drawn from the The Bookends community. Every title below was added and rated by real readers — no publisher lists, no algorithms guessing at taste. Start at the top, or wander through the genre shelves further down.

Browse the full catalog Add a book you loved

Top-rated books by our readers

Ranked by average reader rating, with the number of ratings breaking any ties. Showing 11–20 of 24 books (page 2 of 3).

The Only One Left
by Riley Sager
Awaiting first rating
Kiss the Girls
by James Patterson
Awaiting first rating
Alex Cross races to stop two serial predators working a continent apart.
Thriller
Crime
Lock Every Door
by Riley Sager
Awaiting first rating
A too-good-to-be-true apartment-sitting job in a storied Manhattan building hides something sinister.
Thriller
Mystery
Final Girls
by Riley Sager
Awaiting first rating
Three survivors of separate massacres are linked by the press, until one of them turns up dead.
Thriller
Mystery
Horror
Pretty Girls
by Karin Slaughter
Awaiting first rating
Two sisters, estranged for decades, are forced back together when a new disappearance echoes the vanishing of their sister twenty years earlier.
Thriller
Crime
Mystery
Pieces of Her
by Karin Slaughter
Awaiting first rating
A dark, propulsive crime story from the author of the Will Trent and Grant County novels.
Thriller
Crime
Small Great Things
by Jodi Picoult
Awaiting first rating
A Black labor and delivery nurse is barred from treating a newborn, and a tragedy puts her on trial.
Fiction
Drama
Social Issues
Along Came a Spider
by James Patterson
Awaiting first rating
Detective Alex Cross hunts a calculating kidnapper in the first novel of the bestselling series.
Thriller
Crime
Mystery
Braiding Sweetgrass
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Awaiting first rating
A botanist weaves indigenous wisdom and plant science into a meditation on our relationship with the living world.
Non-fiction
Nature
Essays
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
Awaiting first rating
A lone astronaut wakes with no memory aboard a spacecraft, tasked with saving humanity.
Fiction
Sci-Fi
Adventure

Best mystery books to read

The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
The Summer House
by James Patterson, Brendan DuBois
Sharp Objects
by Gillian Flynn
The Wandering Inn
by Pirateaba

Best fiction books to read

The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
My Sister's Keeper
by Jodi Picoult
The Wandering Inn
by Pirateaba
Hollow Bones
by Jodi Picoult

Best thriller books to read

The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins
Sharp Objects
by Gillian Flynn
Kiss the Girls
by James Patterson
Lock Every Door
by Riley Sager

Best crime books to read

Sharp Objects
by Gillian Flynn
Kiss the Girls
by James Patterson
Pretty Girls
by Karin Slaughter
Pieces of Her
by Karin Slaughter

Freshly added to the shelves

The Summer House
by James Patterson, Brendan DuBois
Leaving Time
by Jodi Picoult
The Devil in the White City
by Erik Larson
The Wandering Inn
by Pirateaba
Hollow Bones
by Jodi Picoult
The Lovely Bones
by Alice Sebold

Questions about this list

How are the best books chosen?: Every title is added and rated by The Bookends readers. Rankings use the average reader rating, and the number of ratings breaks ties, so a well-loved book with many voices rises above a single glowing review.
Can I add my own recommendation?: Yes — create a free account, then add a book with its cover, description and genres. It joins the community catalog immediately.