Rebecca Yarros |  Fiction

2019, 424 pages

The average reading level of The New York Times bestsellers has trended downward over the past 60 years, with most books from 1960 to 2014 falling into the seventh-grade level, and roughly 97% of 2014 bestsellers reading below a 7.2 grade level.  Since 2000, only two books on the list exceeded a ninth-grade readability level.

I know this, which is why I don't read off the NYT best seller list anymore.  I should have done my research before I started The Last Letter.  Its genre is romance.  The average writing level for this genre is fifth grade. I feel like I am not only being treated like a fifth grader, but the story and the characters are pure fluff.  I have way too many books on my shelf to spend my time here.  I wonder how this made it to my reading list?  Interestingly, it has one of the highest scores on Goodreads that I have seen in recent months, a 4.5.  Which causes me to lose trust in Goodreads, also.

Friends and book clubs and the occasional NPR article and Washington Post review generally source my TBR list, but this has me wondering ... is there another best seller list you use and recommend?  Is there a source of reviews, not Goodreads, that you use and recommend?

January 2026