Goodreads Readers Crown 'Where the Crawdads Sing' Best Reese Pick Ever

Goodreads readers have named Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens the best Reese's Book Club pick of all time, according to a recent analysis published by Parade↗. The reader-driven verdict places Owens' debut at the top of a club that has championed dozens of titles since Reese Witherspoon launched Hello Sunshine's reading programme.

Parade reports↗ that Goodreads readers surveyed across the club's full catalogue settled on Where the Crawdads Sing as their consensus favourite. The same analysis notes the novel spent more than 150 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was later adapted into a feature film produced by Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company. The Goodreads ranking was also covered by Yahoo Entertainment↗, which confirmed the title as readers' top choice from the Hello Sunshine catalogue.

Where the Crawdads Sing was selected as a Reese's Book Club title in September 2018, according to Parade↗. Reese's Book Club describes it↗ as "an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder," adding that "Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were." Publishers Weekly↗ characterises the novel as an "evocative debut" in which Kya Clark grows up largely on her own in the wild marshes outside a small North Carolina coastal community, before becoming entangled in a local murder investigation. Owens, who came to fiction after a career as a wildlife scientist, brings that scientific background to the book's natural settings. For a full critical assessment of the novel, see our review.

The Goodreads result is notable for what it signals about the book club's broader reach. Reese's Book Club selections are chosen and promoted by Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine company, and the programme has made Hello Sunshine a recognised force in connecting commercial fiction with large reading audiences. That a title selected in 2018 still tops reader polls years later, having also crossed over into a studio film production, illustrates the sustained commercial arc that a prominent book club endorsement can generate — a pattern Parade↗ frames in the context of the novel being "one of the most successful novels of the past decade."

Parade notes↗ that Reese Witherspoon's 2025 Book Club picks have already been announced with an eye toward 2026 reading goals, meaning the club continues to add titles against which Crawdads will be measured by readers. Whether any newer selection matches its staying power on reader ranking platforms remains the open question the Goodreads survey implicitly poses.