Why does the "3 favorite reads of the year" go from October 1st of the previous year to September 30th of the current year? 

We ask authors to share their "3 favorite reads" that they made between October 1st of the previous year to September 30th of the current year. 

Why does the "best books of the year" not match the calendar year?

Readers start looking for the best books of the year in October. And the largest spikes are in November, December, and January.

We want to give readers what they want and help authors sell books. That is why we make the book year from October 1st of the previous year and September 30th of the current year. 

Here is a graph of book searches on Google around “best books 2022” from January 2022 through May 2023.

• The spike starts the first week of November (this why we publish the picks for the "best books of the year" on November 1st)
• The biggest spikes run from November 27th to December 31st. 

For 2023, what is the book year?

• Books read from October 1st, 2022, to September 30th, 2023. 

For 2024, what is the book year?

• Books read from October 1st 2023 to September 30th, 2024. 

And so on...