The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,210 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of What We Can Know

❤️ loved this book because...

There's something very interesting about a book set 100-ish years in the future that posits big changes for our world. I know I won't be around to check whether any of it came true, but--I still want to consider the possibilities, because it's not so far removed that there might not be people who still remember my name (e.g., grandchildren), and I'd like to think about what kind of legacy I might leave. This book doesn't disappoint. There have been some disasters, and huge changes; the population is smaller, and the power centers are different, and so on, but there are still students, and academics, and people who love literature. And that gives me hope, in some weird way, even though I know this future exists only in McEwen's mind. It's so beautifully written and deeply felt, and it seems so real.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Steady

By Ian McEwan ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked What We Can Know as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the Booker prize–winning, bestselling author of Atonement and Saturday, a genre-bending new novel full of secrets and surprises; an immersive exploration, across time and history, of what can ever be truly known.

ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR

"It gave me so much pleasure I sometimes felt like laughing. . . . It's a sophisticated entertainment of a high order." —The New York Times

"Brilliantly, and surprisingly, plotted."—The Washington Post • "A novelist of consummate skill."—The Wall Street Journal • "Elegantly structured and provocative."—Los…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Memorial Days

❤️ loved this book because...

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Emotions 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Steady

By Geraldine Brooks ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Memorial Days as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey to peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse.

Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz - just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy - collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.

After spending their early years together in conflict zones…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Snake-Eater

❤️ loved this book because...

It was funny and fresh and had powerful women at its core. Loved it.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Originality
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Steady

By T. Kingfisher ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Snake-Eater as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this witty fantasy horror from New York Times bestselling, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author T. Kingfisher, a young woman seeking a fresh start is confronted by ancient gods, malevolent supernatural forces, and eccentric neighbours in an isolated desert town.

Perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Chuck Tingle, and Rachel Harrison.

With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt's house in the desert town of Quartz Creek.

Selena loves the strange beauty of the desert. But the people of Quartz…


Book cover of What We Can Know
Book cover of Memorial Days
Book cover of Snake-Eater

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