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 Heart the Lover

Cameron Walker ❤️ loved this book because...

Oh, I adore Lily King's writing -- particularly her sparkling dialogue, which makes me want to work on my own (both in writing and in life :) I had the most wonderful day in my cozy red chair reading this book . . . I was weeping by the end. It made me want to hold all my loved ones close, and to remember all the various forms of love I've been lucky enough to experience throughout my life! As soon as I finished, I also went to find my copy of King's Writers & Lovers, which is connected to this more recent novel, and remembered how much I loved that one, too!

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Emotions
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Lily King ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Heart the Lover as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Lily King has written another masterpiece. This book overflows with her brilliance and her heart. We are so lucky.” —Emma Straub, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow

From the New York Times bestselling author of Writers & Lovers comes a magnificent and intimate new novel of desire, friendship, and the lasting impact of first love

You knew I'd write a book about you someday.

Our narrator understands good love stories—their secrets and subtext, their highs and free falls. But her greatest love story, the one she lived, never followed the simple rules.…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Show Don't Tell

Cameron Walker ❤️ loved this book because...

Finally, I know what happened to Lee, the main character of Sittenfeld's first novel, Prep! I've been worried about her for all these years (and now, I don't have to be ;) Sittenfeld's stories are just as delightful as her novels.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Story/Plot
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Curtis Sittenfeld ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Show Don't Tell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy "blends acerbic wit, shrewd insight and sharp-eyed observation [in this] bravura collection" (The Washington Post), including a story that revisits the main character from her iconic novel Prep"Each of these witty, intelligent stories is a slice of modern life."--People A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceIn her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she's as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of A Preponderance of Starry Beings

Cameron Walker ❤️ loved this book because...

These fantastical stories turn celestial events into intimate explorations of family, friendship, and home. I can't wait to see what Samantha Edmonds will write next.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Samantha Edmonds ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Preponderance of Starry Beings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Genre-bending stories of the cosmos and the worlds within our own skin

Blending fairy tale and science fiction with the otherworldliness of adolescence, A Preponderance of Starry Beings is a collection for anyone preoccupied with looking skyward. These stories probe the experience of coming of age on the outskirts of the universe, whether that be a small Midwestern town or a distant galaxy, and of weighing earthly obligations against the vast promises of space.

In a sleepy Ohio neighborhood, two girls seek refuge from their homophobic schoolmates in an antiques shop filled with Star Trek memorabilia. On a generation spaceship,…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

How to Capture Carbon

By Cameron Walker ,

Book cover of How to Capture Carbon

What is my book about?

In a dozen radiant stories, award-winning author Cameron Walker brings readers to the water’s edge, where the known world collides with magic and with the mysterious depths of the human heart. Here, a pandemic turns children into sea creatures, a woman bakes unusual pie crusts after a natural disaster, and a young man sets off to see the world in a flying coat. Lyrical and dreamlike, How to Capture Carbon navigates the seas of a changing climate and the transformative power of loss—and of love.

Book cover of Heart the Lover
Book cover of Show Don't Tell
Book cover of A Preponderance of Starry Beings

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