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 Meet Me in Another Life

❤️ loved this book because...

Certainly the most intriguing book I read all year! This was in spite of both main characters being incredibly annoying at times :-) But I had no idea how the book would end, even most of the way through, but WOW, what a fantastic ending. I laughed, I cried, I didn't fall down. Totally recommended.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Story/Plot 🥈 Emotions
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Catriona Silvey ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Meet Me in Another Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE #2 WATERSTONES BESTSELLER

'Beautifully explored and deeply complex' Gal Gadot

Joyful, devastating, and profound, Meet Me in Another Life is a story of love and connection in every possible form that will captivate fans of Stuart Turton, Claire North, and Audrey Niffenegger.

Thora and Santi have met before...

Under the clocktower in central Cologne, with nothing but the stars above and their futures ahead.

They will meet again...

They don't know it yet, but they'll meet again: in numerous lives they will become friends, colleagues, lovers, enemies - meeting over and over for the first time, every time; each…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

❤️ loved this book because...

The voice of the main character was just totally compelling, and reminded me (surprisingly, because it's set in ancient "Rome") more than anyone of Murderbot. Really great story too, lots of fascinating twists and turns.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By K. J. Parker ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Full of invention and ingenuity . . . Great fun' - SFX

'Parker's settings and characterisations never miss a beat' - Publishers Weekly

K. J. Parker's new novel is the remarkable tale of the siege of a walled city, and the even more remarkable man who had to defend it.

A siege is approaching, and the city has little time to prepare. The people have no food and no weapons, and the enemy has sworn to slaughter them all.

To save the city will take a miracle, but what it has is Orhan. A colonel of engineers, Orhan has far…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Uprooted

❤️ loved this book because...

The main character's journey from farm girl to mage was just so well done - and her contrast with her "mentor" was fantastic. The world building was incredibly original, and a very nice change from "typical" fantasy writing. A compelling plot as well. Really recommended!

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Naomi Novik ,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked Uprooted as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A dark enchantment blights the land in the award-winning Uprooted - a enthralling fantasy inspired by fairy tales, by Naomi Novik, author of the Temeraire series.

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winner of the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
Winner of the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Novel

Agnieszka loves her village, set deep in a peaceful valley. But the nearby enchanted forest casts a shadow over her home. Many have been lost to the Wood and none return unchanged. The villagers depend on an ageless wizard, the Dragon, to protect them from the forest's…


Book cover of Meet Me in Another Life
Book cover of Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City
Book cover of Uprooted

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