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 You Dreamed of Empires

❤️ loved this book because...

An imagining of what happened when Cortez met Moctezuma by a fantastic writer! Unique, darkly funny, thought provoking, vivid.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Outlook
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Álvaro Enrigue , Natasha Wimmer (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked You Dreamed of Empires as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Enrigue’s genius lies in his ability to bring readers close to its tangled knot of priests, mercenaries, warriors and princesses while adding a pinch of biting humor." --Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Los Angeles Times

“Riotously entertaining... A triumph of solemnity-busting erudition and mischievous invention that will delight and titillate.” --Financial Times

From the visionary author of Sudden Death, a hallucinatory, revelatory colonial revenge story.

One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés enters the city of Tenochtitlan – today's Mexico City. Later that day, he will meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures.…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Lincoln in the Bardo

❤️ loved this book because...

It took me a bit to get into Sander's style but once I was there I was totally along for the ride. A unique take on grief.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Writing
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By George Saunders ,

Why should I read it?

18 authors picked Lincoln in the Bardo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2017 A STORY OF LOVE AFTER DEATH 'A masterpiece' Zadie Smith 'Extraordinary' Daily Mail 'Breathtaking' Observer 'A tour de force' The Sunday Times The extraordinary first novel by the bestselling, Folio Prize-winning, National Book Award-shortlisted George Saunders, about Abraham Lincoln and the death of his eleven year old son, Willie, at the dawn of the Civil War The American Civil War rages while President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son lies gravely ill. In a matter of days, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returns…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Nothing to See Here

❤️ loved this book because...

Another unique book. I like Wilson's use of humor and absurdity to look at the difficulties of the human experience.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Kevin Wilson ,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked Nothing to See Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times Bestseller  •  A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, People, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, TIME, The A.V. Club, Buzzfeed, and PopSugar

“I can’t believe how good this book is.... It’s wholly original. It’s also perfect.... Wilson writes with such a light touch.... The brilliance of the novel [is] that it distracts you with these weirdo characters and mesmerizing and funny sentences and then hits you in a way you didn’t see coming. You’re laughing so hard you…


Book cover of You Dreamed of Empires
Book cover of Lincoln in the Bardo
Book cover of Nothing to See Here

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