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 American Dirt

Jonathan T. Jefferson ❤️ loved this book because...

The author did not waste a letter. Every word had purpose. I could see, feel, taste, and smell everything that was written from every characters point of view. Exquisite!

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Jeanine Cummins ,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked American Dirt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*NOW A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME*
'Breathtaking... I haven't been so entirely consumed by a book for years' Telegraph
'I'll never stop thinking about it' Ann Patchett

FEAR KEEPS THEM RUNNING. HOPE KEEPS THEM ALIVE.

Vivid, visceral, utterly compelling, AMERICAN DIRT is an unforgettable story of a mother and son's attempt to cross the US-Mexico border. Described as 'impossible to put down' (Saturday Review) and 'essential reading' (Tracy Chevalier), it is a story that will leave you utterly changed.

Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop.
Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist.
Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Jonathan T. Jefferson ❤️ loved this book because...

Stephen Graham Jones weaved in Native American cultural realities, histories, and perspectives to amplify this tale of horror. Told simply, with bare bones only, the story would be scary enough. However, every character, animal, and plant's motivation had deep depths of detail chapter by chapter. Terrifying!

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Originality 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Stephen Graham Jones ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Buffalo Hunter Hunter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An instant New York Times bestseller, a chilling historical horror novel tracing the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.

A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

Jonathan T. Jefferson ❤️ loved this book because...

Every time I read a James McBride novel, I am impressed with the scope of his historical research. His characters so epitomize the attitudes and behaviors of their time, race, and place that readers could believe the stories to be true. The intricate manner in which the opening mystery unravels keeps the reader intrigued to the very end.

  • Loved Most

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

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By James McBride ,

Why should I read it?

28 authors picked The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A murder mystery locked inside a Great American Novel . . . Charming, smart, heart-blistering, and heart-healing.” —Danez Smith, The New York Times Book Review

“We all need—we all deserve—this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

From James McBride, author of the bestselling Oprah’s Book Club pick Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Hyuk-jae

By Jonathan T. Jefferson ,

Book cover of Hyuk-jae

What is my book about?

Born in Flushing, Queens, New York to Korean immigrants, Hyuk-jae was hurried away to South Korea while still a young child. His parents were trying to spare him from the trappings of hip-hop culture. To their dismay, his origins in NYC (the birthplace of hip-hop), and fluency in English made him popular among his South Korean peers. Upon graduating high school, Hyuk-jae's hip-hop hobby catapulted him into international stardom.

Now in his late twenties, Hyuk-jae finds himself constantly surrounded by handlers, security personnel, and paparazzi. During his triumphant return to NYC to perform at Madison Square Garden, he decided to escape his fame. After an elaborate caper to exit his hotel room unnoticed, Hyuk-jae collided with a middle-aged African American man who would change his perspective on life.

Venture with him from the "Rock the Bells" music festival in Queens to the serenity of the Catskill Mountains. Experience how Hyuk-jae grows from the kindness and indirect mentoring of a stranger. Marvel at the manner in which he sets his new surroundings to music while deciding whether or not to return to the restrictions of celebrity.

Book cover of American Dirt
Book cover of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Book cover of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

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