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 Cloud Cuckoo Land

❤️ loved this book because...

Doerr weaves together stories from 1492 Babylon, modern day Idaho, and a space station on the far future. In each, the power of words and story are what get the characters through and help them find meaning and insight. The book is expectedly paced - I was never annoyed when switching from one storyline to another. A common “lost” book is a thread deeply woven into each story. I was immersed in the worlds, taken in by each perspective character, and fascinated by the common thread of the story of “Cloud Cuckoo Land”, and how it came to be lost and found. Loss, knowledge, change (big and small), and the nature of truth and power are key thematic elements. Even though this book is quite a tome, the writing style is actually quite spare. Each paragraph is so evocative. I drew out reading the last 50 pages because I didn’t want this beautiful book to end.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Anthony Doerr ,

Why should I read it?

22 authors picked Cloud Cuckoo Land as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more

“If you’re looking for a superb novel, look no further.” —The Washington Post

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a “wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences” (The New York Times…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Daisy Jones & The Six

❤️ loved this book because...

Incredible on audio! (Multiple narrators in a documentary-type interview style). The characters are so real.

What are the critical ingredients of creativity? Love? Teamwork? Passion? What can you choose, and what takes you over?

Daisy Jones leaves rock and roll at the pinnacle of her career. Follow her fight to the top, and the fight everyone in the band has to be true to themselves in the midst of the power of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Emotions
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Taylor Jenkins Reid ,

Why should I read it?

19 authors picked Daisy Jones & The Six as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SOON TO BE AN AMAZON PRIME TV SERIES STARRING SAM CLAFLIN, RILEY KEOUGH AND CAMILA MORRONE

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the author of THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO and the bestselling MALIBU RISING

'I LOVE it . . . I can't remember the last time I read a book that was so fun' DOLLY ALDERTON

Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six.

From the moment Daisy walked barefoot on to the stage at the Whisky, she and the band were a sensation.

Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Wild Dark Shore

❤️ loved this book because...

I was swept away by the harsh yet beautiful landscape and how it reflected and transformed the lives of the characters. A grieving father trying desperately to keep his family together and keep them safe, while yet bringing them to the most dangerous place in the world.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Emotions
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Charlotte McConaghy ,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Wild Dark Shore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world's largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has…


Book cover of Cloud Cuckoo Land
Book cover of Daisy Jones & The Six
Book cover of Wild Dark Shore

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