The best books of 2025

This list is part of the best books of 2025.

Join 1,340 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2025

Book cover of The Third Realm

Luke William Hunt ❤️ loved this book because...

The third book in Knausgård's "Morning Star" series (though each book can stand alone, more or less), this book continues the theme of a hidden, mysterious, unsettling world just below the surface of the seemingly mundane aspects of life. The book is great because of what it leaves unsaid, allowing the reader to ponder what it all means.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Emotions 🥈 Thoughts
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Karl Ove Knausgaard , Martin Aitken (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Third Realm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Ferociously readable. . . I still can't get enough' The Times

If no one ever died, what would happen then?

For several days, a bright new star in the sky above Norway has blazed over the restless lives of those below. Tove, an artist, is consumed by intense creativity as she spirals towards psychosis. Line falls in love with a musician named Valdemar and is lured to a secret death metal gig in a remote forest. Geir, a policeman, is investigating a ritual murder but chances upon something more horrifying even than the bodies in the trees - the last…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of East of Eden

Luke William Hunt 👍 liked this book because...

This is of course a classic, but I have never been particularly interested in Steinbeck. I think the best part of the book is that it immerses you into a very specific time and place in U.S. history. And the retelling of the Biblical story is certainly an interesting and poignant aspect of the plot.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Immersion 🥈 Story/Plot
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By John Steinbeck ,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked East of Eden as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

California's fertile Salinas Valley is home to two families whose destinies are fruitfully, and fatally, intertwined. Over the generations, between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of the First World War, the Trasks and the Hamiltons will helplessly replay the fall of Adam and Eve and the murderous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

East of Eden was considered by Steinbeck to be his magnum opus, and its epic scope and memorable characters, exploring universal themes of love and identity, ensure it remains one of America's most enduring novels. This edition features a stunning new cover by renowned…


My 3rd favorite read in 2025

Book cover of Man’s Search for Meaning

Luke William Hunt ❤️ loved this book because...

This should probably be mandatory reading for everyone at some point. It is a (true) story about meaning after all is lost. Almost no one will encounter the horror experienced by the author, but it is precisely this aspect of the book that makes it so powerful. By reflecting on the author's remarkable ability to find meaning in a devastated life, we are given a model for finding meaning in our own lives.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Outlook 🥈 Thoughts
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Viktor Frankl ,

Why should I read it?

52 authors picked Man’s Search for Meaning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

One of the outstanding classics to emerge from the Holocaust, Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's story of his struggle for survival in Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. Today, this remarkable tribute to hope offers us an avenue to finding greater meaning and purpose in our own lives.


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Police Deception and Dishonesty: The Logic of Lying

By Luke Hunt ,

Book cover of Police Deception and Dishonesty: The Logic of Lying

What is my book about?

Drawing on my experience as a philosophy professor and former FBI Special Agent, in this book, I argue that there are compelling reasons to think that the police's widespread use of proactive deception and dishonesty is inconsistent with fundamental norms of political morality. It is particularly focused on norms regarding fraud and the rule of law and how those norms should be balanced with the police’s goal of providing security and law enforcement.

Although there are times and places for dishonesty and deception in policing, this book considers a range of evocative case studies (interrogation, undercover operations, and so on) to illustrate why those times and places should be much more limited than current practices suggest.

Book cover of The Third Realm
Book cover of East of Eden
Book cover of Man’s Search for Meaning

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