6 Best Books of 2025 You Need to Read

Each year, millions of books hit stores and our shelves, bringing us to new worlds, revealing much-needed truths, or providing a call to action about the world. However, some books stand above the others and create a sweeping movement of readers of all ages and locales. Keep reading to check out some of the best books of 2025, and what made them such huge hits.

6. What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Starting our list of the best books of 2025 is What We Can Know by Ian McEwan. The science fiction novel is praised for blending literary fiction with a dystopian, climate-changed future. It’s the perfect environment to pit themes of environmental collapse against complex human relationships that you just want to dive headfirst into. There’s nothing better than the exploration of human uncertainty.

5. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

Next on our list of the best books of 2025 is One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Earning the National Book Award, the piece is an unflinching critique of Western hypocrisy, imperialism, and the tolerance of systemic violence. It specifically brings up the Gaza conflict within its pages and creates a wake-up call for readers about the world.

4. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Fourth on our list of the best books of 2025 is Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. The third book in The Empyrean Series, the novel took social media by storm, prompting a huge turnout for special editions at stores like Target. Fans love the high-stakes blend of romance and fantasy, diving into a dragon-filled world alongside the deep character connection between Violet and Xaden.

3. Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy

Rounding out the top three best books of 2025 is Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy. The memoir is listed on the NYT “10 Best Books of 2025,” praised for its intimate exploration of a complex mother-daughter relationship. While some of the scenes may seem tense, the overall theme of the memoir is tender in the face of loss. It’s a great way to see Mary Roy in a different light and see how personal history can shape so much about a person’s life.

2. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Second on our list of the best books of 2025 is The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai. While it is a whopper at 700 pages, the fiction novel deftly explores love, immigration, and identity. Winning the Booker Prize, readers love the relatable characters, rich prose, and the book’s dive into displaced lives, colonial, class, and generational struggles.

1. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Last but not least on our list of the best books of 2025 is Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins. Any Hunger Games fan was dying for another book in the universe of Panem, and Collins delivered with the backstory of Haymitch Abernathy. Diving into his experience during the 50th Hunger Games, or the Second Quarter Quell, the story finally gives weight to why Haymitch is the way he is in the Hunger Games original series.