Today’s post is the latest in my ongoing series of book lists, which includes the roundup of 2024 lists, from last December. As usual, I’ve aimed at a wide range of international sources for these Best of 2025 lists, representing nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.
Besides the books of the year in the list below from the Financial Times, the FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year is The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip, by television producer and investigative journalist Stephen Witt, author of 2015’s How Music Got Free: A Story of Obsession and Invention.
I’ll repeat what I have included in various earlier book lists posts: Shoutouts to publishers, editors, agents, attorneys, accountants, publicists, researchers, cover artists, designers, photographers, librarians, indexers, production specialists, assistants, marketers, sales people, and others who don’t always get the credit they deserve for their work in creating books.
The best of luck to authors of books to be published in the coming year, with hopes for making the Best of 2026 lists. In the meantime, happy reading, and happy new year!
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Best books of 2025, by Hannah Kent, Arundhati Roy, Charlotte McConaghy and more
BBC: The Director to Flesh: The 25 best books of 2025
Book Riot: The Best Books of 2025
Chicago Public Library: CPL Best of the Best Books 2025
The Economist: The Best Books of 2025
Financial Times: The Best Books of the Year 2025
Five Books: The Best Books of 2025
Greater Good Magazine: Our Favorite Books of 2025
The Guardian: The Best Books of the Year
Independent Book Review: The Best Books We Read in 2025
Library Journal: Stellar Selections | Best Books 2025
Literary Hub: Lit Hub’s 43 Favorite Books of 2025
McKinsey & Company: McKinsey’s 2025 annual book recommendations
The New York Public Library: NYPL’s Best Books of 2025
The New York Times: The 10 Best Books of 2025
NPR: Books We Love 2025
The Observer: Writers recommend: the best books of 2025
Pen America: Best Books of 2025: 15 Top Picks From the ‘Best of’ Lists
Publishers Weekly: Best Books 2025
TIME: The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025
USA TODAY: Best Books of 2025, Ranked
Vanity Fair: The 17 Best Books of 2025 You Need to Read
Wall Street Journal: The Best Books of 2025 and More
Washington Independent Review of Books: Our 51 Favorite Books of 2025
The Washington Post: The 10 Best Books of 2025