31 Books That Made TIME’s 100 Best Books of the Year and PEOPLE’s Book Picks
As the old saying goes, a good book is hard to find — but not when you’ve got expert readers at your beck and call. TIME Magazine released its 100 Best Books of 2025 list this week and PEOPLE readers will recognize several handfuls of familiar favorites there.
From Elizabeth Gilbert’s evocative new memoir to a dishy biography of Gwyneth Paltrow, the latest Taylor Jenkins Reid love story and family sagas from Kevin Wilson, Oyinkan Braithwaite and Bryan Washington, to page-turning nonfiction from Mary Roach and Maris Kreizman, there’s something for every taste on this list.
‘Palaver’ by Bryan Washington
In this quietly funny novel, homophobia has driven a man from his estranged family in Houston to Tokyo, where he makes a life for himself. When his mother shows up on his doorstep a decade later, they begin the complicated, painful road to forgiveness.
‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Doubleday
Eniiyi is born on the day her mom’s cousin is buried — and the resemblance is uncanny. So begins a rollicking tale of superstition, a family curse and second chances with a delicious fantastical element.
‘Bad Bad Girl’ by Gish Jen
Knopf
This autobiographical novel traces a mother’s restrictive Shanghai childhood, her education in a Catholic school and the American dream she later achieves. But her background influences how she treats her own strong-willed daughter. Funny, sad and poignant.
‘Joyride’ by Susan Orlean
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Surfing, taxidermy, orchids and Rin Tin Tin are just a few of the many topics that have captured the attention of nonfiction writer Orlean — and her readers — over the years. This absorbing memoir illustrates her core belief that “familiar things examined closely” can be magnificent. — Kim Hubbard
‘A Guardian and a Thief’ by Megha Majumdar
Knopf
In a near-future Kolkata ravaged by famine, drought and heat, Ma has finally secured the necessary visas to bring her father and daughter to join her husband in the U.S. Then, while robbing her to feed his own family, a teenage boy steals them. Electrifying and unputdownable. — Marion Winik
‘Heart the Lover’ by Lily King
Grove Press
Three ambitious college students, infatuated with books and one another, find themselves in a love triangle that shapes them long after they part. Suffused with the heady impermanence of first love, King’s sixth novel is bittersweet, astutely observed and thoroughly engaging. — Kim Hubbard
‘The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny’ by Kiran Desai
Hogarth
In this novel spanning continents and eras, a couple meet by chance after their families tried to matchmake them. A sweeping love story touching class, race and history.
‘Pick a Color’ by Souvankham Thammavongsa
Little, Brown and Company
Beneath its incredible cover, this novel’s insightful depictions of privilege and the service industry inside are even more vibrant. Ning is a retired boxer who goes by “Susan” at her nail salon — as do all the other employees — and she’s a keen observer of everything around her. A cracklingly tense novel. — Rennie Dyball
‘All the Way to the River’ by Elizabeth Gilbert
Riverhead Books
The Eat, Pray, Love author looks back on her relationship with late partner Rayya Elias, and the days leading up to her 2018 death from liver and pancreatic cancer. A gasp-inducing, unmissable memoir from one of today’s great memoirists.
‘Replaceable You’ by Mary Roach
WW Norton
Rejoice, pop-science fans! Learn how medicine can swap out failing body parts, from prostheses to transplants and beyond from the queen of the subgenre.
‘Sweet Heat’ by Bolu Babalola
William Morrow
Kiki Bajo hosts an advice podcast, but off the mic, her own life is falling apart. As maid of honor at her friend’s wedding, she realizes her ex is the best man in this fun enemies-to-lovers tale.
‘A Truce That Is Not Peace’ by Miram Toews
Asked “Why do you write?” by a literary festival organizer, Toews was inspired to ponder all the unanswerable questions: Why did her dad and sister die by suicide? Do words convey more than silence? How can she simultaneously be filled with sorrow and joyful vitality? An incandescent read. — Kim Hubbard
‘Where Are You Really From’ by Elaine Hsieh Chou
A mail-order bride, cannibal teens, doppelgängers and love affairs: This surreal, evocative collection traces desire and self-deception in stories that range from unsettling to downright bizarre. You won’t want to miss this one.
‘People Like Us’ by Jason Mott
From the National Book Award-winning author of Hell of a Book comes this electric novel about two Black writers on wildly different book tours. One gets whisked off to France, where a gazillionaire fan offers to bankroll him, while the other girds himself to speak at a college recently devastated by gun violence. Populated by larger-than-life characters, this tour de force is at once gut-bustingly funny and deeply moving.
‘The Hounding’ by Xenobe Purvis
The Mansfield sisters are turning into dogs — or so their 18th-century village believes. The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this sharp, incisive novel.
‘An Oral History of Atlantis: Stories’ by Ed Park
In this delightfully strange collection of 16 short stories, mundane moments and hugely significant events are presented with equal parts wit and compassion. It’ll creep under your skin and stay there.
‘Gwyneth: The Biography’ by Amy Odell
Simon & Schuster
The Academy Award winner is laid bare like never before in this definitive biography, which explores everything from Paltrow’s acclaimed career, A-list relationships and her infamous Goop empire. The perfect beach read.
‘I Want to Burn This Place Down’ by Maris Kreizman
Ecco
If you’re a rule follower feeling a little upended lately, this one will light (or add to) a fire in your belly. These incisive personal essays perfectly probe our present political and social moment.
‘Vera, or Faith’ by Gary Shteyngart
In this story told through the eyes of precocious 10-year-old Vera, we get to know the Bradford-Shmulkin family, whose Russian, Jewish, Korean and New England WASP roots by turns propel and hold them back in an unstable world. Vera takes up three missions: to hold her parents’ marriage together, find her birth mom and maybe even make some friends. A poignant Harriet the Spy-esque delight.
‘Great Black Hope’ by Rob Franklin
S&S/Summit Books
When Black Stanford grad Smith gets arrested for cocaine possession on the last day of a fraught summer, it unspools his life — not to mention his perception of safety — even as his upscale background affords him some protection. A gorgeous meditation on race, class and who gets to misbehave.
‘Atmosphere’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Penguin Random House
Astronomy and physics professor Joan Goodwin’s world changes completely when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to join the NASA Space Shuttle program, and one of the first missions to send female astronauts into space. The latest novel from the Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo author is an empowering and out-of-this-world love story.
‘Run for the Hills’ by Kevin Wilson
Ecco; © Alan Fears; design by Allison Saltzman
Madeline has buried most memories of Charles, the father who abandoned her — until a man claiming he’s her half brother invites her to find their shared dad and the other kids he’s sired. The madcap road trip that ensues is rich with heart, humor and insight into what makes a family. — Kim Hubbard
‘The Emperor of Gladness’ by Ocean Vuong
Penguin Press
After a suicidal teen is yanked back from the brink by an elderly woman with dementia, he becomes her caretaker. Their bond transforms his life in this resonant multi-generational novel.
‘The Book of Records’ by Madeleine Thien
This kaleidoscopic novel is populated by a 17th-century scholar, a 1930s philosopher and a Tang Dynasty poet who find more commonality than difference in their shared search for a sense of home.
‘Gingko Season’ by Naomi Xu Elegant
Penelope doesn’t need love —her work and friends fulfill her plenty — until she meets Hoang, whose openness pries her out of her shell. Witty and delightful.
‘Audition’ by Katie Kitamura
Riverhead Books
This taut, keenly observed take on the roles we play unfolds in two acts. First an actress meets Xavier, a young student who claims she’s his mother. Later the story is turned upside down as the two and the actress’s husband carry on as a family. Worthy of a standing ovation. — Andy Abrahams
‘Sky Daddy’ by Katie Folk
Random House
Linda is sexually attracted to planes. No, not pilots. The planes themselves. But she can’t tell that to her new friends when they meet to vision-board their dreams. Thus starts a spiral of lies. Sharp and original.
‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ by Stephen Graham Jones
Michael Windsor
This masterful horror novel about a vengeful vampire who stalks a reservation is told through interviews which gives it a spine-tingling realism. You may never sleep again.
‘The Antidote’ by Karen Russell
The town of Uz, Neb., is ravaged by a dust storm, but one farmer’s crops are mysteriously spared. Meanwhile, a photographer’s time-traveling images threaten to expose violent secrets, and a “prairie witch” who holds the town’s memories loses her precious cargo. A haunting novel that’s as speculative as it is timeless from the masterful author of Swamplandia.
‘Isola’ by Allegra Goodman
The Dial Press
Sixteenth-century French noblewoman Marguerite got stuck with a lousy guardian. He steals her fortune, brings her to the New World, then abandons her on an island. Marguerite’s grit and (slightly improbable) feminist instincts will keep you cheering for her. — Kim Hubbard
‘Good Dirt’ by Charmaine Wilkerson
Ballantine Books
This multigenerational story of Ebby Freeman and her wealthy family is a rich history of persevering despite trauma, centered on a shocking tragedy and a beloved heirloom. Jumping with ease between varying perspectives, the poetic Good Dirt is both soothing and dynamic. — McKenzie Jean-Phillipe
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