The best books of the year, according to independent bookstores on the Western Slope

Across the Western Slope, locals and visitors flock to local bookstores in search of that perfect book. Whether it’s a vacation read to escape from the monotony of a 9-to-5 job or a history book meant to bring light to current events, booksellers offer a unique insight into what is on people’s minds throughout the year. 

The Vail Daily spoke to five independent bookstores — the Bookworm of Edwards, White River Books in Carbondale, Explore Booksellers in Aspen, Off the Beaten Path Books in Steamboat Springs and Mountain Shire Books in Winter Park — to hear more about the top books and genres in 2025, why local bookstores matter and what readers are looking for in an increasingly complex world. 

“People are so overloaded with the world around them that I see a lot of requests for escape,” said Izzy Stringham, the owner of White River Books. “Ultimately, reading is a way to make sense of, and also survive, the world we live in. People can only tolerate so much real-life injustice and depression before they start to reach for books to make themselves feel better.”

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Top titles of 2025 

This year, readers in these five stores reached for a broad range of genres and titles. 

Non-fiction titles took the top two bestseller spots at all but Mountain Shire, where a non-fiction book still took the No. 2 spot after a fiction title. 

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“The Serviceberry” by Robin Wall Kimmerer was the only book, regardless of genre, that made the list for all five booksellers. 

“We’re thrilled (but not surprised) that ‘The Serviceberry’ was our most popular title,” said Clare Pearson, manager and bookbuyer at Explore Booksellers in Aspen. “Our readers (both locals and visitors alike) love Aspen for its abundant natural beauty. ‘The Serviceberry’ encourages readers to recognize and appreciate the gifts that nature offers and challenges us not to consume and dispose of these abundant gifts.”

“The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins was another popular non-fiction title, making the top 10 for four of the stores. Other self-help titles, including “Book of Alchemy” by Suleika Jaouad and “We Can Do Hard Things” by Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle, and Glennon Doyle, were popular at Explore Booksellers and The Bookworm, respectively.

Books about exploration and the outdoors often find a niche for the mountain booksellers. 

“A Walk in the Park,” by Kevin Fedarko — which follows the author and Pete McBride’s year-long, 750-mile walk across the Grand Canyon — continued to be popular, making the top 10 list for the second year at both Roaring Fork Valley stores, Explore Booksellers and White River Books. 

At Mountain Shire in Winter Park, two non-fiction titles —”Her Place on the Map,” by Sarah Hahn Campbell, which provides trail and historic information on 18 Colorado lakes named for women, and “The Way Out” by Devon O’Neil, a true survival story in the Sawatch Range — made the overall bestsellers after the store hosted author events with the Colorado writers. 

“These two titles were well-received in Winter Park,” said Miriam Roskam, owner of Mountain Shire. “They both take place outdoors within the mountains of our beautiful state. People want to read books that are interesting, relatable and relevant — and these two books hit all the criteria.”

This call for mountain-inspired content is true for even the youngest readers: “Ski Patrol Pups” by Megan Butcher, a children’s picture book about the life of ski patrol dogs, rounded out the top 10 for Off the Beaten Path Books in Steamboat Springs.

In 2025, all of the booksellers reported continued requests for fantasy, romance, science fiction and lighter fiction. 

“Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins — a prequel to the young adult, dystopian series, “The Hunger Games” — was among the bestsellers for four out of the five stores, excluding Explore Booksellers in Aspen. Titles from Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling romantasy series, “Fourth Wing,” including the latest installment, “Onyx Storm,” made the lists for Mountain Shire and The Bookworm of Edwards. Romance novel “Great Big Beautiful Life,” by Emily Henry, took the No. 10 spot for the Winter Park shop.

While some fiction titles like “James,” by Percival Everett — which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction this year — continued to have popularity for the second year, many new releases filled 2025’s bestsellers. This included “The Correspondent,” by Virginia Evans, which Stringham said was a debut  “sweet and heartfelt” novel that the author “absolutely nailed.” This title made White River Books and The Bookworm of Edwards’ lists. 

Notable novels and genres 

In mountain communities, the blend of local readers and tourists makes bookstores’ collections as varied and interesting as their shoppers. This often means local books, authors and hiking, birding and wildflower guides find popularity each year. 

“Grand County (Images of America)” by Penny Rafferty Hamilton and the Grand County Historical Association has been and continues to be a best-seller at Mountain Shire Books, Roskam said.

“I was really surprised and heartened to see two Carbondale authors in my top sales for the year,” Stringham said. “The books, ‘Bonedale’ (by Patrick Kitson) and ‘Secrets of the River’ (by Larry Gottlieb and Katherine Knickerbocker) respectively, came out in the summer and have sold consistently ever since.”

Stringham said that this popularity was not just due to the draw of local storytelling, but also “it shows a turning of support inward towards our town and our neighbors, supporting something micro-local and not produced by New York publishers.” 

“I think there is a real longing for authenticity and craft, and these two books showed the public supporting both of those things,” Stringham said.

In Eagle County, one of The Bookworm’s bestsellers was “My Oceans: Essays of Water, Whales, and Women” by Christina Rivera, an author who “actually lives in the area and is constantly marketing herself and her book and always driving in customers,” said Alix Teague, programs and event manager for the store.  

However, trends also took readers away from their communities. 

Teague reported shoppers reaching for more horror this year, particularly as more horror books are published, especially by non-white, straight authors.  

“Horror as a genre, in both books and film, is historically one where creators can explore themes like rage, inescapable generational trauma and reckoning, so it makes a ton of sense that the best authors making horror are those of marginalized identities,” Teague said. “Our favorite horror book of the year is ‘Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ by Stephen Graham Jones, an indigenous man and professor at CU Boulder.”

The book jacket describes the book as “a chilling historical horror novel set in the American West in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.”

In Steamboat Springs, Jenna Meier-Bilbo, book and sideline buyer at Off the Beaten Path books, reported “a huge bump in people looking for straight philosophy books, which is kind of incredible and a little unexpected. As a section, it’s been doing really well.”

Roskam said she sold more history titles and banned books than usual.

“I believe this is because people are concerned about the constant rise of censorship in the country and want to support the authors, publishers and indie bookstores to make sure these diverse stories are heard and are accessible to all,” Roskam said. 

PEN America reported that 6,870 book bans were enacted during the 2024-25 school year, across 23 states and 87 public school districts.

Pearson said Explore Booksellers also saw a continued trend from recent years of books about current events, politics and history. 

“It felt like many of our history readers were seeking lessons from past years in an effort to understand our world today,” Pearson said. “The speed of information can make it difficult for current event books to feel relevant, but history books (and historical fiction titles) offer evergreen insights that can only come from a distant and retrospective gaze.”

From Explore’s bestsellers this year, the “Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt, “Who is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service” by Michael Lewis, and “The Wide Wide Sea” by Hampton Sides encapsulate this trend. 

“On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” by Timothy D. Snyder — a 2017 title that discusses modern American politics and makes an argument for how the country has turned toward authoritarianism — ranked as the eighth overall bestseller for Off the Beaten Path. 

“It came out after Trump won his first election, so it’s not surprising that that had a bigger year this year,” Meier-Bilbo said. “I do think that ‘On Tyranny’ is popular because it is good at addressing behavior or human habits as opposed to a particular administration; it addresses political topics in the context of history.” 

Why local bookstores matter 

While independent bookstores certainly face unique challenges in an era where people can read and purchase books online — often at a lower cost — the Western Slope booksellers are seeing the unique value of what these stores can offer. 

“Probably weekly, I have someone express disbelief that my shop even exists because they are so sure that paper books are going to disappear in favor of digital everything,” Stringham said. “I’m here to tell you it’s not going to happen. Five hundred and fifty years into the world with a printing press is proof that paper and ink have staying power. People want books on paper. They value them.”

Roskam said she has been personally “concerned with the economy, especially running a small bookstore, and my community continues to support the bookstore the best way they can by spending intentionally.” 

In Steamboat, Off the Beaten Path has leaned into the idea of being a “third space” and offering community events like craft nights, winter book clubs and more — something bookstores are uniquely positioned to offer. 

“I really feel like people who choose to come to a bookstore want to be part of a wider world. And bookstores offer a view into the world beyond their own doors, which I think is just an incredibly valuable thing,” Meier-Bilbo said. “Story is such a fundamental part of the human existence that I think a bookstore really caters to who we are — as not just a friend group or a town or a country, but as a species.” 

Explore Booksellers leaned into being a third space as well this year, opening a cafe in its upstairs solarium. While Pearson likened the no-brainer combo of books and coffee to peanut butter and chocolate, she said the space has blossomed into a place away from work and home that individuals can engage and find a sense of belonging. 

“Increasingly hard to come by in Aspen and beyond, they provide an antidote to other social forces contributing to growing isolation and polarization,” Pearson said. “As we look to the new year, we see this space as a crucial part of our author events and community programming.” 

Providing a space to build community is something that gives these independent booksellers a leg up as they battle not only local challenges of shoulder seasons and snow accumulation, but also mounting issues like tariffs and online retailers. 

Roskam said Amazon continues to be the biggest challenge as an indie bookseller.

“Publishing prices have continued to rise and it is hard for customers to shell out $40 for a hardcover book, especially living in a tourist, mountain town where the wealth inequality tends to be very high,” Roskam said. 

At Off the Beaten Path, a fifth of its floor space is dedicated to secondhand books, offering store credit for donations and giving shoppers an alternative to the high cost of new books. It’s something Meier-Bilbo said the store has seen “a huge uptick of interest” in recently.

“Our numbers have just gone through the roof on used books, adult and kids alike,” Meier-Bilbo said. 

“It can be scary as an independent bookstore that the cost of books is increasing so much because that could mean that avid readers are getting priced out of being able to afford books,” Teague said. “But I’m also hopeful that younger generations are starting to read again, voraciously, and that we’re so important to our community that we’re not going anywhere.” 

“We will never be able to match the prices of Amazon because Amazon intentionally undercuts the industry,” Meier-Bilbo said. “But we offer something that an online shopping experience doesn’t.” 

Roskam said it’s the “human element” that is instrumental in the local shops, giving readers and shoppers something different than “one-click shopping.” 

“Customers want experience, they want to get lost in the stacks, and this is something the online world will never be able to replicate,” Roskam said. 

Specifically, it’s the staff that makes independent bookstores “singularly important and special,” Pearson said. 

“Booksellers are some of the original influencers,” she added. “We appreciate that realms of social media such as BookTok promote reading and the enjoyment of books, but there is still nothing better than encountering a bookcase full of staff recommendations and the in-person connection that the discussion of these recommendations fosters.” 

And, of course, the booksellers have a “go-to” recommendation: 

• Stringham is always recommending “Damnation Spring” by Ash Davidson, a “well-written, compelling” book full of characters you’ll emotionally connect to and one that “you will stay up late to finish.” 
• Roskam will recommend anything by Charlotte McConaghy, including her latest novel, “Wild Dark Shore,” which is “nothing short of a masterpiece of hope,” and an environmental story brimming with compelling characters.
• Teague said they will recommend “My Autobiography of Carson McCullers” by Jenn Shapland to “everyone who will listen,” saying it “poetically illustrates what it means to be tied to the people that came before us.”
• Meier-Bilbo’s go-to — especially for lovers of historic fiction — is “The Cellist of Sarajevo” by Steven Galloway 
• Pearson recommends checking out Explore Booksellers’ “permanent collection” at the store’s entry, which showcases books that “stand the test of time and have lessons and insights to offer readers of all generations and backgrounds.”