‹ The Award-Winning Novels of 2025 Book Marks
Awards established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. Administered by the American Library Association.
“Because this is a Percival Everett novel, we are not surprised that he tears down and rebuilds a cultural landmark … Because this is a Percival Everett novel, too, it luxuriates in language. Everett, like Twain, is a master of American argot; he is the code switcher’s code switcher. In James, he puts his skills to incandescent use … What sets James above Everett’s previous novels, as casually and caustically funny as many are, is that here the humanity is turned up — way up. This is Everett’s most thrilling novel, but also his most soulful. Beneath the wordplay, and below the packed dirt floor of Everett’s moral sensibility, James is an intensely imagined human being … My ideal of hell would be to live with a library that contained only reimaginings of famous novels. It’s a wet-brained and dutiful genre, by and large…James is the rarest of exceptions. It should come bundled with Twain’s novel. It is a tangled and subversive homage, a labor of rough love … Everett shoots what is certain to be this book’s legion of readers straight through the heart.”
An international literary award presented each year for a novel written in English or translated into English.
Prize money: €100,000
The Adversary by Michael Crummey
(Doubleday)
“Detailed and haunting … A beautifully written, immensely powerful and subtly ingenious novel. Its greatest—which is to say, most monstrous—revelations are so discreetly offered that you could miss them; but when you realize them, they practically take your breath away. They did mine. And when I turned the last page, I just sat there, utterly stunned by this novel’s terrible force.”
–Katherine A. Powers (The Washington Post)
Finalists:
Percival Everett, James (Random House)
Daniel Mason, North Woods (Random House)
Selva Almada, Not a River (Graywolf)
Paul Lynch, Prophet Song (Grove)
Gerda Blees, We Are Light (World Editions)
CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE
An annual award presented by The Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, for the best debut novel.
Prize money: $10,000
Natch by Darrell Kinsey
(University of Iowa Press)
“Kinsey’s taut novel tells a straightforward story, but it’s the voice that stands out most … A melancholy story of love and loss with a memorable narrator.”
Finalists:
Colwill Brown, We Pretty Pieces of Flesh (Henry Holt)
Rickey Fayne, The Devil Three Times (Little Brown and Company)
Justin Haynes, Ibis (Harry N. Abrams)
Alejandro Heredia, Loca (Simon & Schuster)
Mariam Rahmani, Liquid (Algonquin)
Shubha Sunder, Optional Practical Training (Graywolf)
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE
Recognizes outstanding literary works as well as champions new writers.
Prize money: $1,000
(ART SEIDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION)
Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang
(Dutton)
“There is much to admire in this intricately plotted novel. The depiction of Chinese immigrant life in America is very well done: rich in detail, and with lovely flashes of humour . . . And it’s a story with real heart: Tang shows genuine sympathy for each of his flawed characters as he carefully unpicks the moral complexities of their choices.”
—Claire Adam (The Guardian)
Finalists:
Pemi Aguda, Ghostroots (W. W. Norton & Company)
Joseph Earl Thomas, God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer (Grand Central)
Jessica Elisheva Emerson, Olive Days (Counterpoint)
Julian Zabalbeascoa, What We Tried to Bury Grows Here (Two Dollar Radio)
(FICTION)
Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet
(Simon & Schuster)
“The miracle is not that Say Hello to My Little Friend works, so much as that it enlarges our sense of the possible, recalling the vanity of human aspiration not through a lens of ridicule but through one of empathy. The chorus of voices, the point-of-view shifts—all of it allows Crucet to imagine her way to a larger authenticity … Crucet insists that we rethink our models for engagement, with one another and with the world at large.”
—David L. Ulin (The Atlantic)
Finalists:
Rita Bullwinkel, Headshot (Viking)
Percival Everett, James (Doubleday)
Miranda July, All Fours (Riverhead)
Yuri Herrera, Season of the Swamp (Graywolf)
EDGAR AWARD
Presented by the Mystery Writers of America, honoring the best in crime and mystery fiction.
The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell
(Vintage)
“[A] smart, provocative novel … Vassell perfectly constructs a classic crime procedural against a backdrop of racism, sexism, and classism. Beauchamp is a winning character readers will adore … Readers don’t need to have read The Other Half to enjoy this intriguing novel, but reading both is as satisfying as pairing a cup of Earl Grey and a lavender biscuit. In the final pages, Vassell lays the groundwork for a third installment that promises to be as enjoyable as the ones that preceded it. A stellar sophomore outing for an intriguing detective.”
—Kirkus
Finalists:
Robert Jackson Bennett, The Tainted Cup (Del Rey)
Katrina Carrasco, Rough Trade (Picador)
Sarah Easter Collins, Things Don’t Break on Their Own (Crown)
Nicolás Ferraro, My Favorite Scar (Soho Crime)
Liz Moore, The God of the Woods (Riverhead)
Amy Tintera, Listen for the Lie (Celadon)
NEBULA AWARD
Given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for the best science fiction or fantasy novel.
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
(DAW)
“This is a fast-paced and gloriously weird novel, full of explosive shenanigans and touching sentiment. It also manages to be an exploration of the queerness and the surprising fragility of monstrous bodies, as well as their resilience … a remarkably accomplished debut.”
—Liz Bourke (Locus Magazine)
Finalists:
Kerstin Hall, Asunder (Tordotcom)
Kelly Link, The Book of Love (Random House/Ad Astra Press)
Vajra Chandrasekera, Rakesfall (Tordotcom)
Yaroslav Barsukov, Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory (Caezik SF & Fantasy)
T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call (Tor Books)
HUGO AWARD
Awarded for the best science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000 words or more published in English or translated in the prior calendar year.
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
(Del Rey)
“Bennett’s newest, The Tainted Cup, absolutely rewards that attention: cleverly drawn characters and plots, a fascinating world with fantastic mechanics, and it manages to wrap up its narrative satisfyingly while leaving the door open for more.”
—Jake Casella (Locus Magazine)
Finalists:
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Alien Clay (Orbit Books/Tor UK)
Kaliane Bradley, The Ministry of Time (Avid Reader Press/Sceptre)
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Service Model (Tordotcom)
John Wiswell, Someone You Can Build a Nest In (DAW Books)
T. Kingfisher, A Sorceress Comes to Call (Tor Books)
BRAM STOKER AWARD
Presented by the Horror Writers Association for “superior achievement” in horror writing for novels.
The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste
(S&S/Saga Press)
“…there comes a time when the label ‘rising star’ no longer applies, when an author achieves something that simply makes them a mainstay of the genre, a must-read storyteller whose imagination has developed into something towering. With The Haunting of Velkwood, Kiste has surely hit that mark, delivering a chilling character drama wrapped up in a high-concept horror narrative so ingenious that you might be jealous you never thought of it.”
—Matthew Jackson (Paste)
Finalists:
Gabino Iglesias, House of Bone and Rain (Mulholland Books)
Stephen Graham Jones, I Was a Teenage Slasher (S&S/Saga Press)
Josh Malerman, Incidents Around the House (Del Rey)
Paul G. Tremblay, Horror Movie (William Morrow)
JOYCE CAROL OATES LITERARY PRIZE
An annual award presented by the New Literary Project to recognize mid-career writers of fiction.
Prize Money: $50,000
Say Hello to My Little Friend by Jennine Capó Crucet
(Simon & Schuster)
“There is something quixotic in watching Izzy spin himself and those around him into remakes of culture, but this, too, is true about the immigrant experience, which Capó Crucet details with breathtaking precision … [Capó Crucet] also has a rare knack for metanarrative, a skill that allows readers to think about Izzy’s story as a story without ruining its intimacy.”
—Eric A. Ponce (BookPage)
The Horse by Willy Vlautin
(Harper)
“Vlautin’s gift for capturing the unique terror of the moment when heavy drinking turns to helplessness is rendered with heartbreaking acuity. Set against the desolate majesty of the high desert, Vlautin’s depiction of one broken soul trying to save another is aspirational, allegorical and, ultimately, transcendent.”
—Jim Ruland (The Los Angeles Times)
Finalists:
Sarah Manguso, Liars (Hogarth)
Julia Phillips, Bear (Hogarth)
Morgan Talty, Fire Exit (Tin House Books)
GILLER PRIZE
Given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year.
Prize Money: $100,000 (winner), $10,000 (finalists)
Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa
(Little Brown and Company)
“A feat of economy, unspooling Ning’s emotional journey amid the cage of her salon … Punches above its weight. Thammavongsa’s minimalism conveys a range of tones and psychological nuances as she grapples with the stubborn prejudices of class … Wily and caustic, the book condemns petty Western narcissisms yet allows for bursts of radiance.”
—Hamilton Cain (The Washington Post)
Finalists:
Mona Awad, We Love You, Bunny (Marysue Rucci Books)
Eddy Boudel Tan, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut (Viking)
Emma Donoghue, The Paris Express (Summit)
Emma Knight, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus (Pamela Dorman Books)
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