Best Books of the Year
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The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year 2025

The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year 2025 names 50 books across 2 categories. 16 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Fiction

  1. An Oral History of Atlantis: Stories by Ed Parksource (opens in a new tab)
  2. At Last by Marisa Silversource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Audition by Katie Kitamurasource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Endling by Maria Revasource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Exit Zero: Stories by Marie-Helene Bertinosource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Flashlight by Susan Choisource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Gliff by Ali Smithsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowellsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Heart the Lover by Lily Kingsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugusource (opens in a new tab)
  11. Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser, translated by Hildegarde Serlesource (opens in a new tab)
  12. On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle, translated by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russellsource (opens in a new tab)
  13. Palaver by Bryan Washingtonsource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsasource (opens in a new tab)
  15. Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchonsource (opens in a new tab)
  16. Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Woodsource (opens in a new tab)
  17. Terrestrial History by Joe Mungo Reedsource (opens in a new tab)
  18. The Antidote by Karen Russellsource (opens in a new tab)
  19. The Book of Records by Madeleine Thiensource (opens in a new tab)
  20. The Correspondent by Virginia Evanssource (opens in a new tab)
  21. The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjaminsource (opens in a new tab)
  22. The Pelican Child: Stories by Joy Williamssource (opens in a new tab)
  23. The Wilderness by Angela Flournoysource (opens in a new tab)
  24. Tom's Crossing by Mark Z. Danielewskisource (opens in a new tab)
  25. What We Can Know by Ian McEwansource (opens in a new tab)

Nonfiction

  1. A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck by Sophie Elmhirstsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback by Seth Wickershamsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan Greenwellsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggssource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State by Caleb Gaylesource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwoodsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Bright Circle: Five Women in the Age of Transcendentalism by Randall Fullersource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Captain's Dinner: A Shipwreck, An Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial That Changed Legal History by Adam Cohensource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life by Dan Nadelsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley by Jacob Silvermansource (opens in a new tab)
  11. Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbertsource (opens in a new tab)
  12. Languages of Home: Essays on Writing, Hoop, and American Lives, 1975-2025 by John Edgar Widemansource (opens in a new tab)
  13. Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery, and the Soul of the Slam Dunk by Mike Sielskisource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Memorial Days by Geraldine Brookssource (opens in a new tab)
  15. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkadsource (opens in a new tab)
  16. Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur by Jeff Pearlmansource (opens in a new tab)
  17. Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Daltonsource (opens in a new tab)
  18. Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America by Clay Risensource (opens in a new tab)
  19. Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America by Michael Luosource (opens in a new tab)
  20. The Broken King: A Memoir by Michael Thomassource (opens in a new tab)
  21. The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story by Brandy Schillacesource (opens in a new tab)
  22. The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze That Captured Turn-of-the-Century America by David Baronsource (opens in a new tab)
  23. Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford by Carla Kaplansource (opens in a new tab)
  24. We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Leporesource (opens in a new tab)
  25. When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomassource (opens in a new tab)

About the The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year

The Globe's year-end Fiction and Nonfiction critics' picks. Picks from the same year-end package for mystery, poetry, sports, graphic novels, science, New England, children's, middle grade, and young adult books are left out. 2006-2009 lists are the boxed title lists that ran with the year-end fiction and nonfiction essays on boston.com. In 2011 and 2014 each section was the combined picks of two or three critics; books picked by more than one critic appear once. Missing years: no 2010 adult list could be found in the Wayback Machine (only a children's list was archived). No list is ranked. bostonglobe.com robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, so no Globe page was fetched directly: Globe pages were read through Wayback Machine captures, and the 2022-2024 lists were read from the Flourish card embeds the Globe pages load. Secondary sources: yearendlists.com copies of the 2020-2025 lists were used to cross-check counts and to correct three page typos (Walter Mosley, Natasha Trethewey, and the title Loved and Missed). Other page typos were corrected against existing catalog entries (Tenth of December, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jodi Kantor) and against the publisher listing for Helon Habila's Travelers. The 2016 list files Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time under Fiction, as the Globe did.

Organization: The Boston Globe. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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