On Display: Best Books of 2025
February 2, 2026
The 17th annual Best Books display has arrived! Our display features more than 300 titles published in 2025 that have appeared on 18 year-end best books lists*, covering a broad selection of fiction and nonfiction across subjects and genres. Some of these books are bestsellers that you'll surely recognize, while others are critically acclaimed works that may have received less publicity or escaped your attention.
Stop by the library to browse the physical display now until March 13th, or visit the online display which includes eBook and digital audiobook options. The online display allows you to browse all the books by category (fiction, nonfiction) and format (print, eBook, audiobook). You will also be able to check a book's current availability, access eBooks and digital audiobooks, place holds on items, and/or pin items to save for later.
Curious to know about the "best of the best"? These were books that appeared on nine or more of the lists we consulted:
- We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution by Jill Lepore
- What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
- Flashlight by Susan Choi
- Flesh by David Szalay
- Heart the Lover by Lily King
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
- Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival by Stephen Greenblatt
- Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
- Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Borrow now or add these to your "to be read" list for the coming year.
Best Books Display Archives
Take a look back at our previous Best Books displays!
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*Sources consulted: Audible, AudioFile, Barnes & Noble, Bloomberg, Booklist, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, The New Yorker, The New York Times, NPR, Publishers Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.