--- description: Find out why "Audition" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'Audition' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24c72638243eab7a/6998cb2cf1b082bbd36f1d3a/100_Books_2025_Audition-Katie-Kitamura.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 12, 2025 # Audition by Katie Kitamura by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  The story of a successful older actor wrestling with a new role and marital discord, Katie Kitamura's fifth novel interrogates how we all put on performances, even among those who know us best. Kitamura lays out an intriguing premise right away: the unnamed protagonist meets a man named Xavier for lunch, and he claims to be her son. She tells him that it can’t be—she never had a child—and the challenging, unconventionally told _Audition_ sets forth from there, probing the roles that people take on in life, from mother to child to wife to character. —_Mahita Gajanan_ **_These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser._** **Buy Now:** _Audition_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593852323 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4qP18qM "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/"},"headline":"Audition","datePublished":"2025-11-12T13:00:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T01:02:13.812Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","ecommerce","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24c72638243eab7a/6998cb2cf1b082bbd36f1d3a/100_Books_2025_Audition-Katie-Kitamura.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24c72638243eab7a/6998cb2cf1b082bbd36f1d3a/100_Books_2025_Audition-Katie-Kitamura.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/","name":"Audition"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"100 Best Books of the Year","description":"100 Best Books of 2025 with Lucy Feldman","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VhaWtoKm/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-11-12T20:18:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VhaWtoKm.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/","duration":"PT1M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```