--- description: Discover the novels, memoirs, biographies, and more that entertained and enlightened us. title: The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5815a4d63bc138e1/6998cb9225f3ee851b6452d3/100-Books-2025-Social-Hub-Image-1.png?branch=production ---  # The 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 * All * FICTION * NONFICTION * POETRY ## The books that moved and delighted us, sparked conversations, and opened our minds *  [All That We See or Seem](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329472/all-that-we-see-or-seem/) by Ken Liu byTIME Staff *  [All the Way to the River](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329473/all-the-way-to-the-river/) by Elizabeth Gilbert byTIME Staff *  [The Antidote](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329474/the-antidote/) by Karen Russell byTIME Staff *  [Atmosphere](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329475/atmosphere/) by Taylor Jenkins Reid byTIME Staff *  [Audition](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329476/audition/) by Katie Kitamura byTIME Staff *  [Bad Bad Girl](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329477/bad-bad-girl/) by Gish Jen byTIME Staff *  [Baldwin](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329478/baldwin/) by Nicholas Boggs byTIME Staff *  [Black in Blues](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329479/black-in-blues/) by Imani Perry byTIME Staff *  [Boleyn Traitor](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329480/boleyn-traitor/) by Philippa Gregory byTIME Staff *  [Book of Lives](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329481/book-of-lives/) by Margaret Atwood byTIME Staff *  [The Book of Records](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329482/the-book-of-records/) by Madeleine Thien byTIME Staff *  [Bread of Angels](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329483/bread-of-angels/) by Patti Smith byTIME Staff *  [The Buffalo Hunter Hunter](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329484/the-buffalo-hunter-hunter/) by Stephen Graham Jones byTIME Staff *  [Careless People](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329485/careless-people/) by Sarah Wynn-Williams byTIME Staff *  [The Catch](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329486/the-catch/) by Yrsa Daley-Ward byTIME Staff *  [Claire McCardell](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329487/claire-mccardell/) by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson byTIME Staff *  [The Colonel and the King](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329488/the-colonel-and-the-king/) by Peter Guralnick byTIME Staff *  [Crush](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329489/crush/) by Ada Calhoun byTIME Staff *  [Cursed Daughters](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329490/cursed-daughters/) by Oyinkan Braithwaite byTIME Staff *  [Dead and Alive](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329492/dead-and-alive/) by Zadie Smith byTIME Staff *  [Dead Money](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329493/dead-money/) by Jakob Kerr byTIME Staff *  [Death of the Author](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329494/death-of-the-author/) by Nnedi Okorafor byTIME Staff *  [The Dream Hotel](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329495/the-dream-hotel/) by Laila Lalami byTIME Staff *  [The Dry Season](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329496/the-dry-season/) by Melissa Febos byTIME Staff *  [The Edge of Water](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329497/the-edge-of-water/) by Olufunke Grace Bankole byTIME Staff *  [The Emperor of Gladness](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329498/the-emperor-of-gladness/) by Ocean Vuong byTIME Staff *  [Flashlight](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329499/flashlight/) by Susan Choi byTIME Staff *  [A Flower Traveled in My Blood](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329500/a-flower-traveled-in-my-blood/) by Haley Cohen Gilliland byTIME Staff *  [Forest Euphoria](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329501/forest-euphoria/) by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian byTIME Staff *  [Gemini](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329502/gemini/) by Jeffrey Kluger byTIME Staff *  [Gingko Season](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329503/gingko-season/) by Naomi Xu Elegant byTIME Staff *  [Girl on Girl](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329504/girl-on-girl/) by Sophie Gilbert byTIME Staff *  [Good Dirt](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329505/good-dirt/) by Charmaine Wilkerson byTIME Staff *  [Good Girl](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329506/good-girl/) by Aria Aber byTIME Staff *  [Great Black Hope](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329507/great-black-hope/) by Rob Franklin byTIME Staff *  [A Guardian and a Thief](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329508/a-guardian-and-a-thief/) by Megha Majumdar byTIME Staff *  [Gwyneth](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329509/gwyneth/) by Amy Odell byTIME Staff *  [Heart the Lover](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329510/heart-the-lover/) by Lily King byTIME Staff *  [Hostage](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329511/hostage/) by Eli Sharabi byTIME Staff *  [The Hounding](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329512/the-hounding/) by Xenobe Purvis byTIME Staff *  [The Idea of an Entire Life](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329513/the-idea-of-an-entire-life/) by Billy-Ray Belcourt byTIME Staff *  [I'll Tell You When I'm Home](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329514/ill-tell-you-when-im-home/) by Hala Alyan byTIME Staff *  [Is a River Alive?](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329515/is-a-river-alive/) by Robert Macfarlane byTIME Staff *  [Isola](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329516/isola/) by Allegra Goodman byTIME Staff *  [I Want to Burn This Place Down](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329517/i-want-to-burn-this-place-down/) by Maris Kreizman byTIME Staff *  [Joyride](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329518/joyride/) by Susan Orlean byTIME Staff *  [Katabasis](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329519/katabasis/) by R. F. Kuang byTIME Staff *  [King of Ashes](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329520/king-of-ashes/) by S. A. Cosby byTIME Staff *  [A Language of Limbs](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329521/a-language-of-limbs/) by Dylin Hardcastle byTIME Staff *  [The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny](/collections/the-100-must-read-books-of-2025/7329522/the-loneliness-of-sonia-and-sunny/) by Kiran Desai byTIME Staff ## Project Credits * Editors:Lucy Feldman, Lori Fradkin, Annabel Gutterman, and Megan McCluskey * Audience:Kitty Ruskin, Kari Sonde, and Alyona Uvarova * Digital:Nadia Suleman * Visuals:Chloe Dowling * Contributors:Judy Berman, Hamilton Cain, Shannon Carlin, Kelly Conniff, Eliana Dockterman, Merrill Fabry, Mahita Gajanan, Cate Matthews, Erin McMullen, Rebecca Schneid, Olivia B. 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