In a sea of outstanding new releases, which literary prize winners and finalists stood out this year? We’ve rounded up 2025’s biggest, buzziest award contenders that deserve a spot on your TBR list. In a sea of outstanding new releases, which literary prize winners and finalists stood out this year? We’ve rounded up 2025’s biggest, buzziest award contenders that deserve a spot on your TBR list.

	In a sea of outstanding new releases, which literary prize winners and finalists stood out this year? We’ve rounded up 2025’s biggest, buzziest award contenders that deserve a spot on your TBR list.
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	This sensational novel from ‘a writer with boundless imagination’ (NPR) has the book world abuzz WHY IT’S READWORTHY: The winner of 2025’s National Book Award for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Outside the tiny apartment Raja shares with his elderly mother, Beirut is in turmoil — but Raja’s search for love and hope is eternally optimistic “It’s a ravishing performance… Skillfully juxtaposes unflinching depictions of war and deprivation with the narrator’s joie de vivre” (Publishers Weekly) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers The winner of this year’s Booker Prize is a profound coming-of-age story WHY IT’S READWORTHY: A finalist for the Kirkus Prize and a Best Book of the Year according to The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews This haunting portrait of a Hungarian man attempting to overcome shocking childhood trauma “will leave readers in awe” (Publishers Weekly starred review) “There’s brilliance on every page. Szalay is an ingenious conductor of time, and of the fates and forces that give shape to a life” (Samantha Harvey, author of Orbital) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Amazon’s Best Book of 2025 is ‘refreshingly timeless’ (The New York Times) WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Jenna Bush Hager calls her September book club pick “a once-in-a-decade novel” Across generations, two Midwestern families find their lives irrevocably transformed by the consequences of a shattering secret Rave reviews from Ann Patchett, Ann Napolitano, and Chris Whitaker, who says, “It’s my book of the year. I couldn’t love it more” An instant New York Times bestseller Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers The Guardian praises the National Book Award winner for Nonfiction as ‘damn hard to put down’ WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “Exceptionally powerful, as a howl of rage and grief against the status quo must be” (Financial Times) This New York Times bestselling manifesto argues the West has betrayed its own core values with its indifference to the war in Gaza “With precision and passion, [El Akkad] compels readers to close the emotional distance between ‘us’ and ‘them’” (The New York Times) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers The 25th novel from a beloved Pulitzer Prize–winning author is an instant classic WHY IT’S READWORTHY: This Goodreads Choice Finalist for Fiction and New York Times bestseller “is like reading a hug” (Star Tribune) On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, Gail’s ex-husband appears on her doorstep… “To read a novel by Anne Tyler is to fall in love” (People) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Barnes & Noble booksellers across the country crowned this 2025’s Book of the Year! WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Ten-year-old Mona is losing her eyesight — so every Wednesday for a year, her grandfather takes her around Paris to show her as much beauty as possible This sensational international bestseller and “life-affirming narrative” (Booklist) is sure to captivate US readers James Daunt, Barnes & Noble’s CEO, raves, “This is a novel for everyone, a gentle, moving tale about family, beauty, and the fleeting moments that make lasting memories” Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers An epic scientific rivalry comes alive in this ‘enthralling’ work of history (Publishers Weekly) WHY IT’S READWORTHY: 2025’s Pulitzer Prize winner for Biography is “an entertaining compendium of fascinating facts” (The Spectator) In the 18th century, two men set out to document every species on Earth. How did their conflicting viewpoints shape our understanding of nature today? “Engaging and thought-provoking… Focused on the theatrical politics and often deeply troubling science that shape our definitions of life on Earth” (The New York Times) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers This unforgettable ‘masterpiece’ (Chicago Tribune) earned the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Reimagines Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved man who accompanies Huck Finn down the river “Remarkable… Subversive and thrilling, James is destined to become a modern classic” (Esquire) Also won the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction and the Kirkus Prize for Fiction — and landed a film deal with Steven Spielberg Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers