Best Books of 2025 Launched by The New York Public Library

Book Giveaways at Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. Credit: NYPL / Tara Fedoriw Morris

For the first time ever, the Library will provide unlimited e-book access to select Best Books, guaranteeing no wait times on some of the top titles of the year  

Physical book giveaways planned in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island 

The New York Public Library on Thursday announced its Best Books of 2025, a list of 225 titles expertly curated by librarians, featuring some of the most popular titles that New Yorkers are reading now. 

And in a first, the Library is offering unlimited e-book access to a selection of its Best Books— eliminating wait times on these top titles in a range of genres. From November 20 through December 31, NYPL cardholders will be able to access these books using the Libby app. 

The Library is also giving away physical copies of top books of the year at three flagship branches throughout the city—Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Midtown Manhattan, the Bronx Library Center, and the St. George Library Center in Staten Island.  

“I’m thrilled to announce the launch of our Best Books of 2025—a reflection of our commitment to representing the incredible diversity and creativity in literature today. This year, we are building on our mission of expanding access to knowledge by making some of the most in-demand books immediately available for free download for all card holders, as well as offering book giveaways in branches. I can’t wait for New Yorkers to get their hands on these books, and hope they return to the Library time and again for their next book too,” said Brian Bannon, Chief Librarian and Merryl and James Tisch Director of Branch Libraries and Education.

ABOUT BEST BOOKS 

Best Books of 2025 are arranged into four categories:

• Best Books for Adults (50 titles)
• Best Books for Teens (50 titles)
• Best Books for Kids (100 titles)
• Mejores libros para pequeños / Best Books for Kids in Spanish (25 titles)

More than 80 dedicated librarians work on Best Books each year—reading thousands of titles to develop each list. Librarians look for literary excellence and originality, as well as titles that they believe would appeal to the New Yorkers they serve.

See nypl.org/bestbooks for a full list of NYPL’s Best Books of 2025.

ABOUT BEST BOOKS OF 2025 UNLIMITED E-BOOK ACCESS 

As part of the Library’s commitment to being a champion of reading, for the first time ever the Library is offering unlimited e-book access to a selection of 26 titles for adults, teens, and kids on the Best Books of 2025: 11 books for adults, 5 for teens, 5 for kids, and 5 for Mejores Libros (Best Books for Kids in Spanish). This includes Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, which won the National Book Award in non-fiction yesterday, Nov. 19.

The selection for adults, which is representative of the breadth and diversity of books on the list for this age group, includes bestsellers as well as newly minted genre favorites: 

• Audition by Katie Kitamura (literary fiction)
• Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance by Ben Passmore (comics)
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (horror)
• Dead Girl Cameo: A Love Song in Poems by m. mick powell (poetry)
• Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (sci-fi/fantasy)
• Heartwood by Amity Gaige (mystery/suspense)
• King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (mystery/suspense)
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (nonfiction)
• A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera (romance)
• Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (literary fiction)
• Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor (science and nature)

See here for a full list of the Best Books available for instant download with no wait times, including books for teens, kids, as well as children’s books in Spanish. 

All of the Best Books of 2025 are available to check out at branches across the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Recommendations can also be found year-round by visiting your local branch, contacting AskNYPL, or online at nypl.org/recommends. 

Additionally, the Library will host a number of events tied to Best Books of 2025, including:

• Top Shelf: 2025 Fiction All-Stars at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) on Wed, Dec. 10, featuring Best Books authors Angela Flournoy (The Wilderness), Katie Kitamura (Audition), and Sebastian Castillo (Fresh, Green Life)
• A special program with the actor and author Lil Taylor and Tod Winston, Urban Biodiversity Specialist at NYC Bird Alliance, on Wed, Dec. 3, at St. George Library Center, focusing on Taylor’s book Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing
• A pair of virtual author talks with horror writers Neil Sharpson (The Burial Tide), on Dec. 2, and Fredric S. Durbin(The Country Under Heaven), on Dec. 10
• Author talks with artists Kayla E. (Precious Rubbish), on Dec. 2, and Ben Passmore (Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance), on Dec. 6
• An edition of our flagship KidsLIVE author talks with Dr. Haleh Massey on Dec. 16

About The New York Public Library

For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations—including research and branch libraries—throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.