The Best Books of Summer 2025 Chosen by Esquire

With summer around the corner and beach weather arriving early, it is summer season. And that means that we will be seeing tons of summer reading lists. Which is why we will be looking at the best books of summer 2025 according to Esquire.

Just yesterday, we got Amazon’s list of the best books of the first half of 2025. Esquire didn’t waste no time and decided to not miss out. They released their annual summer reading list and I am all for it. If you were to guess how many books their lists had in common, you would be guessing for a while.

Both lists only had one book in common and that was Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong. I know what book I will be reading in the near future. In fact, I am happy that their lists are different and I will be seeing a lot of new books here that I will be adding to my reading list.

The editors are Esquire turned to independent bookstores all across the United States to make this list. That may be why this list turned out so well. You can see the full list below!

Best Books of Summer 2025

• The Doorman by Chris Pavone
• So Far Gone by Jess Walter
• Murderland by Caroline Fraser
• Daikon by Samuel Hawley
• The Dry Season by Melissa Febos
• The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
• Victory ’45 by James Holland and Al Murray
• Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
• Salutation Road by Salma Ibrahim
• Sharing in the Groove by Mike Ayers
• The Salt Stones by Helen Whybrow
• The Great Mann by Kyra Davis Lurie
• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
• The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner
• Next to Heaven by James Frey
• To Lose a War: The Fall and Rise of the Taliban by Jon Lee Anderson
• Fox by Joyce Carol Oates
• Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson by Mark Kriegel

Esquire’s summer reading list is easily my favorite list and its not even close. Amazon’s list has a bunch of popular novels but Esquire’s list includes books that are much more interesting. This is how you get people to read.

I will be adding many of these books to my reading list and hopefully I am able to read many of them in the near future. These two lists are just the beginning of the summer reading lists that will be released in the coming weeks. 

If you love reading by the beach or at the park, then you will be more than happy with these lists and the variety of books they offer. Happy reading!

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