Just as the sun rises another day, there is another list of the best books of 2025. And this time, it is a list from the magazine and online publication PEOPLE. Keep reading to find out PEOPLE’s best books of 2025!

Before I even dive into this list, I want to say I find it annoying when a publication’s whole name is in capital letters. It isn’t as clever as they think and just annoys me in general. PEOPLE and TIME need to get rid of this annoying trend.

Anyways, with that out of the way, we can dive into PEOPLE’s list and it is a good one. They have many of the best books on the list that I have seen on other lists but are missing one of my favorite books of 2025. I would have loved to see Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy on this list but no list is ever going to get it fully right unfortunately.

Still, the list includes some of my favorite reads of 2025 and they showed love to a favorite book of mine. PEOPLE have been a consistent publication when it comes to covering books and their love of books is genuine. You can see the full list below!

PEOPLE’s Best Books of 2025

As I browse more and more of these lists, I am getting a better idea of what books I will be reading in the coming months. That is one of the reason I love browsing all the different lists and seeing which ones most publications can’t stop talking about.

TIME’s Best Books of 2025 So Far
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

I have read two books on this list and I really enjoyed both of them. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong and Katabasis by R.F. Kuang were both amazing and books I would also include in my list of the best books of 2025.

I really loved The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong and I am glad I read it when I did. It is about a nineteen-year-old teenager named Hai who lives in East Gladness, Connecticut He plans to jump off a bridge but is saved by an old woman named Grazina

Suddenly, Hai finds himself taking care of her in exchange for living with her. They create a bond over the course over a year and come to rely on each other. But Hai can’t escape his problems and has to face them head on and soon realizes that Grazina needs him because of her dementia.

This novel is in contention as one of my favorite books that I read in 2025. The novel tackles themes such as identity, depression, and suicide with such a delicate pen. You can tell that Vuong knows what he is writing about.

R.F. Kuang novel
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

R.F. Kuang is an author who I am a big fan of. That is why I knew I had to read Katabasis and I am glad that I did. The fantasy novel is about two graduate students who must go to hell to save a professor in order to get the jobs that they want.

But traveling to hell and returning is no easy feat. They must rely on each other and share their deepest thoughts if they plan to make it back out alive. The magic system and world building is amazing and relies and you can tell Kuang has stayed up late nights doing endless research.

Conclusion

It will take me a couple of years to get around to reading most of the books on this list. And that is part of the fun. I have enjoyed reading amazing books a year or two after it was released. That always gives me something to read and look forward to.

This is all for PEOPLE’s best books of 2025 list and it is a good one. While I would have loved to see one of my favorite books of 2025, I still loved the variety of this list. It included two books I had never heard of before and haven’t seen anywhere else.

What did you think of this list of the best books of 2025? How many books from this list have you read or plan to read? I will be adding a bunch of them to my to-read list and in a few months, I can come back and see how well this list holds up. Until next time, happy reading!

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