Here at Books of Brilliance, we love to share the best book recommendations we come across. And with 2025 wrapping up, we decided to look at some of the best books of the past few years. And we found the perfect list that will add a ton of new books to your reading list. Keep reading to find out what books they are!
Even if you try to keep up with all of the best books from the past few years, it is an impossible task. Thousands of books are released every year and just trying to get through one year of the best new books takes forever. But Goodreads has made it easier by choosing their best books of the year from the past few years.
As 2025 is wrapped up, we now know the best books from that year And while I would love to complain about my favorite books not making the list, I’ll save that for another day. Instead, I want to highlight the best books from this list. The books that made this list are incredible and I have to admit, I have to get around to reading more of these books.
Goodreads’ list covers all of the books published this century. But we decided to split it up to make it easier to cover all the books from each year. You can see the full list below!
The Best Goodreads Book Picks From the Past Few Years
- Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- Heart the Lover by Lily King
- King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
- James by Percival Everett
- All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
- The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
- The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
- The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
- The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
- The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Wild Dark Shore
I love seeing Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy because it is easily one of the best books I have read. And having read over a hundred plus books in 2025, it is one that I would pick as my one of my favorite books of the year. Not many novels are this concise and yet tell a story that will leave you on the edge of your seat.
Rowan washes ashore on an island that is occupied by four people. Dominic Salt and his three children. Dominic and his family tend to Rowan’s wounds but don’t know what to make of her. Neither party full trusts each other and as they spend more time together, they realize that secrets hang in the air between them.
Why did Rowan wash ashore to this remote island and what is her goal? On the other end, Rowan can feel that something is wrong. Why isn’t there anyone else on the island?
But as they live together, they can’t help but feel like one big family. But the secrets between them may tear them apart before they get to leave the island.
The writing, plot, and storytelling make this novel an amazing read. You won’t find a mystery novel better than this and it has so much more to offer. Novels like these are why I love reading and I know I’ll revisit this novel again!
James
With so many great books released in 2024, I am glad that James by Percival Everett made the list. This novel is perfect and deserved to win the National Book Award for Fiction, and the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
While there was some controversy surrounding the Pulitzer Prize award, I am glad that it did end up winning it. After seeing this novel everywhere, I knew I had to read it no matter what. And still it surpassed all of my expectations. If this novel didn’t make the list, then I would have been furious.
James is a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and gives James the voice he always deserved. Everett tells us of James’ story and from his point of view and it is an amazing and well written novel.
James is a slave in Hannibal, Missouri and tries to take care of all the slaves at the plantation. But one day, James discovers that he is going to be sold soon and separated from his family. He has no plans to go along with this and instead runs away. But he is discovered by Huckleberry Finn who is also planning to run away.
If you had to read one book that was released in 2024, then this is the one I recommend. There are a bunch of others I would recommend after but James is just that good for me to put it anywhere but first on my list.
The Berry Pickers
When a debut novels makes it as one of the four best books of 2023, then you know that it had to be special. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters is a beautifully written novel that everyone should pick up and read. The novel won numerous awards such as the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, and the 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Best Crime First Novel Award.
Those are a lot of awards and after reading the novel, I can say that they are all well deserved. This is a special novel and unlike your typical book. There’s a good chance you will need tissues when reading this book. I am glad that I went out of my comfort zone and gave this novel read.
The novel tells the story of a Mi’kmaq family that travels down from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries in the summer. One day, four-year-old Ruthie goes missing. Her family searches for her but never find her. The novel tells the story of Ruthie and her family and their lives after the kidnapping.
If it wasn’t for the other incredible books that I read, The Berry Picker would easily have been my favorite book of this year. This novel will easily by a top ten read and even a top five. If you need a novel to get you back into reading, then this is the one for you!
Demon Copperhead
A novel that I took forever to get around to read was Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It was the recipient of the2023 Pulitzer Prize along with Trust by Hernan Diaz and won the Women’s Prize for Fiction. With these two prestigious accolades, I knew I had to read this novel and what an experience it was.
The novel is a retelling of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens in the 21st century and is a must read for anyone that enjoyed the classic novel. Even if you haven’t read it, this novel is a commentary of the drug epidemic of the 2000s. Kingsolver doesn’t hold anything back and you can feel her anger and disappointment in every sentence.
The story follows Damon Fields, better known as Demon, and his single mother. They live in a trailer home in Lee, County, located in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. Demon’s life is difficult takes a turn for the worse when his mom starts dating a guy who abuses Demon.
Things go from bad to worse and Demon tries to make the best of his situation as he tries to survive and overcome his situation. But that is easier said than done. To move forward, he needs to face his past and bury it before something horrible happens.
Conclusion
These are the best books of the past few years according to Goodreads. I have read a bunch of them but even I can’t read every great novel released. The good news is that I will be adding a ton of these to my reading list. I enjoyed the books that I did read on this list a lot and would strongly recommend them.
Goodreads covers all of the best books of the past quarter century. Covering all of them here would have taken forever. Hopefully I will be able to cover more books from this list and add even more books to my reading list.
What books from this list have you read or plan to read? What other books would you have included? Let us know in the comments below. Until next time, happy reading!
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