PHOENIX – The Notable Books Council, first established in 1944, has announced the 2025 selections of the Notable Books List, an annual best-of list comprised of twenty-six titles written for adult readers and published in the US including fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The list was announced today during the Reference & User Services Book & Media Awards Virtual Ceremony .
The 2025 selections are:
Fiction
“Anita de Monte Laughs Last” by Xochitl Gonzalez [Flatiron Books]
A Cuban-American conceptual artist’s untimely death in 1985 New York City becomes forgotten until a student uncovers her work while exploring women artists.
“Fire Exit” by Morgan Talty [Tin House]
A poignant story about the secrets of a white man raised on a Penobscot Reservation examines the bonds of family and the definition of heritage.
“Ghostroots” by ‘Pemi Aguda [W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.]
Set in Nigeria, this eerie, unsettling story collection explores family, gender, and tradition.
“James” by Percival Everett [Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC]
Told from Jim’s perspective, this psychologically astute retelling of Twain’s classic tale highlights the fight for dignity and justice with subversive humor.
“Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar [Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC]
An Iranian-American poet’s obsession leads him on a journey to discover truths about his family’s past in this darkly funny debut novel.
“Sipsworth” by Simon Van Booy [Godine]
An elderly woman preparing for her death finds an unexpected reason to live after she befriends a mouse.
“The History of Sound” by Ben Shattuck [Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC]
Love, loss, home, and family permeate interconnected narratives spanning more than three centuries in New England.
“Two-Step Devil” by Jamie Quatro [Grove Press, an imprint of Grove Atlantic]
The lives of two social outcasts–a man who has religious visions and a teenage girl who is being trafficked–intersect in this story of faith and redemption, set in the southern Appalachians.
“Wandering Stars” by Tommy Orange [Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC]
A searing epic that recounts the multigenerational trauma, institutional violence, and forced assimilation of native people and the unhealed psychological scars that still linger.
“Whale Fall” by Elizabeth O’Connor [Pantheon Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC]
Quiet, authentic, and resolute, this debut coming-of-age story chronicles the slow degradation of isolated 1930s Welsh island life and the community’s exploitation by mainland ethnographers from the perspective of an unmarried 18-year-old woman.
“Wolf at the Table” by Adam Rapp [Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group]
Over several decades, siblings—Myra, Ronan, Lexy, and Fiona—experience life and the pursuit of the American Dream with love, devastation, and violence.
Nonfiction
“Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life” by Ferris Jabr [Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC]
A thoroughly researched, accessible, and expressive examination of how organisms influence their environments.
“Challenger: a True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” by Adam Higginbotham [Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, LLC]
A devastating, definitive account of bravery and hubris leading to a live broadcast catastrophe.
“John Lewis: A Life” by David Greenberg [Simon & Schuster]
A comprehensive biography of the esteemed civil rights leader, from his upbringing in Alabama through his years as a legislator in Washington, D.C.
“Kent State: An American Tragedy” by Brian VanDeMark [W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.]
A painstaking and compelling account of the events that left four students dead in Ohio.
“Native Nations: A Millennium in North America” by Kathleen DuVal [Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC]
An insightful and engaging account of how Indigenous peoples adapted over a thousand years of continental changes.
“No Road Leading Back: An Improbable Escape from the Nazis and the Tangled Way We Tell the Story of the Holocaust” by Chris Heath [Schocken Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC]
Exploring the cultural use and misuse of Holocaust testimony, this horrific account describes how a dozen prisoners in Lithuania’s Ponar death pits dug a tunnel and evaded S.S. officers, leaving behind uncomfortable truths.
“Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance” by Victoria Blanco [Coffee House Press]
Oral history and participatory field work culminate in this depiction of Rarámuri resilience and community when faced with displacement, climate change, poverty, cultural erasure, and anti-Indigenous prejudice.
“Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde” by Alexis Pauline Gumbs [Farrar, Straus and Giroux]
A stylistically inventive, nonlinear biography celebrating the life and legacy of the Black feminist poet.
“There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension” by Hanif Abdurraqib [Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House, LLC]
A sui generis and deeply personal lyrical exploration of loss, memory, and resilience that offers reflections on life’s transient yet enduring moments.
“Whiskey Tender: A Memoir” by Deborah Jackson Taffa [Harper Books, an imprint of HarperCollins]
Complex familial relationships integrate with histories of Indigenous culture to create a personal and enlightening account of growing up in the 1980s on and off a reservation.
“Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication” by Arik Kershenbaum [Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC]
A lively examination of the meaning behind howls, screeches, and other calls of seven species —dolphins, wolves, hyraxes, parrots, chimpanzees, gibbons, and humans.
“Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters” by Charan Ranganath, PhD [Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC]
Powerful insights, detailed research, and impactful storytelling distinguish this exploration of the human mind.
Poetry
“Bluff” by Danez Smith [Graywolf Press]
An imaginative and searching composition that forges new space in a harsh and violent land.
“Leaving Biddle City” by Marianne Chan [Sarabande Books]
Through a fictionalized Midwestern setting, the author excavates family history and memory, rebuilding a new understanding of self/home.
“Something about Living” by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha [The University of Akron Press]
An examination of global violence, displacement, and the radical act of love required to remain kind and retain humanity in the postcolonial world.
The winners were selected by the Notable Books Council whose members include eleven expert readers’ advisory and collection development librarians. The Council considers titles based on stellar reviews published in standard library reviewing sources and other authoritative sources. Derived from this list is the longlist for the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, ALA’s highest honor for books written for adults.
The Council includes Dr. Jo Phillips, Stark Library (OH), chair; Marianne Ramirez, Sayville Library, vice-chair; Kristen Allen-Vogel, Dayton Metro Library; Paige Bentley-Flannery, Deschutes Public Library; Crystal Chen, Facing History & Ourselves; Nanette Donohue, Champaign (IL) Public Library; Dr. Valerie Freeman, South Piedmont AHEC; Robyn Lupa, Jefferson County Public Library (CO); Bill Kelly, Cuyahoga County Public Library (OH); Teresa May, Durham County Library (NC); and Sarah Barbara Watstein, Seattle University.
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.rusaupdate.org.
