Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →This is a historical midyear reading guide, not a current 2026 best-books list. It brings together 12 books highlighted by Amazon Books, TIME, and other outlets in selections published during 2025; each recommendation is attributed to the publication that selected it. These are distinct editorial lists, not a shared ranking or an objective verdict on the year’s best books.
How to read this list
“Best” means that an outlet’s editors chose a book for a particular list. Amazon Books’ midyear selection covered January through June 2025, with 20 overall picks as well as category selections. TIME published a separate midyear list of 14 books spanning fiction and nonfiction. Their scopes and judgments differ, so the titles below are a curated guide rather than a combined ranking. The available descriptions do not provide a common scoring system or comparable measure of reader satisfaction.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Theo of Golden: A Novel | $12.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
The Overstory: A Novel | $10.48 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
The Book Club for Troublesome Women: A Novel | $10.91 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel | $8.39 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
The Calamity Club: A Novel | $24.01 | Buy on Amazon |
12 books highlighted in 2025
1. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Selected by: Amazon Books, as its top book of 2025 so far. The novel follows a family and a woman shipwrecked on a remote island off Antarctica. Its themes include family, grief, climate change, and the natural world. It is a strong starting point for readers looking for an atmospheric literary novel with an environmental thread.
2. King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby
Selected by: Amazon Books, among its top five midyear books. The cited selection identifies the title and author but does not give a plot description, so readers should consult a bookseller or the publisher for a fuller synopsis.
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchWindows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstall#1 Best Overall
3. No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris
Selected by: Amazon Books, among its top five midyear books. The selection names this nonfiction title but does not provide a detailed description; its subject is Johnson & Johnson, as indicated by the title.
4. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
Selected by: Amazon Books, among its top five midyear books. The source identifies the novel as a pick but does not summarize its story, so this guide does not infer plot details beyond that.
Rank #2
5. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Selected by: Amazon Books, among its top five midyear books. Amazon’s selection identifies the title and author; it does not provide a synopsis in the cited announcement.
6. Gingko Season by Naomi Xu Elegant
Selected by: TIME. The novel follows a young woman in Philadelphia as she reflects on love, principles, and priorities. It may suit readers drawn to character-centered fiction and questions about how personal values shape everyday choices.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Rank #3
7. Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Selected by: TIME. This work of nature writing argues for treating rivers with greater regard. TIME’s description discusses three rivers, including the Mutehekau Shipu in Quebec, which was granted legal rights. It fits readers interested in ecology, place, and the changing idea of nature’s legal standing.
8. Mark Twain by Ron Chernow
Selected by: TIME. Chernow’s biography draws on Twain’s books, letters, and unpublished manuscripts to tell a long-form account of the writer’s life. Readers looking for a substantial literary biography may find this the clearest nonfiction choice in the group.
Rank #4
9. My Documents by Kevin Nguyen
Selected by: TIME. This speculative novel imagines Vietnamese Americans being sent to internment camps after a terrorist attack. The premise brings civil rights, history, family, and state power into the same story, making it a choice for readers interested in politically engaged speculative fiction.
10. O Sinners! by Nicole Cuffy
Selected by: TIME. The novel follows a journalist investigating a religious group after his father’s death. Its investigative premise may appeal to readers who like fiction built around a search for answers and complicated family ties.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Best Value
11. Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Selected by: The New York Times’ midyear best-books list, as described on Simon & Schuster’s book page. This memoir centers on Roy’s relationship with her mother. It is included here as another outlet’s recommendation, not as an Amazon or TIME selection.
12. A reader-fit pick from the year’s lists
Selection status: The available source material does not verify a twelfth specific title and its selecting outlet, so it would be misleading to invent one or present an unverified book as part of a sourced top 12. Publishers Weekly’s 2025 annual selection is a broader alternative: it describes a list of 150 books organized across review categories and children’s selections, rather than a midyear list. Consult that list if you want a wider field of candidates.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which book should you choose?
Use subject and reading experience—not list order—to narrow the options. The sources provide no shared rubric for comparing quality, and the titles serve different interests.
- For climate and landscape: try Wild Dark Shore for a novel shaped by an Antarctic setting, or Is a River Alive? for nonfiction centered on rivers and nature.
- For biography or memoir: consider Chernow’s Mark Twain for a long-form biography, or Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me for a memoir about her relationship with her mother.
- For speculative fiction and public power: Nguyen’s My Documents puts a speculative premise in conversation with civil rights and state power.
- For family, faith, or personal values: TIME’s descriptions of O Sinners! and Gingko Season point to stories involving, respectively, an investigation tied to a father’s death and a young woman’s reflections on priorities.
Why the lists do not produce one definitive top 12
Amazon Books and TIME published independent midyear selections, while the cited memoir recommendation comes from the New York Times list as described by Simon & Schuster. The publications do not share a ranking method, and a place on one list cannot be treated as a head-to-head score against a title on another. Amazon later published a separate year-end list in November 2025, another reason to treat midyear choices as time-bound rather than a complete account of the year.
Amazon’s announcement says its editors read across genres and authors to make their selections; that description explains the editorial process but is not an independent quality measure. A reader discussion also mentions titles such as Death of the Author alongside some of these recommendations, but individual comments are opinions rather than representative polling. The most useful approach is to follow the source list that matches your interests, then check a book’s full description before choosing.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
