Our 2025 reading list just got a lot longer.

Each year, the New York Public Library's (NYPL) librarians sift through an avalanche of new releases to curate their Best Books of the Year list, a tradition that’s more than a century old and as close as NYC gets to an official annual syllabus. It’s basically a cultural cheat sheet for anyone who wants to keep pace with the city’s literary pulse.

The lists span four main categories—kids, Spanish-language kids’ books, teens and adults—that cover everything from graphic novels to memoirs, from Appalachian poetry to Gothic romance, from sci-fi family sagas to the (very hungry) exploits of a cartoon rat. All titles are available through the library’s catalog, with many offered as e-books, audiobooks and accessible editions. Place your holds now.

See Full Page