For lovers of nonfiction, 2025 has been a great year. For starters, it saw literary giants like Margaret Atwood and Zadie Smith doing us the pleasure of reflecting on everything from childhood to pop culture. Then there was Robert MacFarlane’s eye-opening investigation into rivers, Ian Leslie’s brilliant Beatles book, and Corinne Low’s fascinating deep dive into what makes women feel so stretched both in work and at home. But perhaps most importantly of all, there were also books which had real-world consequences, from Sarah Wynn-Williams’ memoir-cum-Facebook-expose Careless People , to Virginia Roberts Giuffre ’s devastating account of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse.

And that is not all. Here’s our pick of the 14 best nonfiction books released this year.

Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfa

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