The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that approximately 2.2 million books are published globally every year.
Luckily, the experts at Munro’s Books in Victoria have stepped up to help narrow down the field, and offer their top five books that were published in 2025.
And, just in time for New Year’s book goals, too.
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
This is a quietly profound book that sneaks into your heart with surprising tenderness. Kawamura weaves a deceptively simple story about a dying postman who strikes a deal with the devil to sacrifice something in the world in exchange for one more day of life. This story makes you pause and think about what makes life worth living, yet it is wrapped within a blanket of whimsy. A gently powerful read. – Lucy
A Truce That is Not Peace by Miriam Toews
In attempting to answer the question ‘why do I write?’, Toews contemplates her family legacy of silence and suicide while depicting a beautifully fragmented whirlwind of her life. An intimate, darkly funny, deeply tragic, yet surprisingly joyful memoir by one of Canada’s best writers. – Zoë
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Joan Goodwin has always loved the stars. When she’s given the opportunity to leave her astronomy class to join NASA and become one of the first women astronauts, Joan can’t say no, even if her family has opinions about her life choices. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s space program, Joan discovers there might be more to the world than can be observed through a telescope. A love story that’s literally out of this world! – Cleo
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
A disturbingly relevant, yet reassuringly cozy novella about robots looking for a place in a world that both needs and despises them. For anyone who craves found family, delicious meals, and misfits overcoming the odds. – Ty
A spare, elegant work that wrestles with issues of masculinity, power, and capitalism, but hews close to the vulnerable, beating core of life. A masterful example of what a novel can do and well-deserving of the 2025 Book Prize. – Sarah MW
What was your favourite books of 2025? Let us know at sam.duerksen@blackpress.ca.