Who Won the 2025 Book Awards?

Let's Take a Look at the 2025 Book Awards

Another year has passed, and its time to take a look at which books caught the attention of prize juries in 2025. As I mentioned last year, book prizes are not the final say on which books are best, or which books will stand the test of time. They are, however, a fun way to celebrate writers, and take a peek into the tastes of some respected book lovers. Let's take a look at which books caught the attention of a few major book prizes.  For brevity, we will be looking at each prize's shortlist, but most prizes first release a longlist which you can look into for even more book exploration! 

If something catches your fancy, feel free to put the book on hold through our catalogue. I've included links when possible. Don't forget to check Palace and Libby for Ebooks and Audiobooks. If you're interested in a book we don't yet have in our collection, come on in to fill out a book request slip or, if the book was published more than 6 months ago, fill out this Inter-Library Loan request form. 

The National Book Awards

This prize recognizes "the best of American literature." I've heard some followers of the prize note that the judges seem to favor books written in experimental forms. You can sign up to watch music and speeches at the live ceremony for free! 

Winner:

• The True True Story of  Raja the Gullible (and his mother) by Rabih Alameddine -- 63-year-old Raja, a gay philosophy teacher, lives with his overbearing mother in Beirut. When he recieves an invite to an all-expenses-paid writing residency in America, the opportunity seems like just the break he needs. 

Shortlist:

• A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar -- In a near-future Kolkata beset by flooding and famine, Ma, her two-year-old daughter, and her elderly father are just days from leaving the collapsing city behind to join Ma’s husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But they awaken one morning to discover that Ma’s purse, containing their treasured immigration documents, has been stolen.
• The Antidote by Karen Russell -- This slightly magical dust bowl novel follows a "Prairie Witch," who stores her community's memories, a Polish wheat farmer, his basketball playing niece, and a New Deal photographer with a time-traveling camera. 
• North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford -- Follow a whaling ship crew in 1878 as they face the brutal and bizzare realities the Chukchi Sea, as well as the costs of environmental exploitation. 
• Palaver by Bryan Washington  --A gay man has chosen family in Tokyo, where he lives estranged from his mother, who lives in Houston. That is, until she shows up on his doorstep weeks before Christmas. 

The Booker Prize

This prize recognizes literature written in English and published in the UK or Ireland. This prize has many fans and followers--try searching "reading the entire Booker Prize longlist" on YouTube to find some of its most devoted readers. 

Winner:

• Flesh by David Szalay --  "A propulsive, hypnotic novel about a man who is unravelled by a series of events beyond his grasp" -Booker description

Shortlist:

• The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller -- "A masterful, page-turning examination of the minutiae of life and a dazzling chronicle of the human heart" -Booker desciption
• The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits -- "An unforgettable road trip of a novel about a middle-aged academic whose marriage, career and body are failing him" -Booker description
• Audition by Katie Kitamura -- "An exhilarating, destabilising novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love" = Booker description
• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai -- "A spellbinding story of two young people whose fates intersect and diverge across continents and years – an epic of love and family, India and America, tradition and modernity" -Booker description
• Flashlight by Susan Choi -- "A thrilling, globe-spanning novel that mines questions of memory, language, identity and family" -Booker description

*Bonus! If you'd like to experience translated fiction from all around the world, be sure to check out the International Booker Prize!

The Women's Prize

This prize is available to UK publications written in English by women-identified people of any nation. 

Winner: 

• The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden -- "An exhilarating tale of twisted desire, histories and homes, and the unexpected shape of revenge – for readers of Patricia Highsmith, Sarah Waters and Ian McEwan’s Atonement." -Women's Prize description

Shortlist: 

• Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis -- A comedic novel about an academic in Iraq set to lead a deradicalization program created to reform ISIS brides. She quickly realizes she's in over her head. 
• Good Girl by Aria Aber-- 19-year-old Afghani Nila escapes her troubled past to the underground clubs of Berlin, where she meets the literary celebrity Marlowe Woods. From there, everything she believes about is challenged. 
• All Fours by Miranda July -- A semi-famous artist sets out on a cross country drive, but 20 minutes into her trip she pulls over to sequester herself in a motel. A tale of self-discovery at peri-menopause. 
• Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout -- "A hopeful, healing novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Women’s Prize longlisted author." -Women's Prize description
• The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji -- "Meet the women of the Valiat family. In Iran, they were somebodies. In America, they’re nobodies." -Women's Prize description

*Bonus! Check out the Carol Shields Prize--a prize awarded to women and non-binary writers in the United States and Canada. In 2024, these two prizes shared the same winner!

The Hugo Awards

This prize awards Science Fiction and Fantasy books. Rather than a small panel of judges, this award is chosen by readers who attend the World Science Fiction Convention.

Winner: 

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett-- A fantasy murder mystery that takes place in an empire surrounded by sea walls designed to keep back leviathans that emerge from the ocean every wet season. 

Shortlist: 

• Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky-- "A dissident is condemned to dangerous work on a distant world containing mysterious ruins from a vanished alien society." -Kirkus Reviews
• The Ministry of Time by Kalaine Bradley- In the near future, a woman is tasked by the government to monitor--and acclimate to modern life--Commander Gore, an arctic sea captain who has been plucked from 1847 for reasons not entirely clear.  
• Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky-- "When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away." -from the Publisher
• Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell -- "Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love." -from the Publisher
• A Sorceress Comes to Call-- "A dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's "The Goose Girl," rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic." - from the Publisher

*Bonus! The Nebula Award is another big Science Fiction and Fantasy prize. This one is voted on by authors in those genres--you only need to earn $100 from a piece of writing to qualify!

A Few More...

The above is just a tiny sampling. You can find interesting awards no matter your reading taste. I'll link to a few more below. Dive in to join a community of people who love the kinds of books you love. 

• Mystery: Edgar Awards
• Horror: Bram Stoker Awards
• Romance: The Diamond Heart Award
• Debut Novels: PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
• Short Story Collections: The Story Prize
• LGBTQ+: The Lambda Literary Awards

Last, some Vermont Prizes: 

• Red Clover: voted on by Vermont school children
• Vermont Book Awards: literature by Vermont Authors, in partnership with Vermont Department of Libraries

Here's to another year of great reads!