Award Winning Books of 2025!
Hi Readers!
End of the year is upon us, and you know what that means – Recap of all the major Book Awards of 2025! This year has been super slow in terms of personal reading, so I haven’t read a lot of award-winning books. But, writing this post, gave me that opportunity to research on a lot of books and I have now added them to my TBR. So, without further ado, here’s the list of the award winning books of 2025 across the globe!
~~THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE~~
László Krasznahorkai
“for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”
~~THE PULITZER PRIZE~~
WINNER for FICTION
James, by Percival Everett
FINALISTS
Headshot: A Novel, by Rita Bullwinkel
Mice 1961, by Stacey Levine
The Unicorn Woman, by Gayl Jones
WINNER for DRAMA
Purpose, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
FINALISTS
Oh, Mary!, by Cole Escola
The Ally, by Itamar Moses
WINNERS for HISTORY
Combee: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom During the Civil War, by Edda L. Fields-Black
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America, by Kathleen DuVal
FINALISTS
Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery, by Seth Rockman
WINNER for BIOGRAPHY
Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life, by Jason Roberts
FINALISTS
John Lewis: A Life, by David Greenberg
The World She Edited: Katherine S. White at The New Yorker, by Amy Reading
WINNER for MEMOIR OR AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir, by Tessa Hulls
FINALISTS
Fi: A Memoir of My Son, by Alexandra Fuller
I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition, by Lucy Sante
WINNER for POETRY
New and Selected Poems, by Marie Howe
FINALISTS
An Authentic Life, by Jennifer Chang
Bluff: Poems, by Danez Smith
WINNER for GENERAL NONFICTION
To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement, by Benjamin Nathans
FINALISTS
I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist’s Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India, by Rollo Romig
Until I Find You: Disappeared Children and Coercive Adoptions in Guatemala, by Rachel Nolan
WINNER FOR MUSIC
Sky Islands, by Susie Ibarra
FINALISTS
Jim is Still Crowing, by Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson
The Comet, by George Lewis
~~THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE~~
WINNER
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi
Erpenbeck’s novel, which was originally written in German, follows a destructive affair between a young woman and an older man in 1980s East Berlin, with the two lovers seemingly embodying East Germany’s crushed idealism. A meditation on hope and disappointment, Kairos poses complex questions about freedom, loyalty, love and power.
THE SHORTLIST
A Leopard-Skin Hat
Heart Lamp
Perfection
Under the Eye of the Big Bird
Small Boat
On the Calculation of Volume I
THE LONGLIST
A Leopard-Skin Hat
On a Woman’s Madness
Heart Lamp
Perfection
Eurotrash
Under the Eye of the Big Bird
Hunchback
Small Boat
Reservoir Bitches
Solenoid
There’s a Monster Behind the Door
On the Calculation of Volume I
The Book of Disappearance
~~THE BOOKER PRIZE~~
WINNER
Flesh by David Szalay
THE SHORTLIST
Flesh
The Land in Winter
The Rest of Our Lives
Audition
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Flashlight
THE LONGLIST
Misinterpretation
Seascraper
Flesh
Endling
The Land in Winter
The Rest of Our Lives
Audition
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Flashlight
One Boat
Universality
The South
Love Forms
~~WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION~~
WINNER
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
THE SHORTLIST
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Good Girl by Aria Aber
All Fours by Miranda July
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
THE LONGLIST
Good Girl by Aria Aber
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches
Amma by Saraid de Silva
A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike
Birding by Rose Ruane
The Artist by Lucy Steeds
All Fours by Miranda July
Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
~~NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS~~
WINNER in FICTION
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine
FINALISTS
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
The Antedote by Karen Russell
North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford
Palaver by Bryan Washington
WINNER in NONFICTION
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
FINALISTS
Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy by Julia Ioffe
Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li
Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care by Claudia Rowe
When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomas
WINNER in POETRY
The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems by Patricia Smith
FINALISTS
The New Economy by Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Becoming Ghost by Cathy Linh Che
Scorched Earth by Tiana Clark
I Do Know Some Things by Richard Siken
WINNER in TRANSLATED LITERATURE
We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from Spanish by Robin Myers
FINALISTS
On the Calculation of Volume (Book III) by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell
The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from Dutch by David McKay
We Computers: A Ghazal Novel by Hamid Ismailov, translated from Uzbek by Shelley Fairweather-Vega
Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno, translated from French by Natasha Lehrer
WINNER in YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE
The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri
FINALISTS
A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff
The Leaving Room by Amber McBride
Amber McBride by Hannah V. Sawyerr
(S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi
~~BRITISH BOOK AWARDS~~
OVERALL BOOK OF THE YEAR
Patriot by Alexei Navalny, translated by Arch Tait & Stephen Dalziel
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR
Percival Everett
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR
Rob Biddulph
FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
James by Percival Everett
PAGETURNER BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
CRIME & THRILLER BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
Hunted by Abir Mukherjee
DEBUT FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton
NON-FICTION LIFESTYLE BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci
NON-FICTION NARRATIVE BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
Patriot by Alexei Navalny, translated by Arch Tait & Stephen Dalziel
THE DISCOVER BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER
Poyums by Len Pennie
BOOK OF THE YEAR – AUDIOBOOK NON-FICTION
Sociopath by Patric Gagne (written and narrated)
BOOK OF THE YEAR – AUDIOBOOK FICTION
My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes (written and narrated)
Bunny vs Monkey by Jamie Smart (narrated by Ciaran Saward)
~~THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE~~
WINNER
The Land In Winter by Andrew Miller
THE SHORTLIST
The Heart In Winter by Kevin Barry
The Mare by Angharad Hampshire
The Book Of Days by Francesca Kay
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
The Land In Winter by Andrew Miller
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
THE LONGLIST
The Heart In Winter by Kevin Barry
The Mare by Angharad Hampshire
The Book Of Days by Francesca Kay
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
The Land In Winter by Andrew Miller
The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden
The Catchers by Xan Brooks
Mother Naked by Glen James Brown
Clear By Carys Davies
The First Friend by Malcolm Knox
A Sign Of Her Own by Sarah Marsh
Munichs by David Peace
~~GODREJ LITERATURE LIVE AWARD (MUMBAI LITFEST)~~
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Vinod Kumar Shukla
POET LAUREATE AWARD
Sitanshu Yashaschandra
FICTION: BOOK OF THE YEAR
Island by Sujit Saraf
FICTION: BEST FIRST BOOK
The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao
NONFICTION: BOOK OF THE YEAR
Golwalkar: The Myth Behind the Man, The Man Behind the Machine by Dhirendra K Jha
NONFICTION: BEST FIRST BOOK
The Lucky Ones: A Memoir by Zara Chowdhary
BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Money Trap: Grand Fortunes and Lost Illusions Inside the Tech Bubble by Alok Sama
~~GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS~~
WINNER in FICTION
My Friends by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith
WINNER in MYSTERY & THRILLER
Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
WINNER in HISTORICAL FICTION
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
WINNER in FANTASY
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
WINNER in ROMANCE
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
WINNER in ROMANTASY
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
WINNER in SCIENCE FICTION
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
WINNER in HORROR
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
WINNER in DEBUT NOVEL
Alchemised by SenLinYu
WINNER in YOUNG ADULT FICTION
Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
WINNER in YOUNG ADULT FANTASY & SCI-FI
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
WINNER in AUDIOBOOK
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
WINNER in NONFICTION
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
WINNER in MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom by Shari Franke
WINNER IN HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY
How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy’s Guide to Silencing Women by Claire Mitchell, Zoe Venditozzi
If you would like to see previous years’ award winning books, here they are:
That is all, folks! See you next year for next year’s awards!
Until next time,
About The Author
Aishwarya Shenolikar
Hello! I'm Aishwarya, an Introverted bookworm & writer. I have been reviewing books since 6 years on my blog - Mindscape in Words. My favourite genres are Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Magical Realism, Poetry, Fantasy & Memoirs. I like the kind of books which evoke emotions on several levels leaving me wrecked, but also incredibly content. I'm dreaming for the world to paint a landscape full of words, more like Mindscape in Words. Hope you enjoy the view.
