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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2025
Obama’s now semi-annual drop of his favorite books of the year has become possibly the most anticipated list in the publishing world. I haven’t seen (or heard anecdotally) whether a mention moves a bunch of copies, but there is undoubtedly prestige in that cool-kid-at-school-gave-me-a-high-five kinda way. And do not mistake me: if I got that high-five, I would never wash my hand.
Here are his picks:
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Fall Book Sales Looking Strong
Double digit improvements over 2024 are nothing to sneeze at. That’s what publishing saw in September, with 14% more books being bought in the month this year than last. And October’s numbers are also strong, up more than 6%. Adult fiction led the way, growing more than 11%. The caveat here, if it is a caveat really, is how much of this is Amazon returning to more normal buying patterns? And does that mean more people are buying books or that Amazon will be returning a bunch of them later or what? Still, up is better than down.
A Reading List for the End of Civilization
I don’t much time for doomerism these days. Yes, there is much to resist, bemoan, and decry. But “sky is falling” discourse really only serves to paralyze (Chicken Little, even if were right, wasn’t exactly preparing for what happens if the sky did actually fall). But Ted Gioia isn’t Chicken Little, but he also not a fiddling grasshopper. So he does in fact have a collection of books about the ending and fall of things, which serve as warning and might, just might, contain wisdom about how to avoid the very worst outcomes.
Today on Book Riot:
Looking at 40 different top library book checkout lists from big and small public libraries across the USA, here are some of the most popular books of the year. What makes looking at public library book popularity fun is that it is year-agonistic, meaning that books published this year might sit alongside books published several years ago. Genre books tend to see more top books lists in libraries than in other outlets who compile or write about the year’s best or top books.