We asked Athenaeum members to share their favorite page turners of 2025, and they delivered a list packed with recommendations, from cinematic classics to sharp contemporary critique.

Here’s what our members were loving this year:

After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart, by Megan Marshall, 2025

Available in print and CloudLibrary ebook

“This collection of essays covers an extraordinary range of topics and time periods, and is a fascinating glimpse into the work and experiences of a brilliant biographer.”

Art Work: On the Creative Life, by Sally Mann, 2025

Available in print

“Mann is not only a great photographer, she’s also a gifted writer. Her text is honest, poetic and sometimes funny. I loved seeing how she transforms the ordinary into haunting photos.”

Christmas at Thompson Hall: A Tale, by Anthony Trollope, 1894

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, CloudLibrary ebook, and print anthology

“All the best of Trollope, funny, witty, insightful, and just lovely!”

The Correspondent: A Novel, by Virginia Evans, 2025

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“The main character—our writer of letters—felt like a good (sometimes cranky, always insightful) friend.” Recommended by Ellen N.

The Frozen River: A Novel, by Ariel Lawhon, 2023

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“A gripping mystery story, meticulously researched with interesting descriptions of the early legal system in America, and rich characters and details of colonial life in a small town in Maine. Small town gossip and an ending you don’t see coming!” Recommended by Fiona N.

Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, by Sophie Gilbert, 2025

Available in CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“Sophie Gilbert’s Girl on Girl challenges nostalgic views of late-1990s and early-2000s pop culture, arguing that the era shaped today’s worsening gender climate. Through incredibly researched chapters (with references!) the book shows how media, fashion, film, and technology sold girls and young women a set of damaging messages…” Recommended by Alex C.

James: A Novel, by Percival Everett, 2024

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn turned inside out.” Recommended by Julie K.

Jane Austen in 41 Objects, by Kathryn Sutherland, 2025

Available in print

“Well chosen objects. Described in clear direct prose.” Recommended by Kirk C.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep, by Sylvie Cathrall, 2024

Available in print

“An underwater world conjured in epistolary form; lovingly portrayed neurodivergent characters; grief, sisterhood, apocalypse; queerness everywhere. What more could you want?” Recommended by Kat

Loved and Missed, by Susie Boyt, 2021

Available in and CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“This book is extraordinary. The most sensitive, cutting, precise depiction of parent-child relationships I’ve ever read. Devastating in the best way: it made me laugh and cry, I stayed up late reading it and gave it to my mom the next day. I recommend it constantly!” Recommended by Zoe W.

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad, 2025

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“It is a passionate cri de coeur against the genocide in Gaza.” Recommended by Ken W.

Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blitzen), 1937

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, CloudLibrary ebook, and audio cassette

“Poignancy combined with beautiful writing, or the other way around.”

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, by Robert A. Caro, 1974

Available in print, CloudLibrary audiobook, and CloudLibrary ebook

“Incredibly well written. Explains so much about politics in general and how it works.” Recommended by Jeanne S.

The Slip: A Novel, by Lucas Schaefer, 2025

Available in print

“Such a cast of characters wandering through Austin, TX, with connections to each other and commentary on American history and American social and sexual politics, and all wrapped up in a rollicking journey that leaves the reader breathless and oddly optimistic.” Recommended by Mark T.

When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s, by John Ganz, 2024

Available in print, and CloudLibrary audiobook

“Illuminating pre-history of Trumpism in ’90s U.S.” Recommended by Ken W.