By Sky Pinkett
Features Editor
The tricky thing about compiling a list of the best books of the year is always the question of: how do you measure the “best” books? What makes one book better than another? Isn’t it all subjective?
These are valid points, and some newspapers such as the New York Times and NPR openly admit to their lists being curated according to the whims and opinions of what their staff members consider good books. While there’s nothing wrong with this method, The Signal has created its own fool-proof (questionable), totally objective (debatable), some may even say downright scientific (who are these “some” and where can I find them?) method of composing this best books list.
At the end of the day, best books lists like this one are always biased in one way or another, and it’s important to keep in mind that the purpose of the list is to celebrate another great year of reading, and to hopefully pass on some good recommendations in the process.
That being said, these books have been chosen based on their sales, award wins and multiple mentions in other publications’ best books of the year lists. They are in no particular order, and there’s a little bit of something here for everyone — from romance and fantasy, to literary fiction and nonfiction.
“Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins
Starting off this list perhaps unsurprisingly is Suzanne Collins’ “Sunrise on the Reaping,” which dominated 2025 book sales according to publisher’s weekly and showed up on multiple best books of the year lists. This second prequel to Collins’ beloved “Hunger Games” trilogy follows Haymitch, the drunken fatherly figure of the original series, as a 16-year-old participant of the 50th Hunger Games. The release of this novel has beckoned fans, old and new, back to this bloody, iconic world.
“Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection” by John Green
Another beloved author to make a comeback this year is John Green, everyone’s young adult fiction and crash course king, with his nonfiction work “Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection.” Using history, science and personal narrative, Green weaves a passionate call to action for increased health equity concerning one of the most curable, yet most deadly (it still kills over 1 million people per year), diseases.
“Dog Man: Big Jim Believes” by Dav Pilkey
If John Green is the king of the YA fiction realm, then Dav Pilkey is most definitely one of the icons of the children’s comic space. “Dog Man: Big Jim Believes" is the 14th installment of his Dog Man series that follows more adventures of Dog Man and his crime-fighting crew.
Barnes & Noble didn’t add this book to its bests list for nothing. Whether you gift this to a young reader in your life or read it for yourself (you’re never too old for Pilkey), this one is a must.
“The Let Them Theory” by Mel and Sawyer Robbins
The self help space saw Mel and Sawyer Robbins’ “The Let Them Theory” take the number one spot for 2025 book sales on Amazon and publishers weekly, with almost two million units sold. This work promises a simple solution to unlock the key to happiness, love and success: let them (you’re gonna have to read to find out what that means).
“Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros
In a completely different bookish realm is Rebecca Yarros’ “Onyx Storm,” a top seller that has the booktok world in a chokehold and has reawakened people’s appreciation for audiobooks. This third installment in Yarros’ massively popular romantic fantasy series continues the journey of a female protagonist as she fights in a world full of dragons and war to save herself and her loved ones.
“The Loneliness of Sonia & Sunny” by Kiran Desai
Nominated for this year’s Booker Prize and making the New York Times best books list is “The Loneliness of Sonia & Sunny” by Kiran Desai, a family saga that follows the relationship between two Indian immigrants as they navigate events from the 90s to just after 9/11. It’s almost 700 pages, making it the perfect door stopper to snuggle up with during these approaching winter months.
We could go on and on, to thrillers about a woman who must solve her own death in Holly Jackson’s “Not Quite Dead Yet” and romances like Emily Henry’s “Great Big Beautiful Life’ where two ghostwriters try not to fall in love as they compete to ghostwrite for a mysterious socialite, to horror stories following Native American vampires like in “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones and historical narratives of movie directors fleeing Nazi Germany only to return to make propaganda films for them such as Daniel Kehlmann’s “The Director.”
If you’re like me and neglect reading new releases in order to catch up on backlists, then this list should be especially helpful. 2025 was a banger for new books, and 2026 looks like it’s gearing up to do the same thing.
