Amazon’s Picks for the Best Books of The Year So Far
Welcome to The Best of Book Riot, our daily round-up of what’s on offer across our site, newsletters, podcasts, and social channels. Not everything is for everyone, but there is something for everyone.
Amazon’s Best Books of The Year So Far List Is Here
Amazon Books Editors selected 20 of the titles they deemed best from the books published between January and June. They also selected titles from an array of genres as best ofs, including literature and fiction, nonfiction, mystery and thrillers, romance, romantasy, science fiction and fantasy, history, biographies and memoirs, business, cookbooks, and children and YA books.
The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
This week’s bestseller lists have a few new additions, including a new romantasy book from the Rachel Gilling, author of the One Dark Window series: The Knight and the Moth. We also have the first book in a new mystery series by Michael Connelly: Nightshade. On the nonfiction lists is Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson as well as—surprisingly enough—a new Mark Twain biography.
The Most Anticipated Enemies to Lovers Romantasy Books of 2025
If you’re a fan of romantasy books and the enemies-to-lovers trope, these next books I’m about to introduce to you need to be in your TBR. They haven’t yet been released, so we have to wait just a little bit for them to come out. But it’s always a good thing to know beforehand what you’ll be spending your money on, and you’ll want to preorder these most anticipated enemies-to-lovers romantasy books.
New YA Book Releases This Week, June 5, 2025
June is one of the best months of the year. It’s up there with September and October, as well as March. June is the promise of long days, and while it’s certainly quite warm in many parts of the world, it’s not as warm as we know it’ll be in the coming months. That bonus light and those lingering days make for the perfect reading ingredients. I know my hammock is primed and ready for afternoon breaks with a good book.
Miss Marple, But Make it Desi
I have been a part of the older lady sleuth fan club since before there were many old lady sleuths in fiction to choose from. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple had the corner on that market for a long time, and with good reason: her penchant for astute observations delivered with subtle shade is not just fun to read, it’s aspirational.
Heartwarming Picture Books About Community
A paper published in the National Library of Medicine says, “Problematic levels of loneliness are experienced by a substantial proportion of the population in many countries.” More than ever, we need the opposite of loneliness. This can look like a lot of things, but one of the most obvious is community. The single most defining lesson of my adult life is that we need people, and people need us. I wish I had learned it sooner, or at least hadn’t forgotten it along the way. So here’s a list of wholesome children’s picture books that teach us how to build community, regardless of age.
Create a Magical Reading Nook with These Goods
But for those who want to add a few magical touches to their reading nooks, to bring good vibes and help them focus on their reading, here are ten great items from Etsy sellers for you to check out.
Talking Beach Reads
Book Riot editors Danika Ellis and Erica Ezeifedi joined me on the Book Riot Podcast to talk about what makes a good beach read, recount some memorable vacation reading, and talk about picks for great beach reading.
