See Kansas City’s best and most popular books of 2025, according to library data
We really got around in 2025. We traveled outside of Earth’s atmosphere, entered hell through a portal in Cambridge, returned to Panem, and dangled our feet from a seaside pier.
All without ever leaving home.
Surveyed book lovers on the library’s staff came up with a best of 2025 book list in each of the following categories, from fantasy to nonfiction.
Plus, a deep dive into library records revealed another list: Kansas City’s most popular checkouts of print-edition new releases.
Each one of these books is in the Kansas City Public Library’s collection and always free with a library card.
For more about what books are hot, attend the Reading Roundup and listen to librarians from five area library systems at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Central library, 14 W. 10th St. The even is free with RSVP at KCLibrary.org/events, or you can watch on the library’s YouTube channel.
Fantasy book picks
Best of: “Katabasis” by R.F. Kuang approaches its all-too-apt metaphor — academic achievement is hell — with honesty and wit.
Most popular checkouts: “Onyx Storm” by Rebecca Yarros is an action-packed, steamy adventure with dragons.
Romance book picks
Best of: “Dating After the End of the World” by Jeneva Rose is a little bit “Walking Dead,” a little bit romance. Fun and fast-paced.
Most popular checkouts: “Great, Big, Beautiful Life” by Emily Henry is a witty and moving story pairs two vastly different writers vying for the same story and finding common ground — and each other — in the messy process.
Literary fiction book picks
Best of: “Emperor of Gladness” by Ocean Vuong is original, fresh, and insightful as it delves into themes of defining family, finding friendship in unexpected places, and intergenerational friendship.
Most popular checkouts: “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman: A retelling of an emotionally intense teenage summer that left bodies in its wake, changed the world, and gave a girl a home.*
Horror and thriller book picks
Best of: In “When the Wolf Comes Home” by Nat Cassidy, giant shape-shifting wolves and a child with supernatural powers are pillars of a profound story about familial relationships and what happens what your darkest fears become reality.
Most popular checkouts: “The Crash” by Freida McFadden is a psychologically suspenseful, intricately plotted and disturbing tale.
Historical fiction book picks
Best of: “Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert” by Bob the Drag Queen is a comedic and thought-provoking approach to historical fiction.
Most popular checkouts: “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a richly detailed and suspenseful story of female love and resilience in male-dominated, vintage NASA.*
Nonfiction book picks
Best of: “The House of My Mother” by Shari Franke is a raw and honest memoir of surviving a childhood fraught with deception, manipulation, and abuse.
Most popular checkouts: “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Corporate Idealism” by Sarah Wynn-Williams is a personal account of the unchecked power and wealth that shaped social media and, subsequently, our current social and political landscapes.
Young adult book picks
Best of and most popular checkout: “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins is the highly anticipated — and heartbreaking — fifth installment of The Hunger Games series.
*Also appeared on the staff’s best-of list