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At BookBrowse, we’re all about bringing you great reading, period. That’s why we don’t only feature reviews of recommended books, but also “beyond the book” articles, bite-sized literary and cultural pieces that expand on an aspect of each featured title. These articles can be read on their own, but also serve as a fantastic entry point into the related book. Below, we’ve selected some of the best articles written by our reviewers this year, one from each of our nine categories. These span subjects ranging from Ukraine’s national soil to American political lawn signs, crime dioramas created by “the mother of forensic science,” Mariah Carey’s career, how author Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu transformed aspects of the 19th-century adventure novel King Solomon’s Mines, and more. Many of these articles use a small, specific starting point to approach a larger idea. Similarly, they together make up a miniature representation of how you can explore the world through books via our digital magazine all year round.
Our upcoming annual Top 20 list will show subscribers’ favorite books of the year, but in the meantime, we thought you might enjoy knowing about our favorites. So, for the first time ever, each member of the BookBrowse editorial team shared a top pick of 2025 along with some runners-up to create our own loosely structured "best of" list. Unsurprisingly, we found there was a lot of overlap between the books we featured in our digital magazine this year and the ones we chose here, though this overlap wasn’t complete. (What we feature depends on a variety of factors, including prepub reviews and the books individual reviewers decide to cover.) Here’s your chance to get a glimpse of our personal tastes and an inside look at BookBrowse editors as readers. We’re happy to share the books we loved with you, and hope you have fun reading about them!
What’s better than reading a book by an author you love? Well, probably nothing, but a good author interview can be a close second. We regularly feature interviews in our digital magazine with writers whose books we review, and in 2025, with your help, we started hosting our own Ask the Author interviews in the BookBrowse community forum. Below, we bring you some of the best Q&As for books published in hardcover or paperback this year from both inside and outside of BookBrowse, which represent just a handful drawn from a pool of many great interviews. We hope you enjoy these conversations and that you’ll join us in 2026 for more fun virtual author visits.
Are you excited about 2026 books yet? We are. Get your calendar ready, because below is a tantalizing preview of what’s to come. This list covers intriguing debuts and new work from excellent established authors, and it offers a glimpse of books we may cover in our digital magazine, First Impressions program, or book club in the year ahead. Be sure to also check out our Best Books for Book Clubs in 2026. Happy browsing!
BookBrowse interviews longtime reviewer and history BookTuber Peggy Kurkowski about the enduring power of thoughtful reviews, how the literary landscape has evolved, and why history remains her greatest teacher.
For access to the full recording as well as live access to future industry insider discussions, become a Book Club+ Member today.
Ready to start planning your book club selections for 2026? We’re here to help. These books have all been published in hardcover or paperback within the last year (or will be soon), and we’ve paired almost all of them with handy discussion guides—either from the publisher or written by our reviewers—for your convenience. Most have been featured on BookBrowse in reviews or as the subject of online discussions, and we’ve included our own comments below, along with links to the discussions, which we hope will inspire you in your own. Whether you’re looking for a contemporary narrative or a historical one, a reflective bit of character fiction or a family saga, we have you covered. Happy reading in the year ahead!
Please note that discussions may contain spoilers.
