"The New York Public Library (NYPL) has released its annual list of the most borrowed books of 2025 , revealing what readers across Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island actually took home this year. The rankings, based on total checkouts, offer a snapshot of the city's literary mood: thoughtful, fiction-forward, a little romantic and not afraid of a good self-help title."
"At the very top of the list is by Percival Everett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim's perspective. Close behind is Liz Moore's The God of the Woods , a moody literary thriller that also landed on NYPL's Best Books list last year. Overall, the list skews heavily towardS fiction: nine of the top 10 titles are novels, including literary retellings, romance, fantasy and family sagas."
"Several books are repeat favorites, too. James McBride's The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store made the list for the third year in a row, while Abraham Verghese's The Covenant of Water continues its long run as a multi-generational epic that readers keep recommending to one another, often with a warning about its (736!) page count. Romance remains a clear powerhouse."
The New York Public Library's annual most-borrowed list for 2025 reflects reading patterns across Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island. The top spot is a Pulitzer Prize-winning retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim's perspective, followed by a moody literary thriller. Nine of the top ten titles are novels, spanning retellings, romance, fantasy and family sagas. Several titles remain perennial favorites, and one viral self-help book about acceptance and boundaries is the sole nonfiction entry. The overall selection reads as smart, accessible, serious without being stuffy and quietly communal.
Read at Time Out New York
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