The results of our reader survey of the best books, and best covers, of the year.
This year’s reader survey has crowned a handful of clear winners across local and international fiction and nonfiction titles. There are some genuinely thrilling surprises across all categories, and the picks sometimes agree with and sometimes diverge from our best books of 2025 as chosen by the experts.
Compared to 2024‘s results, this year’s survey garnered far more individual votes; or in other words, there were fewer books that readers at large gathered around. In light of this, for 2025, books had to get two or more votes to make it into the list (in 2025 it was three or more).
All lists are in order of most votes on down, with a minimal approach to commentary for the sake of brevity.
Fiction (New Zealand)
Sorry to all the people who selected Delirious by Damien Wilkins, which was published in 2024.
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Winner of the The Spinoff’s People’s Choice for New Zealand Fiction 2025 (by loads – it got a full quarter of the votes) is the latest, chilling novel from the queen of fiction: The Chidge! The Book of Guilt is a spellbinding, ominous mystery with thriller tendencies. If you are one of the few people in Aotearoa who hasn’t yet read it, stick it on your Christmas wish list immediately.
Empathy by Bryan Walpert (Mākaro Press)
Coming in second is this novel from previous Ockhams-shortlisted writer (for Entanglement) Bryan Walpert! Empathy is a taut sci-fi with all of the elements of a crime thriller. Another standout novel to put on your holiday reading stack.
Good Things Come and Go by Josie Shapiro (Allen & Unwin)
Josie Shapiro’s second novel is a closely observed yet pacy ride through the lives of middle-aged friends Riggs, Penny and Jamie (reviewed on The Spinoff, here). It’s a brilliant constructed love triangle with grief and transformation at the heart of the story.
A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan (Allen & Unwin)
A moody novel set on the Kāpiti Coast in the 80s and told through the eyes of a 10-year-old girl (reviewed on The Spinoff, here). With creepy undertones and missing kids and weird adult shenanigans, this is top shelf beach reading.
1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin)
It would have been a crime if this novel hadn’t have made it to this list. Luckily nobody is going to be arrested. This is Hoey’s finest novel to date: a madcap caper with loveable, flawed characters and writing that sings.
Star Gazers by Duncan Sarkies (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Sarkies’ alpaca novel is a deft allegory about greed, capitalism and corruption at the highest levels. It’s funny, beautiful and has the makings of a great TV adaptation.
Wonderland by Tracy Farr (The Cuba Press)
There was a bit of a tussle over who got to write about this book for the experts’ edition. So I’m going to share what Dame Fiona Kidman had to say about this novel (Kidman’s thoughts came in after Carole Beu pipped her to the post): “Wonderland by Tracy Farr is my very best novel of 2025. Who would have believed, until this book stormed its way into our hearts, that a fairground at Miramar attracted thousands every weekend? That’s fact, but who would have believed that famous scientist and Nobel prize winner, Marie Curie, took refuge there with its owners one strange season? Perhaps she did, or perhaps Farr’s riotous imagination simply brought her there. Either way, it’s a lyrical, page turning tour de force.”
Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Angry Ghost by Rachael King (Allen & Unwin)
Kidlit made the list! Just squeaking in is King’s latest book in her brilliant series about a school rock band led by the charismatic Violet Grumble. As proved by this very survey, such a novel is perfect for all ages: she’s got mystery, she’s got chutzpah and she’s got a bass guitar.
Fiction (International)
Random yet curious note: Australian writer Hannah Kent blurbed both Wild Dark Shore (below) and A Beautiful Family (above): enough to peruse a “Kent effect” theory?
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin)
A tremendous premise: a strange woman washes up on the shore of a remote island inhabited by a singular family, the Salts. Wild Dark Shore was a runaway hit this year, marking the rise of cli-fi and narratives concerned with the decline of our beautiful Earth.
Silverborn by Jessica Townsend (Hachette)
Absolutely delighted and surprised to see this fabulous book so high on this hallowed list! For the uninitiated, Silverborn is the fourth novel in Townsend’s Nevermoor series about once-doomed pre-teen Morrigan Crow and her life in the wundrous (IYKYK) and mysterious world of Nevermoor. I cannot emphasise enough how brilliant and engrossing this series is: the worldbuilding is so solid you’re tempted to book the brolly rail to Morrigan’s door; the characters charming, complex and full of surprises; the ideas are rich. This is, once again, an all-ages series (or at least from age 10 and up) and it is truly gratifying to see that so many adults are into it.
The Rose Field by Philip Pullman (Penguin)
Not so surprised to see Pullman’s final instalment of Lyra Silvertongue’s story here, but pleased nonetheless! This novel has provoked debate for the ages so lodged is Lyra’s story in the hearts of Pullman’s fans.
Flesh by David Szalay (Penguin)
No real surprise that this year’s Booker Prize winner made the list. Bravo (or should we say, bravado).
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Penguin)
More cli-fi, kind of sadly? The climate crisis is arguably the most pressing issue of our time and yet it’s like… ignored. Will future humans look back at cli-fi novels like McEwan’s and say “note how the artists of the time documented the crisis: pity the political leaders didn’t?”
The Names by Florence Knapp (Orion)
This novel was a consistent feature of the Unity Book bestseller charts over 2025 so no surprises that this sliding doors narrative has landed here.
Universality by Natasha Brown (Faber)
Delighted to see this slim, punchy novel has squeaked in! Brown is one of the most promising and powerful young writers out there and, luckily for Wellingtonians, is a headline writer at the 2026 Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
Nonfiction (New Zealand)
A lot more people read NZ nonfiction in 2025 compared to 2024 (proportionately) which is a win for local knowledge and publishing. However, the votes were across far fewer books. Perhaps a lot to do with the former PM and deputy PM’s memoirs, which dominated the votes.
A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin)
No surprises here. This book was always going to find a big audience even without the extensive publicity campaign its author has embarked on across 2025. Mad Chapman’s review on The Spinoff says:
“Writing supporting roles in memoirs is an inherently selfish act, but one that Ardern executes better than most. She gives her loved ones pep and emotion, anger and depression, conservatism and humanity, all at once. I would have gladly read another five pages dedicated to Laurell’s life as a young mother in a tiny town, deeply depressed and doing whatever it takes (in her case, trout fishing unsuccessfully in silence for hours at a time) to get by. I would pay money to see a movie on the life of Ardern’s aunt Marie, who was severely burned as a child and strutted influentially through Ardern’s childhood and young adulthood like a swearing Mary Poppins. I had tears in my eyes reading about Theo and his death, having only been introduced to him half a chapter earlier.”
Anything Could Happen by Grant Robertson (Allen & Unwin)
Coming in at a predictable second place is Robertson’s own life story, reviewed on The Spinoff by Henry Cooke who says: “As a book the memoir is extremely readable and often funny, much like a Robertson general debate speech. I ate it up in about 48 hours and I think anyone interested in New Zealand politics could do similar with no real boredom. Sections on Labour’s time in opposition contain juicy tidbits from the Cunliffe debacle that leave you wanting more, as well as Robertson’s play-by-play of Andrew Little’s resignation as leader, including Robertson’s exasperation with him.”
No I Don’t Get Danger Money: Confessions of an Accidental War Correspondent by Lisette Reymer (Allen & Unwin)
Great call by Spinoff readers! Reymer’s memoir is an insight into the life and times of a journalist covering some of the biggest global events of the decade including Israel’s war on Gaza, Russia’s war on Ukraine, the hunger crisis in Ethiopia and Trump’s indictment.
Omnibird by Giselle Clarkson (Gecko)
Another great call! Readers have shown superb taste in selecting the best children’s book of the year. Omnibird brings together Clarkson’s signature humour, aesthetic and eye for information in a beautifully produced book that asks us to pay attention to the birds living right outside our doors.
No Words For This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins)
An at-times devastating memoir by one of the country’s best-known media personalities, reviewed in conversational style on The Spinoff, here.
Fire & Ice: Secrets, Histories, Treasures and Mysteries of Tongariro National Park by Hazel Phillips (Massey University Press)
We were also absorbed and impressed by this book. Philips is a masterful storyteller and her depth of knowledge shines. Get a glimpse of the yarns within, right here on The Spinoff.
Nonfiction (International)
A shy showing of international nonfiction among the respondents to the survey, but four titles rose to the top to reveal a curious list.
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (Penguin)
Yes, yes it is. Book people love Macfarlane because he is a beautiful writer and has contributed texts that have since become canonical in the realm of nature writing. It’s not surprising that this is up top in 2025 given Macfarlane, and also the subject matter which is close to our hearts.
Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Canongate)
Dalton’s debut book about rescuing a baby hare and raising it shot to bestseller status in the UK and around the world. It’s an ode to human-animal relationships and what it means to truly observe and respect the life of another. You’ll never look at hares the same way again.
The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing)
Garner has had a hell of a year: her (fucking amazing) collected diaries won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction (huge), taking her work to a whole new international audience; and she wrote about the murder trial of the year alongside two other of Australia’s best. Also can’t get over the queasy green cover of this book: nauseatingly good.
Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
This was out of the blue for this reader at least. But given the top billing from the hive mind, and after reading the blurb, I’ve put it on the TBR pile: “In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.”
Bonus question: best book of 2025 regardless of where or when published
A solid bunch of four fiction titles and nary a non-fic among them!
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Aotearoa fiction for the win! Look, Chidgey is so deserving of this adulation. TBOG is a novel eerily resonant of our current political state yet employs a twist on the past to achieve it. It’s propulsive, it’s curious, it has the flavour of a children’s adventure novel with all the dread of adult experience overlaid.
Empathy by Bryan Walpert (Mākaro Press)
And again! Fantastic boost for Walpert ahead of what might well be a very interesting Ockhams race in 2026.
The Rose Field by Philip Pullman (Penguin)
Thrilled that this extended allegory about the importance of the imagination is so valuable to readers. Pullman’s six-book epic teaches the importance of fantasy in telling the truth about the nature of humanity.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
Absolutely delighted that this 2024 novel is still going strong! The Safe Keep is one of the best historical fiction novels to emerge in the past decade: the writing is exquisite, the plot twisting at just the right moments, and the grim historical setting wonderfully shot through with the passions and joys of interpersonal relationships. Also features great sex.
Final bonus question: the best cover of 2025
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this! Once again a single title dominated the votes with some pleasing turn-ups for second and third place. After that it was down to one-vote wonders but shout out to
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
In first placed is the marvellously uncanny cover of the winning fiction title across three categories here today. The image is from a real-life poster advertising the seaside resort town of Margate that Chidgey found as she was researching for her story. The best thing about the cover is that once you’ve read what lies beneath you’ll come back and view it with totally different eyes.
Omnibird by Giselle Clarkson (Gecko)
Hurrah for spectacular design and for Clarkson’s artistry! The cover of Omnibird perfectly illustrates the title: an everybird constructed from a range of parts and revealed like the exquisite corpse game where you write a sentence, fold the paper and hand it on. Bold, layered, feathery in all the right places.
Good Things Come and Go by Josie Shapiro (Allen & Unwin)
A candy stripe in tropical colours with a little skateboard and large, black letters for the title – the “Go” italicised, just so. An unmissable cover for an unmissable book!
The Secret Green by Sonya Wilson (Allen & Unwin)
Kidlit strikes again with this lush cover for Wilson’s second instalment of her Spark Hunter books. Big ups to illustrator Pippa Keel Situ who crafted the green world and the adventurous spirit of the characters – sling shots are the stuff of kid hero dreams!
