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The Book Riot Podcast is a weekly news and talk show about what's new, cool, and worth talking about in the world of books and reading, brought to you by the editors of Book Riot.
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A Silver Lining From Comic Book Burnings and Censorship in Postwar America: Book Censorship News, December 19, 2025

While comic books remain among the most challenged and banned formats in the US, there are some silver linings to be seen.

The Most Popular Books In US Public Libraries in 2025

What were the most popular books checked out in US libraries in 2025? Here are the top fiction and nonfiction titles across 40 libraries.

Ghost Stories to Read On Christmas Eve

It was once a tradition to read ghost stories the night before Christmas—let's bring that tradition back.

Haunted Houses and Family Dramas Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

When an influencer revisits her haunted childhood home, the revelations she has there unravel everything she thought she knew about her past.

What YA Books Showed Up On The Most “Best Of 2025” Lists?

Out of the 29 "best of" 2025 YA lists curated by a New York librarian, what's standing out? Dive into the data.

2025 Book Censorship Wrapped: Trends, Challenges, and Successes Over The Year

What were the book censorship trends in 2025? Here are the highs and lows, as identified by five organizations doing the work.

DC Just Canceled Two of Their Best Comics

Plus, a little on what readers might expect from the franchise going forward, and the antiquated system that led to these cancellations.

Short Historical Fiction Books To Read Before the End of the Year

Nobel Prize winning authors, medieval romps, and evil Victorian governesses await you in these short but compelling books.

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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2025

Obama’s now semi-annual drop of his favorite books of the year has become possibly the most anticipated list in the publishing world. I haven’t seen (or heard anecdotally) whether a mention moves a bunch of copies, but there is undoubtedly prestige in that cool-kid-at-school-gave-me-a-high-five kinda way. And do not mistake me: if I got that high-five, I would never wash my hand.

Here are his picks:

Fall Book Sales Looking Strong

Double digit improvements over 2024 are nothing to sneeze at. That’s what publishing saw in September, with 14% more books being bought in the month this year than last. And October’s numbers are also strong, up more than 6%. Adult fiction led the way, growing more than 11%. The caveat here, if it is a caveat really, is how much of this is Amazon returning to more normal buying patterns? And does that mean more people are buying books or that Amazon will be returning a bunch of them later or what? Still, up is better than down.

A Reading List for the End of Civilization

I don’t much time for doomerism these days. Yes, there is much to resist, bemoan, and decry. But “sky is falling” discourse really only serves to paralyze (Chicken Little, even if were right, wasn’t exactly preparing for what happens if the sky did actually fall). But Ted Gioia isn’t Chicken Little, but he also not a fiddling grasshopper. So he does in fact have a collection of books about the ending and fall of things, which serve as warning and might, just might, contain wisdom about how to avoid the very worst outcomes.

The Most Popular Books In US Public Libraries in 2025

Today on Book Riot:

Looking at 40 different top library book checkout lists from big and small public libraries across the USA, here are some of the most popular books of the year. What makes looking at public library book popularity fun is that it is year-agonistic, meaning that books published this year might sit alongside books published several years ago. Genre books tend to see more top books lists in libraries than in other outlets who compile or write about the year’s best or top books.