CPL’s Most Popular Books of 2025

What books were most in demand at Chicago Public Library during 2025? Our lists are based on a combination of checkouts plus hold requests, and as usual they heavily feature titles from recent years, including a sprinkling of new titles published in 2025. Let's take a look here at some of the newest titles to break through into the ranks of our most popular books, but you can also access the full lists for adult fiction and nonfiction, teen books and kids books.

Adults

Fiction

The newest titles on the most popular adult fiction list include Atmosphere by the hugely popular novelist Taylor Jenkins Reid. The novel tells the story of a pioneering woman in the space shuttle program. Another 2025 title ranking high on the chart is the most recent installment in Rebecca Yarros's The Empyrean series, Onyx Storm. The first two installments in the series remain popular enough to keep it company.

Our most recent One Book, One Chicago selection, Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez, ranked at #4, quite an achievement considering the annual pick doesn't even get announced until early September, so that performance is earned in a mere four months. The previous OBOC selection, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, is still so popular that it tops our fiction chart for 2025.

For more, view the full list of the most popular adult fiction in 2025.

Nonfiction

Eight nonfiction titles published in 2025 were popular enough right away to chart among our top performers. The highest ranking is Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams, an attention grabbing tell-all about Facebook. Books about Silicon Valley companies have been trending for over a decade now, and this has been one of the most popular.

We always cheer to see books with a local focus succeed, and Don't Go by local artist and MacArthur genius grant recipient Tonika Lewis Johnson caught the attention of Chicagoans in a big way, which seems fitting since this book about segregation includes interviews with everyday Chicagoans.

For more, view the full list of the most popular adult nonfiction in 2025.

Teens

The teen chart was dominated by the return of Suzanne Collins with Sunrise on the Reaping, which won praise from critics and turbocharged reader interest in the Hunger Games series, which caused the first two titles to storm back on to the list. The promise of an upcoming movie version of the new installment in the series surely added excitement for readers.

For more, view the full list of the most popular books for teens in 2025.

Kids

Movie interest probably also influenced our top chart for kids' books. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that our top performer with kids was the first installment in Dav Pilkey's enjoyably silly Dog Man series, since it was adapted into a hit movie (and released on DVD). As usual, many other installments from the beloved series also populate the kids' chart, along with several other beloved children's authors like Peter Brown, Jeff Kinney, Raina Telgemeier and Mo Willems.

For more, view the full list of the most popular books for kids in 2025.

More Suggestions

Check out last year's most popular books for comparison and keep up with the latest trends all year round with our regularly updated lists of the most popular books of the previous month.

Our book coverage goes far beyond what's most popular. Visit (and be sure to bookmark) our Books, Teens and Kids pages for expert staff picks, blogs and lists all year long. Check out our favorite books of 2025. And sign up for our email newsletters to have our reading suggestions delivered right to your inbox.