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Zero to Well-Read

2025 Canon Contenders

Zero to Well-Read

Riot New Media Group, Inc.

Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.7837 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Jeff and Rebecca discuss the award-winning books, pop culture phenomena, book club picks, and crossover hits of 2025 and attempt to identify the ones that might someday join the canon. Subscribe to The Book Riot Newsletter for regular updates to help you get the most out of your reading life. Email us: zerotowellread@bookriot.com Zero to Well-Read is a proud member of the Airwave Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode is brought to you by SimpliSafe.

0:03.6

As the evenings get darker and colder, this...

0:07.0

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0:08.4

It's the sound of peace of mind.

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SimplySafe sensors, HD cameras and 24-7 security monitoring protect your home inside and out,

0:17.9

against break-ins, fires, water leaks and more. So you can relax. Visit simplysafe.com.

0:24.6

uk slash pod for an exclusive discount. Welcome to Zero to Well Read, a podcast about everything you need to know about the books you wish you read.

0:39.0

I'm Jeff O'Neill.

0:40.2

And I'm Rebecca Shinsky.

0:41.5

Today, as we wrap up 2025, we are taking a look at the books published this year that just might find a place in the canon, the kinds of things that we might be talking about on future seasons of Zero to Well Red.

0:52.3

Award winners, pop culture hits, book club favorites,

0:54.8

and more.

0:56.3

If you're enjoying the show, please take a minute to rate and review it on Apple Podcasts,

0:59.9

Spotify, wherever you're listening. And this is an interesting exercise because one thing

1:06.9

that isn't our shared definition, you and I, and I think other people out there may

1:11.4

have similar, but if you don't, that's okay too, is part of what being well read means to us

1:17.2

and what we want to do is have some sense of what's going on now. You and I have covered

1:21.7

contemporary, you know, commercial upmarket literary fiction for like a decade together.

1:26.0

15 years. For more or less coverage.

1:30.2

There's so many books.

1:31.4

But we like to read what's in the ether, what people are talking about.

1:35.1

Sometimes that means you read something you wouldn't read normally just to see what the deal is.

...

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