Hello and welcome to the book review podcast. I'm M.J. Franklin. I'm an editor here at the New York

Times Book Review. And, oof, the year is just about done. The holidays are upon us. The new

year is on the horizon.

But before we flash to 2026, I wanted to take a break and ask, what did 2025 mean for books?

By that, I don't mean what were the biggest and best books.

If you want that, you can go back and listen to our best books of 2025 episode.

What I want to do today is explore

what did 2025 hold for the book world big picture? What was the year like? Were there any

storylines that dominated the conversation? Were there trends that emerged? I'm wondering in 10, 20,

50 years from now, when we look back on 2025 in books, how will we characterize

this year?

Joining me to kind of step back and debrief on this year are a series of my wonderful colleagues.

First we have Tina Jordan, a deputy editor here at the book review.

Hi, Tina. When I was thinking about this

episode, you were the first person that came to mind because I feel like you just know everything.

You know every book that is published. I feel like you know so much industry news.

It's true. Ask anyone. Well, now that John has joined us, please. Yes. And speaking of John,

we have John Marr, a new book news editor here at

the book review. Hi, John. Hi, I am Jay. Tina, you still know more than me. I'm not so sure about that.

This is a warm welcome for John. You've been here for about a month at the book review. Two and a half.

Two and a half months. What is time? I'm a toddler now.

And one thing, I'm going to blow up your spot just a little bit, but one thing, a favorite

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