Since 1980, the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have been dedicated to discovering new voices and celebrating the highest quality of writing across the spectrum of book publishing. The winners of the 2025 L.A. Times Book Prizes were announced on April 25. The ceremony, which was hosted by Times Columnist LZ Granderson, took place at USC’s Bovard Auditorium.

For more information check the Awards’ website.

Here are the LA Times Book Prize Finalists for 2025 in the TBP Collection:

Robert Kirsch Award

AFLAME: LEARNING FROM SILENCE by Pico Iyer (DB 127833 IN PROCESS)

The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

GOD BLESS YOU, OTIS SPUNKMEYER by Joseph Earl Thomas (DB 123249)

Achievement in Audiobook Production, presented by Audible

JAMES by Percival Everett, narrated by Dominic Hoffman, and produced by Linda Korn (DB 120063)

Biography

DRAGON FROM CHICAGO: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AN AMERICAN REPORTER IN NAZI GERMANY by Pamela D. Toler (DB 124335)

Current Interest

RENT COLLECTORS: EXPLOITATION, MURDER, AND REDEMPTION IN IMMIGRANT LA by Jesse Katz (DB 125906)

SERVICEBERRY: ABUNDANCE AND RECIPROCITY IN THE NATURAL WORLD by Robin Wall Kimmerer (DB 125771, BR 25692 IN PROCESS, LB 0001439)

BARN: THE SECRET HISTORY OF A MURDER IN MISSISSIPPI by Wright Thompson (DB 124993, LB 0001044)

Fiction

HEADSHOT by Rita Bullwinkel (DB 124703)

JAMES by Percival Everett (DB 120063, BR 25513 IN PROCESS, LB 0000436, en español DB 127871 en proceso)

SEASON OF THE SWAMP by Yuri Herrera and translated by Lisa Dillman (DB 127544)

Mystery/Thriller

HAVOC by Christopher Bollen (DB 126616)

WAITING by Michael Connelly (DB 124746, LB 0001483)

GUIDE ME HOME by Attica Locke (DB 123801)

GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore (DB 122747, LB 0000606, en español DB 128180 en proceso)

Poetry

SORROW APARTMENTS by Andrea Cohen (DB 123319)

Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction

BRIGHT SWORD: A NOVEL OF KING ARTHUR by Lev Grossman (DB 122990, LB 0001160)

BOOK OF LOVE by Kelly Link (DB 119492)

ABSOLUTION: A SOUTHERN REACH NOVEL by Jeff VanderMeer (DB 125532)

Science & Technology

OUR MOON: A HUMAN HISTORY by Rebecca Boyle (DB 119114)

BECOMING EARTH: HOW OUR PLANET CAME TO LIFE by Ferris Jabr (DB 122717)

TWELVE TREES: THE DEEP ROOTS OF OUR FUTURE by Daniel Lewis (DB 120510)

LIGHT EATERS: HOW THE UNSEEN WORLD OF PLANT INTELLIGENCE OFFERS A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE ON EARTH by Zoë Schlanger (DB 121476)

Young-Adult Literature

LOOKING FOR SMOKE by K. A. Cobell (DB 122293)

BRIGHT RED FRUIT by Safia Elhillo (DB 119614)