The National Book Critics Circle honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature. Each March, the National Book Critics Circle presents awards for the finest books published in English the previous calendar year. These are the only national literary awards chosen by critics themselves. The finalists were announced January 20, and the winners will be announced on March 26.
Here are the NBCC Award Finalists for the 2025 publishing year that are in the TBP collection.
Fiction
ANTIDOTE by Karen Russell (DB 128240, BR 26309 IN PROCESS)
AUDITION by Katie Kitamura (DB 128873)
ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME, BOOK III by Solvej Balle and translated from the Danish by Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell (DB 133345 IN PROCESS)
WE DO NOT PART by Kang Han and translated from the Korean by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (DB 126775)
WILDERNESS by Angela Flournoy (DB 132815 IN PROCESS)
Autobiography
MEMORIAL DAYS by Geraldine Brooks (DB 127658, BR 26364 IN PROCESS, LB 0001491)
MOTHER MARY COMES TO ME by Arundhati Roy (DB 132952 IN PROCESS)
PAPER GIRL: A MEMOIR OF HOME AND FAMILY IN A FRACTURED AMERICA by Beth Macy (DB 133313)
Biography
LOVE, QUEENIE: MERLE OBERON, HOLLYWOOD’S FIRST SOUTH ASIAN STAR by Mayukh Sen (DB 128319)
PRIDE AND PLEASURE: THE SCHUYLER SISTERS IN AN AGE OF REVOLUTION by Amanda Vaill (DB 133023 IN PROCESS)
TROUBLEMAKER: THE FIERCE, UNRULY LIFE OF JESSICA MITFORD by Carla Kaplan (IN PROCESS)
Nonfiction
AMERICA, AMÉRICA: A NEW HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD by Greg Grandin (DB 129520)
DAUGHTERS OF THE BAMBOO GROVE: FROM CHINA TO AMERICA, A TRUE STORY OF ABDUCTION, ADOPTION, AND SEPARATED TWINS by Barbara Demick (DB 131346)
EMPIRE OF AI: DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES IN SAM ALTMAN’S OPENAI by Karen Hao (DB 129721)
KING OF KINGS: THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION: A STORY OF HUBRIS, DELUSION AND CATASTRIOPHIC MISCALCULATION by Scott Anderson (DB 131982)
NO MORE TEARS: THE DARK STORY OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON by Gardiner Harris (DB 128599)
Poems
NIGHT WATCH: POEMS by Kevin Young (DB 132834 IN PROCESS)
Criticism
ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad (DB 127850, LB 0001346)
TO SAVE AND TO DESTROY: WRITING AS AN OTHER by Viet Thanh Nguyen (DB 132412 IN PROCESS)
Gregg Barrios Book in Translation
SAD TIGER by Neige Sinno and translated from the French by Natasha Lehrer (DB 129828)
John Leonard Prize for Best First Book
BALDWIN: A LOVE STORY by Nicholas Boggs (DB 131983 IN PROCESS)
HUNCHBACK by Saō Ichikawa and translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton (DB 129296)
MOOD MACHINE: THE RISE OF SPOTIFY AND THE COSTS OF THE PERFECT PLAYLIST by Liz Pelly (DB 127671)
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) honors outstanding writing and fosters a national conversation about reading, criticism, and literature. Each March, the National Book Critics Circle presents awards for the finest books published in English the previous calendar year. These are the only national literary awards chosen by critics themselves. The finalists were announced January 19, and the winners were announced on March 20.
