Do you have a stack of magazines waiting to be read? Are bookmarked articles haunting you? Do you wish someone would just tell you the best ones that you should definitely read? Well you’re in luck – this is your reminder to explore the best in essays, articles, and short stories with annual compilations.
Put out by various different publishers, these compilations usually have a theme and a guest editor who has sifted through reams of short work to present what they, subjectively, think is the best work of the year. For the reader, it’s a tremendous way to dabble, to try out a new genre or topic, to read a range of work carefully curated into a single book.
For nonfiction readers, generalists can try The Best American Essays 2025, edited by Jia Tolentino. Or go subject-specific with The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025 edited by Susan Orlean, The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2025 as selected by Hanif Abdurraqib, or explore the world with The Best American Food and Travel Writing 2025 from Bryant Terry.
Finish out your year with a poem-a-day from The Best American Poetry 2025, curated by Terence Winch.
Short story readers are in great luck, with both The Best American Short Stories 2025 edited by Celeste Ng, and a collection of twenty O. Henry Prize winners selected by Edward P. Jones and published as The Best Short Stories 2025. Genre readers rejoice, for you have The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2025, edited by Nnedi Okorafor, and The Best American Mystery and Suspense curated by Don Winslow.
Find all these and more in our catalog: 2025 “Best of” Compilations.
Happy Reading!
~ posted by Andrea G.