Five Books

We invite specialists to share their top five book picks in their field and discuss their choices in an interview format. Our website features a collection of over 1,700 interviews, showcasing around 8,000 book recommendations. We add at least two new interviews every week. Five Books is a part of the Amazon Associate program, allowing us to earn a commission on eligible purchases.

National

English

Online/Digital

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#68218

United States

#36208

Science and Education/Philosophy

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

Novels Set In Paris

1 week ago | fivebooks.com | Victor Hugo |Patrick Modiano |Barbara Wright |Hilary Mantel

The romantic boulevards and thriving nightlife of Paris have inspired writers from all over the world. We’ve compiled a list of novels set in the city, recommended by our expert interviewees, to help every Francophile find their next favourite book.
The Best Travel Books of 2025

1 week ago | fivebooks.com | Noo Saro-Wiwa |Clare Hammond |Tom Chesshyre |James Rebanks

Thank you for joining us to discuss the 2025 Edward Stanford Travel Book of the Year, and the five finalists. How did the judging process work? There were five of us judges. Stanfords put together the shortlist, then we read the six books over a couple of months before coming together to discuss them. Each of us spoke about each book, what we liked, what we didn’t. Then we tried to persuade each other, make the case for the book we thought should win.
Funny Short Stories

2 weeks ago | fivebooks.com | George Saunders |Lorrie Moore |David Sedaris |Katherine Heiny

Here at Five Books, we are often asked to recommend funny short story collections. This is a tall order. It’s unusually difficult to recommend comic writing—sense of humour being so specific to the individual—but here are five brilliantly original stories, from popular collections, all of which take a wry or surreal approach to their troubling subject matter. ‘Ghoul’ by George Saunders, in his collection Liberation Day: Stories George Saunders is a modern master of the short story.
The Best Vampire Books

2 weeks ago | fivebooks.com | Jewelle Gomez |Sheridan Le Fanu |Whitley Strieber |Fred Saberhagen

recommended by Grady Hendrix The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix There are two essential features of a vampire, says award-winning author Grady Hendrix: they look just like us, and they need us.
Prizewinning Audiobooks for Teens and Young Adults

4 weeks ago | fivebooks.com | Tony Keith Jr. |Nick Brooks |Ryan La Sala |Elizabeth Acevedo

Here we bring you a roundup of winners of top audiobook awards for teens and young adults of recent years. These audiobook productions have all been singled out for their great storytelling, from the artistry of verse novels performed by the author to full-cast adaptations of graphic novels.
The Best Historical Nonfiction Books

1 month ago | fivebooks.com | Truman Capote |Mark O'Connell |Helen Garner |David Grann

Looking at some of the books you’ve chosen today—as well as the ones that you write—I was trying to figure out what genre they are. I think it’s historical nonfiction—but done in a way that really brings the past alive and takes you to a time and place like a novel does. Is that one way of describing it? I love books that tell real stories in a way that’s emotional, sensory, suspenseful. They explore ideas, but also evoke a different time and place.
The Best Horror Novels: The 2025 Bram Stoker Awards

1 month ago | fivebooks.com | Josh Malerman |Gabino Iglesias |Stephen Jones |Gwendolyn Kiste

The Horror Writers Association use the Bram Stoker Awards shortlists to highlight the best new publications in lots of different categories—including short stories, anthologies, screenwriting and criticism—but here at Five Books we specifically like to feature the books shortlisted for ‘superior achievement in a novel.’ The five finalists in 2025 are: House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias Gabino Iglesias—who scooped the 2022 prize for best novel with his reluctant hitman tale The Devil...
The Best Biographies: The 2025 NBCC Shortlist

1 month ago | fivebooks.com | Amy Reading |Jane Kamensky |Cynthia Carr |Jean Strouse

Let me begin by remarking on what a wonderfully varied shortlist you have settled upon this year. Did you notice any trends among the submissions? There are two very obvious trends. The first is that all the authors identify as women, and the second is that four out of five biographical subjects identified as women. I think that’s the best way to phrase it—Candy Darling, one of the biographical subjects, was born a man, but her ardent desire was to be a woman, and she worked hard at transitioning.
Five Books Expert Recommendations

1 month ago | fivebooks.com | Emily Wilson |JOHN SMITH |JOhn Smith |Sophus Helle |John Milton

“It’s a very easy read, and a completely different world from The Iliad. Whereas The Iliad depicts a militaristic and war-wrecked world, The Odyssey is like a fairytale and it’s fascinatingly complex. It’s told in flashbacks, it has time that’s extended and time that’s compressed, and it’s told from different viewpoints.” Read more...
The Best Memoirs: The 2025 NBCC Autobiography Shortlist

1 month ago | fivebooks.com | Manjula Martin |Wei Tchou |Zito Madu |Erika Morillo

Thanks for talking us through the 2025 shortlist for the National Book Critics Circle Prize for Autobiography—has it been a good year for memoir and autobiography? It’s been one of the best years for memoir and autobiography in recent memory! It’s been a delight to read so many interesting, well-written, imaginatively constructed, and thought-provoking memoirs. What were the judges looking for, when they came to compile the shortlist? We weren’t looking for any one particular thing.