The best books of the year: From Christian Kracht’s “Air” to Marco Michael Wanda’s band biography to Liz Pelly’s streaming review “Mood Machine”.
Which book could you not and didn’t want to put down this year or which should you give as a gift for Christmas? Click here for our neatly curated list of the most important books of 2025.
1. Christian Kracht – “Air”
An interior designer lives in seclusion on the Scottish Orkney Islands until a mysterious assignment takes him to Norway – and to a second world. Kracht unfolds this fantasy story that balances between time levels in a language that is as lucid as it is precise.
2. Marco Michael Wanda – “That we even existed”
In this heroic story named after a Wanda song, the head of the great Viennese rock’n’roll band tells of rise and fall, of euphoria, loss of control and rebirth. The book is always at its best when it looks into the abyss.
3. Dorothee Elmiger – “The Dutch Women”
Two women disappear into the Central American jungle. Elmiger circles around the possibilities of even putting such an oppressive story into words. It is rich in references, fractures and challenges and was rightly awarded the German Book Prize 2025.
4. Evan Dando – “Rumours of My Demise: A Memoir”
Three “white boys with wealthy parents” form the Lemonheads, but only one really sticks around. Dando leads the story from his high school days to the present in a sometimes fragmentary, often amusing manner and always with a narcotic rush, with plenty of indiscretions in store.
5. Kurt Prödel – “Klapper”
Kurt Prödel is a member of the very good band The Screenshots. In his debut novel, the eponymous protagonist “Klapper” and his classmate “Bear” find each other – and at least temporarily find a real life in the wrong one.
6. Leif Randt – “Let’s Talk About Feelings”
In his early to mid-40s, the protagonist of this novel has long since grown up, but the language and the themes follow classic coming-of-age patterns.
It’s about death, love, restlessness and fashion and, clearly with Randt, always about keeping a lot of distance when describing all of these topics.
7. Hendrik Otremba – “Can: Essays on Work and Aesthetics”
In this slim but pleasantly complete volume, artist, Messer singer and author Hendrik Otremba expertly and entertainingly guides you through eight essays in which he examines the central principles of this band. A detailed conversation with Irmin Schmidt complements the texts.
8. Erika Thomalla (ed.) – “The truth about Kid P.”
Andreas Banaski alias Kid P. wrote about music from 1979, especially for the magazines “Sounds” and “Spex”. This cleverly curated anthology shows how decisive his texts were in shifting the rules of the game in pop culture reporting.
9. Liz Pelly – “Mood Machine”
Pelly shows how streaming services turn feelings into data. The analysis is precise, angry and, despite the dry topic, very readable. The message is devastating, but probably true: passion and randomness, which have always driven music, are in danger of disappearing.
10. Mark Ronson – “Night People: How To Be A DJ In ’90s New York City”
The man who shaped the sound of artists like Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars and Dua Lipa remembers nights in a city whose escapism always followed its own rules.
The nice thing about Mark Ronson’s book: His view is as loving as it is obsessed with detail. And now have fun reading and giving as gifts!