» The Most Popular Lit Hub Stories of 2025
From Zohran to ChatGPT and Back Again
In 2025, Lit Hub published over 2,500 pieces: features, blog posts, reading lists, excerpts, essays, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Here are the ones you loved (or at least clicked on) the most.
By the way: if you personally loved (or yes, even just clicked on) these stories, please consider becoming a Lit Hub member, so we can keep bringing them to you.
Here’s a handy guide to help you spot AI writing.
by James Folta
What a 19th-Century Photograph Reveals About Power, Privilege and Violence in the American West
On the Hidden History Behind a Moment of Westward Expansion Preserved for Posterity
by Martha A. Sandweiss
Lila Shapiro on the Allegations Against Neil Gaiman
A Special Episode of “The Lit Hub Podcast”
by The Lit Hub Podcast
Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2025, Part Two
249 Books to Read Before the End of the Year
by Literary Hub
It’s the Most Important Muscle in Your Body and You Don’t Even Know What It’s Called
On the Essential Anatomical Role Played By the Enigmatic Psoas
by Henry Abbott
Nature is Not Going to Cure You: On Raynor Winn’s Fabricated Memoir
Polly Atkin Considers the Danger of Publishers Endorsing Quackery
by Polly Atkin
What Happened When I Tried to Replace Myself with ChatGPT in My English Classroom
On a Semester-Long Dive into the AI Discourse
by Piers Gelly
58 Books You Need to Read (Recommended by People Who Know)
Or: 42 Writers, Editors, and Booksellers on the Best Books They’ve Read in the Last 25 Years
by Literary Hub
Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2025
291 Books We’re Looking Forward to in the New Year
by Literary Hub