Kindle customers have turned billions of pages this year, reading an average of 6.5 billion pages a month. As the year draws to a close, Amazon has unveiled Kindle’s Year in Reading—a celebration of reading, bestselling books, and trends that defined 2025.
The books we couldn't put down
With Kindle offering distraction-free reading, some stories simply demand to be devoured in one sitting.
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden claimed the title of this year’s most unputdownable fiction title in the UK, with Kindle readers crowning it the most read fiction title of the year. Meanwhile, thrilling reads The Boyfriend, also by McFadden, and Nothing to See Here by Susan Lewis also topped the bestseller charts, capturing hearts and imaginations across the UK.
But it wasn’t just individual titles that had readers hooked —reading entire series became obsessions. Alongside Freida McFadden’s series, the Chestnut Springs series and Rose Hill series both by Elsie Silver emerged as the “most-binged” book series of the year in the UK, with readers unable to resist the pull of “just one more chapter”.
2025 belonged to The Housemaid: Freida McFadden's thriller claimed the #1 UK bestseller spot of the year, ‘most-read title’, and helped crown her as the year's top author – with The Housemaid series becoming the most-binged of the year.
Our reading rituals
August was the year's peak reading month for the UK, with Kindle's portable, lightweight design and glare-free display making it the perfect companion for beach holidays, park visits, and summer travel.
Evening emerged as the nation's favorite time to get lost in a story.With 83% of Brits feeling stressed by bedtime due to constant notifications, the adjustable light on Kindle devices helps make them perfect for unwinding and enjoying a more peaceful reading experience.
The most popular genres and authors
Crime, Thrillers & Mystery dominated as the most popular genre, keeping hearts in the UK thumping in 2025. When it comes to who the UK is reading, while McFadden claimed the title of most-read Kindle author of the year, Rebecca Yarros and Alice Feeney also topped the list, captivating readers with stories that kept them coming back for more.
From page to screen and back again
The relationship between television and reading has never been stronger. When the final season of The Summer I Turned Pretty premiered on Prime Video this year, downloads of the original book series more than quadrupled, demonstrating how adaptations drive viewers back to discover—or rediscover—the original stories that inspired them.
The most-highlighted passages
Beyond just reading, Kindle customers in the UK engaged deeply with their books as Kindle’s highlighting feature helped transform passive reading into active engagement with customers in the UK creating over two billion highlights throughout the year.
As readers worldwide marked the passages that resonated most,“I am yours and you are mine, and there’s no law or rule in this world or the next that will change that”, in Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm, became one of the most highlighted phrases of the year, showing how the digital features on Kindle can help readers capture the moments that stayed with them long after the final page.
Amazon Kindle’s Year in Reading celebrates the stories that brought us together in 2025.
From the classic Kindle for lightweight, distraction-free reading, the waterproof Kindle Paperwhite for reading anywhere, or the colour display of Kindle Colorsoft for enjoying book covers and images there's a Kindle device designed for every reading style.
With a Kindle Unlimited membership, customers can access millions of eBooks, thousands of audiobooks, and a large selection of magazines, making it the perfect subscription for avid readers. Discover your next favorite read and join millions of readers around the world.
Amazon’s Best Book of the Year
Alongside the official bestseller charts, Amazon released their editorial curation of Best Books of the Year last month, with Clare Leslie Hall's Broken Country taking the top spot. The Best Books of the Year shortlists also featured big hitters such as Freida McFadden, who landed four titles in Amazon’s top 20 most sold books this year, and Booker Prize winner Flesh by David Szalay.
