The National Book Club Awards winners have been named. One of the most prestigious publishing awards, and the oldest American publishing award, the National Book Awards are considered the ultimate seal of approval for authors. Shortlisted by a group of prestigious panelists, five books are chosen as finalists in the highly competitive categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Translated Literature, Poetry, and Young People's Literature.
On Wednesday, November 19, the National Book Awards were held in New York City, with Somebody Somewhere actor and 2025 Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Emmy winner, Jeff Hiller, hosting the event at Cipriani in New York.
Congratulations to Rabih Alameddine, who won the 2025 National Book Award in Fiction for his book, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother). The novel centers on Raja, a 63-year-old philosophy teacher living in Beirut with his elderly mother, Zalfa. When he is offered an all-expenses-paid trip to America, providing the perfect escape from personal and national turmoil, Raja ends up reliving past traumas and the complicated relationship with his mother. The story spans six decades and balances dark themes with humor.
Rabih Alameddine won the 2022 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for his novel The Wrong End of the Telescope. He has also received the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction (2021), the John Dos Passos Prize (2019), and the Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement (2025).
National Book Awards in Fiction Finalists
Finalists for the 2025 National Book Award in Fiction are:
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih AlameddineA Guardian and a Thief by Megha MajumdarThe Antidote by Karen RussellNorth Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan RutherfordPalaver by Bryan Washington
The 2025 National Book Awards finalists list reads like an excerpt from the year’s best books. Palaver and The Antidote were both listed on the Time Magazine Must-Read Books of 2025 list, while Majumdar’s novel was also a pick for Oprah Winfrey’s book club. Washington’s Palaver was one of the most highly anticipated books of the year according to the Boston Globe, New York Magazine, and The New York Times.
Related: Two Time 100 Must-Read Books of 2025 Also Named Finalists for Wednesday’s National Book Awards
How Are the National Book Awards Chosen?
Only publishers can nominate books, and a panel of five judges for each category reviews the nominated books. The judges narrow the field to a longlist of ten books per category in September, and the final list of five finalists is decided in October. One winner in each category is selected from the five-book shortlist.
Recent winners of the National Book Award in Fiction include James by Percival Everett (2024), Blackouts by Justin Torres (2023), The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (2022), and Hell of a Book by Jason Mott (2021).
Related: Ann Patchett Calls This New York Times Bestseller and Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year Pick ‘A Unicorn’
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