The people’s voice takes centerstage as The Crossword Book Awards 2025 return with the Popular Choice Shortlist, a mix of literary legends and rising stars. This is where readers get to decide their champions, and the power to choose is now in your hands. Voting for the Popular Choice Awards opens from 1 October 2025 and will remain live until 23 November 2025. Featuring a mix of literary icons and new voices, this year’s shortlist captures the richness and diversity of Indian storytelling.
The Popular Choice shortlist spans five key categories – Fiction; Non-fiction; Mind, Body & Spirit; Children’s Books; and Business & Management, reflecting the wide scope of voices, themes, and narratives shaping India’s literary landscape today. All books in the Popular Choice Awards category include books published in India in English from 1 March 2024 to 31 March 2025, shortlisted on the basis of their sales across Crossword Bookstores.
Speaking about the announcement, Aakash Gupta, CEO of Crossword Bookstores, said, “The Popular Choice Shortlist showcases books that captured readers’ attention over the past year—stories and ideas that found their way into everyday conversations. This award is determined entirely by readers, who vote for the books that resonated most with them. It stands as a celebration of their role in shaping and supporting India’s literary landscape.”
The shortlisted books for this year’s Crossword Book Awards – Popular Choice Awards 2025 have been announced across various categories. The extensive list includes:
Business & Management:
Build an Epic Career by Ankur Warikoo (Penguin Random House India)
Confessions of Stock Market Wizards by Safir Anand (HarperCollins India)
Money, Myths and Mantras by Devina Mehra (Penguin Random House India)
Ratan Tata by Thomas Mathew (HarperCollins India)
The Start-Up Code by Mukesh Bansal (Penguin Random House India)
Children’s Books:
Grandpa’s Bag of Stories by Sudha Murty (Penguin Random House India)
Hold On to Your Dreams by Ruskin Bond (Penguin Random House India)
Miracles in Medicine by Roopa Pai (Hachette India)
The Tale of a Naughty Prank by Anand Neelakantan (Penguin Random House India)
The Whispering Mountains by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal, illustrated by Dennis Laishram (Penguin Random House India)
Fiction:
Mrityunjay by Parakh Om Bhatt and Raj Javiya (Penguin Random House India)
The Circle of Life by Sudha Murty (Penguin Random House India)
The Naga Warriors 1 by Akshat Gupta (Penguin Random House India)
Too Good to Be True by Prajakta Koli (HarperCollins India)
World’s Best Ex-Girlfriend by Durjoy Datta (Penguin Random House India)
Non-fiction:
A Wonderland of Words by Shashi Tharoor (Aleph Book Company)
Gods, Guns & Missionaries by Manu S Pillai (Penguin Random House India)
I Have the Streets by R Ashwin with Sidharth Monga (Penguin Random House India)
Shah Rukh Khan by Mohar Basu (HarperCollins Publishers India)
She’ll Never Make It by Masoom Minawala with Aditi Shah Bhimjyani (Juggernaut)
Mind, Body & Spirit:
Enlightenment by Sadhguru (Penguin Random House India)
Keep Moving by Milind Soman, Ankita Konwar, Usha Soman with Roopa Pai (Juggernaut)
Live While You’re Alive by Shiv Khera (Bloomsbury India)
The Commonsense Diet by Rujuta Diwekar (Juggernaut)
The Satvic Revolution by Subah Saraf and Harshvardhan Saraf (Penguin Random House India)
