It’s the time of year when best-of lists make their rounds. As usual, we’ve deliberated and selected some of our favorite monographs, surveys, and whimsical tomes published in 2025. Several of these titles were also reader favorites and flew off our shelves as quickly as we could stock them (ahem, Dog Only Knows!).
You can find many of the books below—along with others we’ve been enjoying—in the Colossal Shop. For more favorites, check out 2024’s list.
Alphabet in Motion: How Letters Get Their Shape
This ABC pop-up book by Kelli Anderson is the culmination of thousands of hours of research within various design archives. The artist and designer meticulously engineered kinetic and three-dimensional letters to show how type styles have evolved through the ages. The project consists of two conjoined, detachable books: one is an interactive display with movable paper elements and activities, while the other dives into the history and concept behind each pop-up.
Buy in the Colossal Shop.
Shyama Golden, “The Passage” (2022)
Wonder Women: Art of the Asian Diaspora
A companion to an exhibition of the same name, Wonder Women emerges from curator and writer Kathy Huang’s desire to highlight the remarkable spectrum of figurative work being produced within the Asian diasporic community. The volume features the practices of 40 artists through a selection of works and personal statements, addressing a wide array of topics from identity and family to colonialism and myth-making.
Buy in the Colossal Shop.
Dog Only Knows: The Dog Portraits of Alison Friend
Alison Friend has captured the attention of many an animal lover with her quirky canine cast. Dog Only Knows collects 125 of her distinctive portraits that showcase small pups with big personalities.
Buy in the Colossal Shop.
Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025
There’s much local love for Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, which photographer Jamel Shabazz features in his book of the same name. Spanning 45 years, the visual volume celebrates the urban enclave and the people who gather there, documenting how public space offers an opportunity for community building, relaxation, and joy.
Buy on Bookshop.
The War of Art: A History of Artists’ Protest In America
Lauren O’Neill Butler surveys some of the most impactful artist-led activist projects in The War of Art. A timely book for a year of mass mobilization and protest, this volume traces the contemporary lineage of creative approaches to resistance.
Buy in the Colossal Shop.
Nails and image © Naomi Yasuda
Fresh Sets: Contemporary Nail Art from Around the World
If you’ve been on the internet recently, you’ve probably noticed a growing art form. Nails decked out with rhinestones and polka dots, picnic spreads, and even a bright red lobster tribute are part of a rapidly expanding genre. They’re also some of the eye-catching designs that Tembe Denton-Hurst features in her book, Fresh Sets.
Buy on Bookshop.
This collection is exactly as its title suggests: a celebration of some of the strange, idiosyncratic, and unique structures around the world. Featuring 100 striking projects, Weird Buildings explores the whimsical and the wild and celebrates designers who expand what architecture can be.
Buy in the Colossal Shop.
Taylor Cullity Lethlean with Paul Thompson, Australian Garden, Cranbourne Gardens, Victoria, Australia (2006 and 2012). Photo by John Gollings
From the humble backyard plot to the iconic landscapes of Versailles, gardens have long been a source of sustenance, beauty, and spiritual communion. The Contemporary Garden travels to 300 green spaces across 40 countries, surveying the everlasting link between horticulture, nature, and aesthetics. We love the breadth of styles included in this book’s 300-plus pages and a mix of both private and public spaces.
Buy in the Colossal Shop.
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