BookTok is setting the bestsellers again: Animal Farm and 1984 rank high in Fiction, alongside two other “classics” boosted by TikTok.
Fyodor M. Dostoevsky leads the authors’ chart in 2025. Ioana Pârvulescu is the best-selling Romanian author.
The Little Prince, the undisputed winner in Children’s Books: No. 1 in the category for the past three years and Libris’ best-selling book in 2025.
Thriller and romantasy are the subgenres dominating Young Adult and Books in English.
The Big Dictionary of Diseases and Conditions ranks in the top 3 in 27 counties.
Libris’ 2025 data outlines a clear picture of how Romanians are calibrating their cultural choices in a context marked by constant pressure, uncertainty, and a growing need for personal stability. An analysis of last year’s reading behavior shows that books about health, the relationship between body and emotions, and stress management are reaching the mainstream for the first time—reflected directly in the overall bestseller chart.
The fact that several mind–body balance titles appear among the top positions in the overall chart alongside classic literature and established fiction signals a shift in priorities: reading is being used as a tool for clarification, regulation, and personal decision-making.
“In 2025, we see that Romanians no longer choose books only for information or relaxation. Reading is used to better understand how to manage stress, the body, emotions, and the pace of everyday life. It’s a far more pragmatic and deliberate choice than in the past,” explains Loredana Tudor, Marketing Manager at Libris.
Health moves beyond a niche and becomes a major cultural choice
In 2025, interest in health is no longer limited to a distinct category. Books that address how the body works, the nervous system, metabolism, or the link between emotions and health are purchased by the same audience that reads classic literature or contemporary fiction. This overlap indicates that health is becoming a transversal theme, not an isolated interest. Titles such as The Big Dictionary of Diseases and Conditions, Healing Plants, The Glucose Revolution, or The Brain and the Mysteries of the Soul are among the overall bestsellers, confirming growing demand for practical information with a direct impact on quality of life.
“We are seeing a turn toward books that offer structured explanations and concrete solutions, which signals a real need for control and stability. This evolution marks a significant shift from nutrition as a lifestyle to health as a personal investment—with a focus on prevention, understanding, and long-term decisions,” Loredana Tudor adds.
Classics and the search for meaning: anchors in a tense context
At the same time, classic literature continues to play a central role in reading choices. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and White Nights by Fyodor Dostoevsky hold top positions in the overall chart for 2025, while other canonical titles such as Animal Farm or 1984 have remained solid in readers’ preferences. Their association with books such as Man’s Search for Meaning points to a preference for reading that offers moral reference points, interpretive frameworks, and clarity in a climate of uncertainty.
A phenomenon that clearly took shape in 2024 and is confirmed in 2025 is the increasingly stable role of social media reading communities—especially BookTok. The TikTok-driven popularity of the novella White Nights showed that these platforms do not create short-lived spikes of interest, but rather build “long waves” of consumption. The title, which captured Gen Z’s attention through themes like loneliness, the need for connection, and emotional vulnerability, maintains its leading position in 2025 as well, climbing to second place in Libris’ overall chart (up from 9th place in 2024).
“This dynamic highlights a structural difference compared to classic recommendation models. BookTok does not produce rapid title rotation; it consolidates a relatively stable core of around 15–20 books that remain relevant long-term. Choices are driven primarily by emotional impact rather than critical analysis or literary notoriety, which helps explain the return of classic authors to the charts through a contemporary reading lens aligned with the concerns of today’s young audiences,” adds Loredana Tudor.
How books are purchased in 2025: mobile, fast, recurring. Children’s Books Remain the best-selling category
Libris data shows a clear dominance of mobile devices, which generate 80.4% of traffic, compared to 19.48% on desktop. This behavior suggests that purchases are integrated into everyday life made quickly, in varied contexts, not within a dedicated “online shopping” setting.
Demand structure also confirms a shift in priorities. In 2025, children’s books account for 27.14% of total orders the highest share across all categories followed by Fiction (15.48%). The pandemic accelerated a reorientation toward education and family; this continues today, reflected in sustained interest in children’s titles as well as parenting books.
Categories that indicate the need for understanding and guidance Humanities, Religion, and Personal Development complete the picture of a careful, selective cultural consumption oriented toward meaning.
“Consumption behavior in 2025 shows a high level of loyalty. For example, a reader from Constanța made purchases totaling 81,950 lei across 87 orders, while a reader from Bucharest placed 170 orders in a single year. In the corporate segment, the largest single order included 4,600 copies, totaling 154,901.73 lei. These figures show that reading remains a consistent and relevant choice for both individual readers and organizations. The book is perceived as an instrument for education, reflection, and development not as occasional consumption,” emphasizes Loredana Tudor.
Additionally, Libris data for 2025 shows that the highest number of book orders per capita came from Ilfov, Brașov, and Bucharest, while Harghita, Covasna, and Teleorman rank at the opposite end.
What romanians read in 2025. Rankings as a airror of priorities
The overall bestseller chart for 2025 reflects this combination of interest in health, meaning, and classic literature, alongside contemporary bestsellers especially those with viral visibility or screen adaptations.
The most-read categories, the number of books ordered, mobile traffic, and data about the most loyal readers’ orders in each county can be explored via Libris’ interactive map, created by processing 2025 sales data*, available on Romania in Books Read, 2025 Edition.
*To increase relevance to real reading preferences, the analysis treats separately sales of textbooks and school books or titles included in the school reading list.
Top 10 Best-Selling Books on Libris.ro in 2025
The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
White Nights — Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Big Dictionary of Diseases and Conditions — Jacques Martel
Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor E. Frankl
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind — Joseph Murphy
The Secret of Secrets — Dan Brown
The Brain and the Mysteries of the Soul — Leon Dănăilă
Healing Plants — Nicolae Onu, Mihaela Onu
The Glucose Revolution: Balancing Your Blood Sugar Can Change Your Life — Jessie Inchauspé
Animal Farm — George Orwell
Top 10 Best-Selling Authors on Libris.ro in 2025
F. M. Dostoevsky
Freida McFadden
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Ioana Pârvulescu
Liane Schneider
Geronimo Stilton
Roald Dahl
Jacques Martel
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Dav Pilkey
Top 10 Best-Selling Romanian Authors on Libris.ro in 2025
Ioana Pârvulescu
Leon Magdan
Ioana Chicet-Macoveiciuc
Alex Donovici
Alec Blenche
Veronica D. Niculescu
Dan-Silviu Boerescu
Radu Paraschivescu
Niculina Gheorghiță
Igor Bergler
Top 10 Most Popular Categories and Top 10 Titles in Each Category Children’s Books*
The Little Prince — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
101 Bedtime Stories
First Poems and Songs for the Littlest Ones
A Summer with Isidor — Veronica D. Niculescu
101 Animal Stories
500 Clever Riddles for Children (Ed. 2)
The Girl Who Didn’t Like Her Name or… — Elif Shafak
99 Stories in Large Print for Kids and Grandparents
STEM Activities. Sensational Science — Stephanie Clarkson
The Invisibles — Ioana Pârvulescu
*The chart excludes authors from Textbooks / School Books categories.
Fiction
White Nights — Fyodor M. Dostoevsky
The Secret of Secrets — Dan Brown
Animal Farm — George Orwell
1984 — George Orwell
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow — Zoulfa Katouh
I Am Emilia del Valle — Isabel Allende
The Body of the Soul — Ludmila Ulitskaya
The Housemaid — Freida McFadden
Don’t Lie to Me — Freida McFadden
The Catcher in the Rye — J.D. Salinger
Humanities
Breaking the Curse. The Romanian Revolution of December 1989 — Cătălin Ranco Pițu
The Psychology of Money — Morgan Housel
Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
Nexus. A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI — Yuval Noah Harari
The Mineriad Was Born out of the Revolution. The Events of June 13–15, 1990 — Cătălin Ranco Pițu
The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind — Gustave Le Bon
The Art of War — Sun Tzu
Scattered Minds — Gabor Maté
Sapiens. A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari
Woke Religion — Jean-François Braunstein
Personal Development
Nonviolent Communication — Marshall B. Rosenberg
Everything Is Fine in Me and in the World — Petronela Rotar
The Courage to Be Disliked — Ichiro Kishimi, Fumitake Koga
Atomic Habits — James Clear
The Five Love Languages (Ed. 6) — Gary Chapman
Healing the Inner Child — Stefanie Stahl
The Hour of the Heart — Irvin D. Yalom, Benjamin Yalom
The Art of Manipulation — Kevin Dutton
When the Body Says No — Gabor Maté
The Life That’s Waiting for You — Brianna Wiest
Spirituality & Esotericism
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind — Joseph Murphy
The 5 Wounds That Prevent You from Being Yourself — Lise Bourbeau
Healing the 5 Wounds — Lise Bourbeau
Supernatural — Dr. Joe Dispenza
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari — Robin Sharma
Complete Works — Neville Goddard
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book — Don Miguel Ruiz
You Are the Placebo — Joe Dispenza
The Big Book of Spells, Charms and Curses — Dan-Silviu Boerescu
Box Set: Conversations with God, Volumes I–IV — Neale Donald Walsch
Health
The Big Dictionary of Diseases and Conditions — Jacques Martel
The Brain and the Mysteries of the Soul — Leon Dănăilă
Healing Plants — Nicolae Onu, Mihaela Onu
The Glucose Revolution: Balancing Your Blood Sugar Can Change Your Life — Jessie Inchauspé
The Food Revolution and Heart Health — Gheorghe Cerin
The Vagus Nerve. Goodbye Stress, Inflammation, Digestive Disorders and Immune Problems — Yann Rougier, Marie Borrel
You Can Heal Your Life — Louise L. Hay
Health from the Lord’s Pharmacy. Advice and Verified Herbal Treatments — Maria Treben
The Second Brain. The Microbiome and the Gut–Brain Axis — Emily Leeming
Reflexology of Body and Soul. Therapeutic Guide — Gabriel Socaciu, Vasile Valentina
Top 10 Best-Selling Young Adult Titles
Fish in a Tree — Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The Catcher in the Rye — J.D. Salinger
Powerless: The Game. The Powerless Series — Lauren Roberts
The Giver — Lois Lowry
Fearless. The Finale. The Powerless Series — Lauren Roberts
A Pocket Full of Stars — Aisha Bushby
Reckless. The Chase. The Powerless Series — Lauren Roberts
Cuban Recipes for a Broken Heart — Laura Taylor Namey
The Monet Family. The Princess. Part 2 — Weronika Anna Marczak
The Last Cherry Blossom — Kathleen Burkinshaw
Top 10 Best-Selling Books in English
We Did Ok, Kid — Sir Anthony Hopkins
Alchemised — SenLinYu
Matilda. Special Edition — Roald Dahl
White Nights — Fyodor Dostoevsky
Once Upon a Broken Heart — Stephanie Garber
Fake Skating — Lynn Painter
Wonder — R.J. Palacio
Powerless. The Powerless Trilogy #1 — Lauren Roberts
Gangsta Granny. Gangsta Granny #1 — David Walliams
Fearless — Lauren Roberts
Top 10 Best-Selling Authors from the School Reading List
Ion Creangă
Ioan Slavici
Mark Twain
Ion Luca Caragiale
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Mihail Sadoveanu
Mircea Eliade
Jules Verne
Petre Ispirescu
Ioana Pârvulescu
Top 10 Best-Selling Books from the School Reading List
Childhood Memories — Ion Creangă
The Big Recess — Mircea Sântimbreanu
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer — Mark Twain
Nobody’s Boy (Sans Famille) — Hector Malot
Ion — Liviu Rebreanu
Fram, the Polar Bear — Cezar Petrescu
Enigma of Otilia — George Călinescu
The Wonderful Grove — Mihail Sadoveanu
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas — John Boyne
From the World of Those Who Cannot Speak — Emil Gârleanu
About LIBRIS
A 100% Romanian business, Libris entered the book market in 1991 with the Șt. O. Iosif bookstore in Brașov. In 2009, Libris.ro launched and, over 15 years of online presence, became a reference name in Romania’s bookstore sector.
Over the years, Libris has actively taken on the role of supporting reading and has run numerous campaigns to promote it. Since 2019, Libris has developed the CarteTeca project, aiming to attract children and teenagers to reading by providing access to new and relevant books for school libraries. Every year, dozens of libraries receive—following a project competition—books most desired by children, as well as essential titles included in school reading lists, so that young readers can discover reading through new, colorful, and appealing books.
*This is a press release
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