Crossword Book Awards 2025 Unveils Its Highly-Anticipated Jury Shortlist, Turning Pages And Heads!

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Remember the smell of new books? The sheer excitement of stepping into a bookstore, not knowing which story might find you next? If that memory makes you smile, this one's for you.

Crossword Bookstores has just announced the Jury Awards shortlist for the Crossword Book Awards 2025, and it's proof that books still have their magic, they give us space to breathe, dream, and find pieces of ourselves again.

Celebrating Indian Stories

Announced on October 30th, 2025 the shortlist features five books in each of five categories - Fiction, Non-fiction, Translations, Children's Books, and Business & Management.

It's a blend of stories that feel fresh yet familiar, written by voices that are shaping how India reads and thinks today.

Reflecting on the announcement, Aakash Gupta, CEO of Crossword Bookstores, said,

"The Jury Shortlist represents the books that stood out for their originality, craft and impact. Each title has been carefully chosen by our esteemed jury for its contribution to contemporary writing and its ability to move, challenge, or inspire readers. These are the stories that reflect the very best of Indian literature today."

Children's Books

• The Wall Friends Club by Varsha Seshan, illustrated by Denise Antao (HarperCollins Publishers India)
• Ajay of Agumbe and the Signal Snake by Zai Whitaker, illustrated by Rajiv Eipe (Pratham Books)
• Kushti Kid by Vibha Batra (Scholastic India)
• The Body in the Swimming Pool by Shabnam Minwalla (Speaking Tiger)
• The Book of Emperors by Ashwitha Jayakumar, illustrated by Nikhil Gulati (Penguin Random House India)

Non-fiction

• Golwalkar by Dhirendra K. Jha (Simon & Schuster India)
• Gods, Guns and Missionaries by Manu S. Pillai (Penguin Random House)
• The Lucky Ones by Zara Chowdhary (Westland Books)
• Iconoclast by Anand Teltumbde (Penguin Random House India)
• Lōal Kashmir by Mehak Jamal (HarperCollins Publishers India)

Translations

• The Day the Earth Bloomed by Manoj Kuroor, translated from Malayalam by J. Devika (Bloomsbury India)
• Mudritha by Jissa Jose, translated from Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil (HarperCollins Publishers India)
• Our City That Year by Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell (Penguin Random House India)
• The Owl, the River and the Valley by Arupa Patangia Kalita, translated from Assamese by Mitra Phukan (Penguin Random House India)
• Unlove Story by Sudipto Pal, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha (Seagull Books)

Fiction

• Girls Who Stray by Anisha Lalvani (Bloomsbury India)
• Rising Sons by Kavery Nambisan (Penguin Random House India)
• An Unholy Drought by Madhulika Liddle (Speaking Tiger)
• Great Eastern Hotel by Ruchir Joshi (HarperCollins Publishers India)
• The Fertile Earth by Ruthvika Rao (Penguin Random House India)

Business & Management

• Ratan Tata by Thomas Mathew (HarperCollins Publishers India)
• Just a Mercenary? by Duvvuri Subbarao (Penguin Random House India)
• Behold the Leviathan by Saurabh Mukherjea & Nandita Rajhansa (Penguin Random House India)
• The Dirty Dozen by N. Sundaresha Subramanian (PanMacmillan India)
• Sky High by Tarun Shukla (HarperCollins Publishers)

Reading Ahead

With the shortlist out, all eyes now turn to 3rd December 2025, when the winners will be announced at a grand ceremony at The LaLit Mumbai.

But even before the trophies are handed out, these books have already done something special - they've shown us what good writing feels like, and why reading deserves a place in our everyday lives again.

So maybe tonight, instead of another scroll through your phone, you could reach for a book. Because every time we read, we keep a little bit of that magic alive.