Reading Trends in May 2025: YA Books, Fantasy Novels, and Digital Reading Shifts

When you think about reading trends, the evolving ways people choose, consume, and connect with books in modern times. Also known as book consumption patterns, it's not just about how many pages you turn—it's about why you turn them at all. In May 2025, the biggest stories weren’t about new releases. They were about who’s reading what, why they’re reading it, and how technology is quietly rewriting the rules.

One clear thread? YA books, young adult fiction designed for teens but increasingly loved by adults. Also known as teen fiction, it’s no longer a genre you grow out of. People in their 20s, 30s, and beyond are picking up Percy Jackson and other YA titles not because they’re "supposed to," but because the stories feel real. Characters deal with identity, loss, and belonging—things that don’t disappear after high school. And it’s not just emotion driving this. Publishers don’t care about your age. Readers care about connection. Meanwhile, fantasy novels, stories with magic, mythical worlds, and epic quests that offer escape and emotional insight. Also known as speculative fiction, they’re not just for kids. Adults are turning to them to reduce stress, spark creativity, and even work through tough feelings. A dragon doesn’t fix your day—but a well-told story about one might.

And then there’s the way we read. digital reading, the shift from paper to screens, apps, and audiobooks as the main way people consume stories. Also known as online reading, it’s changed the rhythm of reading itself. People aren’t sitting down with a novel for an hour. They’re listening during their commute, skimming chapters on their phone during lunch, or joining book clubs on TikTok. Reading isn’t slower—it’s just different. And it’s working. More people are reading than ever, even if they’re not holding a book.

What you’ll find in this collection isn’t theory. It’s real talk. Why a 20-year-old might love a YA novel. How one book by a single female author still shapes romance today. What makes a fantasy series truly successful—not just in sales, but in staying power. Why slow readers aren’t broken, just different. And how Think and Grow Rich still speaks to people decades later. These aren’t random posts. They’re pieces of a bigger picture: reading as a living, changing habit, shaped by who we are and how we live now.