Last November, we asked the community to suggest books to be considered for One Read 2025. Earlier this year, the One Read Reading Panel met and narrowed the list of nearly 200 titles to 10, and now we have our top two finalists: “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick and “North Woods” by Daniel Mason.
Read on to find out more about each book, and than cast your vote for One Read 2025.
“The Measure” by Nikki Erlick
One day, all across the world, each adult receives a mysterious wooden box with a piece of string inside, quickly determined to correspond to how long the recipient will live. Told through multiple perspectives, the story follows “short-stringers,” “long-stringers,” and those who refuse to open their boxes at all, as they struggle with the knowledge of their longevity. Complicated societal and ethical issues arise. Should political candidates have to reveal the lengths of their strings? Should short-stringers marry or have children? This thought-provoking and heartfelt novel explores prejudice and its consequences and asks what it means to have a life well-lived.
- Preview “The Measure”
- New York Times Book Review
- Library Journal Review
- Author Interview
- Author’s Website
- Publisher’s Website
- Goodreads
“North Woods” by Daniel Mason
This novel follows an extraordinary succession of inhabitants of a single house in the woods of New England, exploring the many ways we’re connected to our environment and to one another across time, language and space. Beginning with a young couple fleeing their Puritan colony, the book links the stories of an eccentric apple grower and his spinster daughters, a landscape painter, a clairvoyant, a man with schizophrenia and others. Mason expertly employs a range of literary styles, including letters, pulp journalism and speculative fiction, to tell the story of the United States through the lens of a single location. An epic, ambitious and beautiful book.
- Preview “North Woods”
- New York Time Books Review
- Library Journal Review
- Author Interview
- Author’s Website
- Publisher’s Website
- Goodreads
The last day to vote for One Read 2025 is April 25, 2025.