Freida McFadden titles at Furet du Nord in Lille, France. Image Eric Dupuy
By Eric Dupuy
American authors Freida McFadden and Suzanne Collins top the bestseller list for 2025.
Book sales in France in 2025 confirmed the appetite for both homegrown literary stars and international phenomena, with a top 10 general ranking dominated by Freida McFadden titles, crime fiction in general, contemporary novels, and political essays from the hard-right.Meanwhile, niche segments like young adult (YA) literature and beaux livres (coffee tables books) revealed shifting consumer trends, from nostalgia-driven reissues to innovative formats. Below is a breakdown of the year’s standout titles and trends, based on data from NielsenIQ BookData published by Livres Hebdo, covering sales from January 1 to December 31, 2025.
Top 10 General Fiction (Hardcover)
In hardcover general fiction, publishers Fayard and Gallimard lead with three titles each.
Fayard’s titles include Le Journal d’un prisonnier by Nicolas Sarkozy, which sold 180,000 copies in the three weeks before Christmas; Populicide by Philippe de Villiers, and Ce que veulent les Français by Jordan Bardella.
Gallimard’s L’Heure des prédateurs by Giuliano da Empoli is at the top of the list with 208,000 copies alongside a reissue of Terre des hommes by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Les Arènes performs with Intérieur nuit from the media star Nicolas Demorand and publisher Albin Michel’s Les Piliers de la mer by Sylvain Tesson were also very successful. Belgian publisher Kennes Éditions closes the ranking with two titles by Philippe Boxho Les Morts ont la parole and the new La Mort c’est ma vie.
Top 10 for Children’s Literature, Age 8-16 (Hardcover)
In this segment, two reissues (Harry Potter and Les Royaumes de feu) shared the list with 2025 newcomers, with YA novels comprising 60% of the ranking. Four books from publisher Auzou and three from Gallimard-Jeunesse dominated the hardcover list for the age 8-16 segment.
Auzou publishes Le Roman maudit (Franck Thilliez), 31 jours pour t’aimer (Sophie Jomain), Cosy Love & Christmas Crime (Anouk Filipini), and Un Noël à la cerise (Cynthia Kafka). All those titles come from the collection Roman de l’Avent which launched two years ago with a lot of success.
Gallimard’s entries include the new publication of Harry Potter et la Coupe de feu and the 2020 reissue of the first opus Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers, and Les Royaumes de feu by Tui T. Sutherland. Books from publisher Pocket Jeunesse top the list with The Hunger Games by American author Suzanne Collins, which sold 142,000 copies, and Hachette Romans’ Mille morceaux de cœur brisé by Tillie Cole.
Top 10 Illustrated Children’s Books
Body positivity and identity themes dominate the illustrated children’s books category, aligning with contemporary educational priorities.
Editis group’s joint venture Les Arènes takes two places on the list, the first with the phenomenal Poisson fesse by Pauline Pinson from independent publisher Les Fourmis Rouges (more than 96,000 copies sold in 2025). French doctor Baptiste Beaulieu’s books Les Pansements invisibles and Je suis moi et personne d’autre highlight Les Arènes’ strength in social-emotional themes.
Kaleidoscope from the L’école des loisirs group performs strongly with Chevalier Chouette of Christopher Denise. Les Bruits de la ferme from Usborne and Quatre Fleuves’ La Couleur des émotions by Anna Llenas highlight the longevity of interactive and sensory books.
Top 10 Comics & Manga
Manga leads the joint list with 6 of 10 of the titles, including three One Piece volumes (Glénat) and Spy x Family (Kurokawa). Publisher Michel Lafon scores with the French manga Instinct (Book 1 and 2) from the Youtuber Inoxtag, while Albert René’s Astérix en Lusitanie by Fabcaro leads the rank with 1.6 million copies sold in ten weeks. Editis group’s creative team Mr. Tan & Co, which creates the comic series Mortelle Adèle, represents Franco-Belgian comics.
Top 10 Art & Illustrated Books
Sports and artist retrospectives dominate this category with books from publishers Marabout, Thames & Hudson, and Pix’n Love. The book of the multi-award winning video game Clair Obscur leads the illustrated books segment. Recettes & récits by François-Régis Gaudry (Marabout) leads with 56,000 copies and Votre santé optimisée by Émilie Steinbach also published by Marabout targets wellness. Art monographs David Hockney 25 by Norman Rosenthal published by Thames & Hudson and heritage titles like Rebâtir Notre-Dame by Mathieu Lours (Tallandier) or Little book of Hermes: l’histoire d’une maison de mode mythique by Karen Homer (Place des victoires) performed strongly.
Top 10 Practical Books
Books from publishers Marabout and J’ai Lu dominate practical nonfiction. Marabout focuses on cooking with 300 recettes pour tout cuisiner by Lélia Castello and Élodie Colombel.
J’ai Lu’s Les Quatre Accords toltèques by Don Miguel Ruiz sold 128,000 copies and Le Pouvoir du moment présent by Eckhart Tolle confirm the self-help trend.
Coloring books (Ma bulle cosy by Coco Wyo from Dessain et Tolra) and logic games (100% Logique from HarperCollins) complete this segment.
Shelves of Prix Goncourt winner La Maison vide. Image Eric Dupuy
Top 10 Overall Bestsellers for 2025
The general ranking is led by publisher J’ai Lu (4 titles) and the La Femme de ménage (The Housemaid) series from Freida McFadden and La Sage-femme d’Auschwitz by Anna Stuart. The hardcover French independent publisher of the Housemaid series City Éditions with La Femme de ménage voit tout and publisher Calmann-Lévy’s Un avenir radieux by Pierre Lemaitre round out the top five.
Crime fiction (6/10) and paperbacks (7/10) dominate the overall list, with American authors (McFadden and Collins) outperforming French contemporaries. Literary fiction is only represented in this Top 10 by the 2025 Prix Goncourt winner La Maison vide by Laurent Mauvignier (Minuit) which has sold 495,000 physical copies.
In 2024, the Top 10 overall bestsellers accounted for 4.07 million book sales, whereas in 2025, the same ranking surged to 8.80 million copies sold—with 5.93 million of those attributed to Freida McFadden’s six titles alone.