Penguin Random House presents the year’s buzziest books

by Jeremy Fuscaldo

2025 marks another successful year for Penguin Random House. At New York Comic Con, the publisher explored some of its buzziest books of the year and offered sneak peeks at upcoming titles.

Moderated by PRH senior director of marketing, Julianne Clancy, the “Buzzy Books of Fall 2025” panel featured PRH Audio marketing and publicity associate, Brian Laurito; brand and licensing assistant director of marketing, Paolo Crespo; associate publicist Sarah Lawrenson; associate marketing manager, Kim Salina; associate director of publicity, Liz Vaughan; and publishing manager, Jay Gupta.

The panelists recommended dozens of books broken down by categories and featured a selection of prose books as well as graphic novels, including several we’ve covered here at The Beat.

The first category was ‘Swoonworthy’ reads. The books covered included titles such as Castle Swimmer by Wendy Martin; The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur; A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander; The Re-Write by Lizzie Camilla Blackburn; Say it Out Loud by Ashley Schumacher; and Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan.

Regarding Schumacher’s book, Gupta noted that it draws from Twilight and contains themes of “the one who got away,” to which I jokingly cried out, “No!” from the audience. 

The panelists also talked about ‘Romantasy.’ Titles featured included The Broken Ring Volume 1 by Chacha Kim; The Nightblood Prince by Molly X. Chang; Suitor Armor Volume 3 by Purpah; the in-universe Critical Role romance Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon; and Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft.

Laurito said he was proud of the audio work he did for Tusk Love in part because he is a huge Critical Role and Dungeons & Dragons fan.

The next categories were ‘Historical Fantasy’ and ‘Dark Fantasy.’

‘Historical Fantasy’ included titles like The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; A Land So Wide by Erin A Craig, The Last Tiger by Julia View, The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar; and A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan. Vaughan recommended The Last Tiger particularly because it was inspired by real Korean history.

Salina recommended A Resistance of Witches because it takes place during World War 2 in 1940s Britain—a group of witches trying to take down Hitler attempt to find an ancient book before another group of witches beat them to it. She emphasized for potential readers that “no one is spared in war,” which is something to keep in mind for the novel.

‘Dark Fantasy’ featured titles like The Nightmare Before Christmas tie-in, Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd; Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie; House of Marionne by J. Elle; Muted, Volume 2 by Miranda Mundt; and Silvercloak by L.K. Steven. Muted Volume 2 caught my attention because as a graphic novel with a polyamorous, sapphic relationship depicted in the story.

Next, the panelists recommended ‘Horror and Mystery’ books from the 2025 Penguin Random House catalog. Titles included And The River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun; The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown; Showtopper by Lily Anderson; The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett; and MrBallen Presents: Where Nightmares Live written by MrBallen and illustrated by Andrea Mutti.

The panelists didn’t stop there. They went on to recommend books in three additional categories.

Next up was ‘Sci-Fi and Adventure.’ Titles included the audiobook version of DC’s All Star Superman by Grant Morrison; Artificial Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver; Exiles by Mason Coile; Hole in the Sky by Daniel H Wilson; and Star Wars: Trial of the Jedi (The High Republic) by Charles Soule. Clancy especially recommended Hole in the Sky.

The nonfiction list, which came next, was slightly smaller but still impressive. Titles included About Time by David Duchovny; Black Arms To Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance by Ignatz and Eisner Award winning cartoonist Ben Passmore; and The Comic Book History of the Cocktail by David Wondrich.

Last but not least were the ‘Coming of Age’ books. Titles included Champion by famed NBA basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; I Wanna Be Your Girl Volume 1 by Uma Takase; Nothing Special Volume 3 by Katie Cook; The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel written by Maggie Stiefvater and Stephanie Williams, with art by Sas Milledge; Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds; and Underworld Volume 1: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs.

Another title the panelists discussed but was Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier. It was about the banning of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and the librarians and students who worked together to help overturn the ban and made the book readily available. It is particularly as book bans continue to increase in the United States right now.

The panel then concluded with a special announcement: The seminal DC Comics title Kingdom Come will be released in audiobook format on November 18 getting an audiobook adaptation that will be released on November 18. The audience was also treated to a sneak preview of the audio.

Penguin Random House’s 2025 catalog left me wanting to look into as many books as I possibly can. The publisher showcased a wide variety of titles and I hope its catalog continues to uplift diverse creators and stories.

Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage from NYCC ’25.