Boland has been selling books on Amazon since 2009. He wrote the novel and published it himself. It was $907 from Sandy Dunes Surplus, $930 from Rocky Mountain Books and $987 from Open Range Media. Boland was poking around the Amazon bookstore when he saw the science thriller “Hominid” for sale at dizzying prices. Gelman added that Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, a favorite of hers that didn’t make the list, is another book that explores a deep friendship between a man and woman.John C. In Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, the main character points out that “Lovers are common,” but “True collaborators in this life are rare.” Our Missing Hearts and Carrie Soto Is Back are two other books on the list that focus on friendships as well as relationships between a parent and child. One trend Gelman noticed in publishing this year, especially in their top ten, is books that focus on friendship - as opposed to ones about romantic relationships - especially books that feature messy, complicated relationships with friends and family. The editors also consider diversity, looking at whether the list includes representation of marginalized groups - including authors of color and neurodivergent characters - both in terms of author and content. They are especially looking for books that “transcend genre”: that readers will love even if it’s not a genre/format/topic they usually read about.

Gelman explained that this list is based just on the books editors’ love, without taking into account sales or customers’ ratings - especially since they usually read these books far before publication date.

I spoke to Amazon Books Editorial Director Sarah Gelman about how this list gets made as well as the trends she’s noticed in publishing this year. Those totals become the Amazon Book Editors’ Best Books of the Year list.

After putting their individual favorites of the year in a spreadsheet and pitching them to their fellow editors, they debate their choices and then finally rank their picks for the year. They each have different backgrounds, including authors as well as former booksellers and former editors at publishing houses, but they’ve all spent their careers immersed in the book world. At the end of the year, this team of nine editors draws from these lists, as well as considering any they may have missed, to choose their top books of the year as a whole. Each month, the Amazon Book Editors post a list of their favorite books out that month.