The selections were winnowed down from 1,637 books.
On Wednesday, The National Book Foundation announced the 25 books that remain in the running for the National Book Awards, now in its 69th year.
The writers come from such places as Pittsburgh, Norway, Iran and Poland, and many of them have delved into some of the most pressing conversations of our time: racism, masculinity, addiction, the destruction of indigenous culture, class divides and corporations.
And for the first time since the 1980s, the judges will also honor a work in translation.