October 2025 was dominated by books about relationships, psychology and self-understanding. Ukrainian author Katia Blostka took both first and second place, while six of the ten bestselling titles were written by Ukrainian authors.
The list also includes Japanese fiction, Roberto Bolaño and Timothy Snyder.
October Top 10
1. Tak Tobi Y Treba — Katia Blostka
Genre: contemporary Ukrainian nonfiction, relationships.
A personal and humorous book about love, sex, conflict, partnership and learning to choose yourself.
No. 1 at Knyzhkovyi Lev in October.
2. Matera Vam Ne Naimychka — Katia Blostka
Genre: motherhood, Ukrainian nonfiction.
An unidealised look at raising children, exhaustion, partnership and a mother's right to remain an individual.
Blostka taking both first and second place was the clearest trend of the month.
3. Soft Skills: Being Yourself — Olena Zhyltsova & Volodymyr Stanchyshyn
Genre: psychology, management.
A Ukrainian guide to soft skills combining workplace practices with psychology and self-awareness.
4. How to Breathe Freely? A Guide to Decolonisation — Mariam Naiem
Genre: decolonial nonfiction.
A practical exploration of how colonialism shapes memory, language, identity and everyday thinking in Ukraine.
5. Hemingway Knows Nothing — Artur Dron
Genre: contemporary Ukrainian war writing.
Artur Dron's first prose collection reflects on war, brotherhood, fear, faith, death and love through his own military experience and the voices of others.
6. The Travelling Cat Chronicles — Hiro Arikawa
Genre: contemporary Japanese fiction.
A cat named Nana travels across Japan with his owner Satoru in a tender story about friendship, memory, love and farewell. The Ukrainian edition was published in 2025.
7. How to Be an Adult in Relationships — David Richo
Genre: psychology, relationships.
Richo builds his approach to mature love around five qualities: attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection and allowing freedom.
8. For Mum, For Dad — Karina Savaryna
Genre: contemporary Ukrainian fiction.
A psychologically intense novel about childhood trauma, food, love and eating disorders.
9. Murdering Whores — Roberto Bolaño
Genre: Latin American fiction, short stories.
Bolaño's collection combines crime, literature, violence, irony and melancholy. The Ukrainian translation by Oleksii Shendryk was published by Compas in 2025.
10. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin — Timothy Snyder
Genre: history, nonfiction.
Snyder examines the region of Central and Eastern Europe where Nazi and Soviet policies caused the mass deaths of millions of civilians. A new Ukrainian edition was published in 2025.
What October Readers Chose
The strongest theme was relationships and psychology, with four books in the ranking directly connected to relationships, motherhood or personal development.
Another important result: six of the Top 10 titles were written by Ukrainian authors.
This makes the October ranking particularly useful for readers looking for contemporary Ukrainian voices beyond conventional literary fiction.
