The start of Hollywood’s awards season has been marked by highs and lows for Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.

On Monday night, the writer and director was present when his film It Was Just an Accident won big at New York’s Gotham Awards, which celebrate independent movies. Hours earlier, his lawyer shared that Panahi was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison in Iran.

According to his lawyer, Mostafa Nili, who posted about the sentence on X and shared the news with Agence France-Presse, the sentence also includes a two-year ban on travel from Iran and a prohibition of any association with political groups, on charges of “propaganda activities against the system.” Nili added that Panahi’s legal team plans to appeal the ruling.

Last month, Panahi toured the U.S. for the first time to promote It Was Just An Accident, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film follows a group of ex-prisoners in Iran who consider seeking revenge on a man they believe to be their former jailer. The international co-production from Iran, France and Luxembourg is France’s submission for best international feature for the Oscars. It Was Just An Accident was shot in secret, a common practice for Iranian filmmakers.

At the Gotham Awards, which many consider to be the starting point for awards season, Panahi picked up three major prizes, including best international feature and best director. In his acceptance speech for best original screenplay, he dedicated the award to “filmmakers who keep the camera rolling in silence, without support, and at times risking everything they have, only with their faith in truth and humanity.”

“I hope that this dedication would be considered a small tribute,” he added, through an interpreter, “to all filmmakers who have been deprived of the right to see and to be seen, but continue to create and to exist.”

Panahi’s sentencing was not his first. The director was previously arrested in Iran in 2010, sparking public outcry from filmmaking giants such as Martin Scorsese, who denounced the ruling at Cannes that year. Although his sentence in 2010 included a 20-year ban on filmmaking, Panahi continued to make films in secret, including two documentaries, This Is Not a Film (2011) and Taxi (2015), the first of which was smuggled out of Iran on a USB stick.

In 2022, he was again arrested after seeking information on the charges against fellow Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. He was detained for seven months and released in 2023 after a hunger strike.

Panahi is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers to come out of Iran in recent decades. He is one of only four directors to win the highest competitive prizes at the “big three” film festivals — at Cannes, Venice and Berlin — and is especially celebrated for his defiance of the Iranian government’s censorship. Despite his multiple arrests, Panahi has repeatedly stated that he can’t see himself leaving Iran for good, and he remains committed to making his films there and nurturing the next generation of filmmakers in his home country.

With more than 200 fiction titles in our annual Books We Love guide, it’s tough to narrow our 2025 favorites down into one single-digit list. But there are always a few standouts, and in the picks below you’ll find a little bit of everything that we enjoyed this year: romance, fantasy and sci-fi, oh my!

Curious about the rest of our fiction recommendations? Head to the full Books We Love site to browse hundreds of selections from 2025, and thousands from years past.

Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid will agree that Atmosphere is one of her best books yet. This thrilling fictional portrayal of NASA’s space shuttle program in the 1980s doesn’t miss. It opens with Joan in Mission Control managing a catastrophe on the shuttle. Then readers flash back almost five years to learn how each of the astronauts earned their place on the mission. The novel is immediately complex, compelling and high stakes. I recommend listening on audiobook so readers don’t destroy a paper copy with tears. Themes include sexism in the workplace, LGBTQ relationships and found family. — Jenna Molster, manager, Rights and Permissions

The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami

Archivist and mother Sara T. Hussein gets detained at an airport. Her crime? A dream deemed too high risk by an AI algorithm. Writing incisively, Laila Lalami brilliantly builds a world where a pre-crime system collides with surveillance capitalism. With the novel’s compelling cast of characters and endless parallels to today, I found The Dream Hotel instructive for navigating a society beset by mass surveillance – where the only escape can be found in shouldering risk together. — Emily Kwong, host, Short Wave and Inheriting

The Everlasting, by Alix E. Harrow

First things first, The Everlasting is not a book you’re going to get over easily. It’s razor sharp and designed to cut you deeply. You’ll be moved, you’ll probably cry, and by the end you’ll say thank you for delivering my suffering so beautifully. This story follows a scholar and a mythical (lady) knight who have lived the same story countless times – caught in a historical time loop. It’s a book about storytelling, and how nationalism cannot exist without the support of a well-told myth. It’s a thrashing examination of how we choose our heroes. And, most importantly, it’s a love story – about two people who learn over and over again that they’re doomed in every possible way but still choose each other anyway. What exquisite agony, wonderfully delivered. — Kalyani Saxena, associate producer, Here & Now

Great Big Beautiful Life, by Emily Henry

Journalist Alice Scott has stumbled upon what just might be her big break – a shot at writing the biography of a tragic heiress and onetime tabloid princess turned recluse no one has seen in years. But to win the book contract, Alice must compete with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Hayden Anderson. As Alice and Hayden continue to bump into each other on the fictional Little Crescent Island off the Georgia coast, they begin to see beneath the personas both portray to the outside world, and sparks fly. This is a story about romance, but also about family, secrets and betrayal. — Rachel Baye, editor, NPR Politics Podcast

King of Ashes, by S.A. Cosby

Family secrets are something and in this Southern crime drama, they burn! When Roman Carruthers’ elderly father is incapacitated by the local drug gang, this prodigal son returns to set things right and protect his hapless younger brother and his hardworking sister. She needs help keeping the family crematorium business going. Know what’s good for getting rid of a body you don’t want around? A crematorium! Roman gets pulled in deeper and deeper as he tries to take down the gang from the inside, just as his sister thinks she’s uncovered the mystery of what really happened to their long-missing mother. This story spins and spins violently to a dark and satisfying conclusion. — Melissa Gray, senior producer, Weekend Edition

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

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The South, by Tash Aw

At times, Tash Aw’s The South evokes the quiet intensity of Chekhov. It explores the contradictions within a Malaysian family: generational divides, subtle tensions around sexuality, and class differences – set against the backdrop of late-1990s Malaysia during the Asian financial crisis. At its heart is Jay Lim, a teenager navigating desire and identity amid the disarray of a failing family farm. This coming-of-age novel, longlisted for the Booker Prize, is the first in a planned quartet. It’s a strong opening, and a compelling reason to anticipate the Lim family’s journey in the volumes to come. — Vincent Ni, Asia editor, International Desk

Sunrise on the Reaping, by Suzanne Collins

Rebel plots, bootleg liquor, underdog alliances and Edgar Allan Poe-try all await you in the latest addition to the Hunger Games universe. Sunrise on the Reaping is the long-awaited account of Haymitch Abernathy’s path to victory during the 50th annual Hunger Games. With double the number of children sent into the arena and appearances from a cast of familiar characters, this book provides an entirely new perspective on the history of Panem. While Haymitch’s victory at the the end of this book is not a surprise, the stakes still feel higher than ever in the small wins and losses that Haymitch and his loved ones face both in, and outside, the arena. — Dhanika Pineda, assistant producer, NPR Music

Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy

A father and his three (teen and tween) kids live, not exactly harmoniously, on a sinking research island off Antarctica. It’s home to the world’s biggest seed vault and no other humans – until a mysterious woman washes ashore in a storm. Suspicions arise and trust is tested as the family helps the woman regain her strength. Wild Dark Shore is a thrilling page-turner, but all the action and suspense disguise something deeper: a beautiful meditation on love, loss and resilience in the face of climate change. — Rachel Treisman, reporter, General Assignment

This is just a fraction of the 380+ titles we included in Books We Love this year. Click here to check out this year’s titles, or browse nearly 4,000 books from the last 13 years.

Welcome to our sixth year of free and festive phone and computer backgrounds created by Los Angeles artists. This year our designs were created by people who were in some way impacted by the fires in Altadena or the Pacific Palisades. For our loyal print subscribers (thank you!), the Dec. 7 issue of the Los Angeles Times will have these designs as prints you can use as wrapping paper. If you’re local but not a subscriber, go in search of a copy. The grocery store is a good place to check.

Download your favorite designs below and learn a bit more about the artists and what they love about their L.A. communities.

Find past versions of the project (and lots more free backgrounds) at these links: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.

Jess Miller

Jess Miller is a Los Angeles-born and -raised illustrator, designer and content creator celebrated for her vibrant hand lettering, whimsical characters and bold surface pattern designs. Her artwork appears across a wide range of products, from planners and phone cases to rugs, greeting cards and apparel, bringing her signature mix of color and joy to everyday life.

On community in L.A.: “Rooted in storytelling and playful detail, my work is deeply inspired by the plants, wildlife, and everyday magic of Los Angeles. Whether it’s the chatter of wild parrots in the trees or the golden glow of citrus groves at sunset, I find endless inspiration in the natural beauty of my city.”

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Austin Scott

Austin Scott is a visual artist, film editor and director based in Altadena who has gained renown post-Eaton fire through his large-scale public murals and black-and-white coloring-book style. From his joyful depiction of businesses lost in the blaze at Unincorporated Coffee Roasters, to a 30-foot-tall peacock inspiring kids to “dream bigger” at Alma Fuerte Public Charter School, Scott is dedicated to bringing smiles to people’s faces in the hardest of times through his art.

On community in L.A.: “In Altadena, community, creativity and diversity come together to create an incomparable synergy of vibrations that you have to be here to believe. Although our town has been through the worst thing imaginable this year, the strength and connectivity of the people here are unmatched, and indicative of what will no doubt be a collective rise from the ashes.”

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Julia Wolinsky

Julia Wolinsky is an illustrator and designer from Pacific Palisades whose vibrant, hyperrealistic watercolor drawings explore how memory and emotion live within everyday moments. Rooted in her family’s tradition of expressing love through food, her work celebrates beauty, detail and the unseen stories within familiar subjects. In addition to her food-centered pieces, she creates portraits of people, botanicals and depictions of everyday objects that reflect shared histories, rituals and the shifting nature of contemporary life.

After losing her childhood home in the Palisades fire, Wolinsky began illustrating her hometown as a way to process loss and rediscover belonging through art. Her work has been exhibited at the Brand Library in Glendale, the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles and the San Francisco International Airport, and has been published by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

On community in L.A.: “I grew up in Pacific Palisades and my husband grew up in Altadena. In a matter of hours we lost both of our hometowns. I got to know Altadena through him and visiting his family there. The Palisades was always a place I would often go back to and reminisce about what it was like growing up there. One thing I miss about both places is they have their own small-town feel and unique character. You just can’t easily re-create the feeling that you got being there. I wanted these patterns to capture their individual and unique personalities and remind me of the landmarks that I remember most from being there.”

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Keiji Ishida

Keiji Ishida is an artist and a graphic designer currently residing in Joshua Tree. He uses repeated characters and motifs that often find their way through various mediums. His process is design-oriented while revealing the imperfections and efforts of the handmade.

On community in L.A.: “I grew up in Los Angeles, and the city’s rich diversity, incredible food, unique architecture and landscapes, and strong sense of community continue to inspire me. L.A. remains one of my favorite places and a recurring theme throughout my work.”

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Meagan Boyd

Meagan Boyd is a Southern California–based artist and poet whose work blends ritual, ancestral memory and celestial symbolism into luminous visual poems. Through handmade pigments, intuitive process and mythic storytelling, her paintings honor the interconnectedness of all beings and the sacred nature of everyday life.

On community in L.A.: “I live in Altadena, a tight-knit and resilient community that came together with so much tenderness and strength during and after the Eaton fire. I love how our neighborhood continues to protect its natural beauty and deep sense of belonging, determined to maintain its charm and care for one another through everything.”

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Lili Todd

Lili Todd is an L.A.-raised illustrator and ceramic artist based in Yucca Valley whose work reflects her inherently optimistic spirit and interest in folk art, traditional craft and risograph printing.

On community in L.A.: “The Los Angeles art community is what shaped me as a person and quite literally raised me. Having creative spaces so readily available across the city, including the Creative Arts Group pottery studio in Sierra Madre, Giant Robot gallery on Sawtelle and Remainders Creative Reuse store in Pasadena (to name a few), is a truly magical experience that I will be forever grateful for. Thank you to all the small businesses that make up L.A. — a city like no other.”

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Srimoyee Acharya

Srimoyee Acharya is an Altadena-based artist whose work features whimsical designs showcasing nature, backyard wildlife, and pets. Her illustrated goods brand, Srimoyee Handmade, supports animal rescue groups, and she has donated nearly $15,000 since starting her business.

On community in L.A.: “What I miss most about Altadena is how much my community loved and cared for local plants and wildlife. Neighbors put up ‘peacock crossing’ signs at intersections to protect the flock of nearly 40 peacocks that lived down the street (this flock is still residing and thriving!), and many gardens were filled with native plants and flowers.”

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