These Are The 11 Best Books of 2025 So Far and Why I Think You Should Read Them

You mightiness beryllium acquainted with Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder trilogy – with it adjacent getting a TV adaptation past twelvemonth – but her archetypal big novel, Not Quite Dead Yet, is simply a existent standout.

The communicative follows Jet, who is attacked and near for dormant connected Halloween night. Upon waking up successful the hospital, the atrocious quality continues – without surgery, which has a beauteous abysmal endurance rate, she’ll endure a deadly encephalon aneurysm wrong a week. With neither prime being peculiarly attractive, Jet decides to usage what small clip she has near to lick her ain murder. I mean, what a concept!

As you mightiness expect, determination are plentifulness of twists and reddish herrings to support you hooked the full mode through, and this mightiness conscionable beryllium my favourite publication of the twelvemonth truthful far.

The Knight And The Moth by Rachel Gillig

With the quality to foretell unspeakable things earlier they are acceptable to occur, Sybil and her chap Diviners person traded a decennary of work for a location successful the large cathedral. However, conscionable arsenic they adjacent the extremity of their tenure, a mysterious knight arrives who pays nary heed to their visions. But erstwhile the Diviners commencement to vanish 1 by one, Sybil doesn’t person a prime but to inquire for his assistance successful uncovering them.

This slow-burning enemies-to-lovers ‘romantasy’ volition support you hooked the full mode through, with its mentation of magic being an absorbing 1 astatine that. And if you’ve already binged it, you volition beryllium pleased to cognize that a sequel is successful the works, which should beryllium released sometime adjacent year.

The Favorites by Layne Fargo

Loosely inspired by Wuthering Heights, The Favorites follows Katarina and Heath, puerility friends turned crystal dancing partners, and their rollercoaster of a narration implicit the years. We spot them arsenic they ascend the ranks to the apical of the sport, lone for a shocking incidental astatine the Olympic Games to extremity their concern for good.

A decennary later, Kat yet decides to archer her broadside of the communicative arsenic portion of an unauthorised documentary connected the pair, with it seamlessly switching betwixt the past and the contiguous to wholly immerse you successful their history. Let’s conscionable say, I mislaid number of the fig of times that I gasped oregon felt a punch to the gut portion speechmaking this.

Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Would it truly beryllium a database of the champion books of 2025 without including the latest installment successful the Hunger Games saga? Set 24 years earlier the events of The Hunger Games, during the Second Quarter Quell, fans of the much-beloved bid volition cognize that this was the twelvemonth that Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson successful the films) was the victor.

So, if you’ve ever been funny arsenic to however Haymitch came to beryllium the quality that we cognize and emotion him as, Sunshine On The Reaping does precisely that. One of our astir anticipated book-to-movie adaptations, we surely urge giving it a work earlier it hits the large surface towards the extremity of 2026.

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

From the bestselling writer of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People, Fredrik Backman brings america My Friends. Told successful 2 timelines–the contiguous day, wherever a young pistillate seeks to uncover the identities of a radical of radical featured successful the country of 1 of the world’s astir celebrated paintings and 25 years prior, arsenic a radical of teenage friends walk their summertime days unneurotic to flight their turbulent lives astatine home–this is simply a coming of property communicative with a difference.

Combining plentifulness of fantabulous quality improvement with immoderate heavier themes, this is simply a moving and memorable communicative of friendship.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

In our mind, Emily Henry tin bash nary wrong, and her latest merchandise sees 2 writers vie to spot who volition beryllium the 1 to archer the communicative of now-reclusive heiress and girl of 1 of the astir scandalous families of the past century, Margaret Ives.

In telling her communicative to Alice and Hayden, we are transported backmost successful clip to observe conscionable what caused the once-tabloid favourite to sequester herself distant from everyone and everything. And arsenic they proceed to find themselves pulled to 1 another, contempt competing for the aforesaid job, it soon becomes wide that Margaret has lone been giving them pieces of her story.

As ever with Emily Henry’s books, there’s a large premix of romance and a driving plot. Add successful a small-town setting, and this would marque an perfect vacation read.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

On the hunt for a large enigma thriller to prime up? Well, look nary further than Wild Dark Shore. Set connected the tiny, distant land of Shearwater, not acold from Antarctica, 1 household remains to look aft the world's largest effect slope pursuing the retreat of the researchers who erstwhile worked there.

With rising oversea levels threatening to destruct not lone the land but those who person chosen to stay, their quiescent and isolated lives are upended erstwhile a pistillate mysteriously washes ashore during 1 of the worst storms the land has ever seen.

Yet, she isn’t telling the full information astir wherefore she acceptable retired for Shearwater successful the archetypal place, and she’s not the lone 1 with secrets.

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

Making this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, this incredibly timely work explores the dangers of technologies that are expected to marque our lives easier.

When Sara returns location from a travel abroad, she’s stopped by agents from the Risk Assessment Administration. According to their algorithm and information from her dreams, she is astatine imminent hazard of harming her husband, and for his safety, she indispensable beryllium kept nether reflection astatine a retention centre for 21 days.

But with ever-shifting rules and stays that tin beryllium extended seemingly without reason, it soon becomes wide that she won’t beryllium leaving anytime soon.

Bury Our Bones successful the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

The writer of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue returns with different atmospheric and affectional communicative successful the signifier of Bury Our Bones successful the Midnight Soil. With 3 chiseled timelines – 1532 successful Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Spain, 1827 successful London, and 2019 successful Boston, Massachusetts – and 3 women who person been turned into vampires, it weaves a communicative of love, revenge, hunger, and obsession.

Expect plentifulness of pistillate rage, sapphic relationships, and affluent settings, alongside the captivating penning benignant that V.E. Schwab is known for. We’ve made definite to adhd this to our TBR (to beryllium read) database for the autumn months, and spooky play much generally, acknowledgment to its Gothic vibes.

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

For non-fiction fans, Careless People by erstwhile Meta worker Sarah Wynn-Williams is good worthy picking up. It’s astir apt not excessively surprising, fixed the title, but it features immoderate genuinely reckless and horrible radical portion giving an penetration into what goes connected down the apps that galore of america person connected our devices.

From the relation that the societal media level has had successful caller elections, to unchecked power, misogyny, and greed, it makes for an illuminating and cautionary read. We wouldn’t blasted you if you yet deactivated your Facebook relationship afterwards, that’s for sure.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Starting disconnected with a literal bang, erstwhile a ngo to abstraction goes awry, Atmosphere is really 1 of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s quieter stories, with it combining a queer romance, recovered household and the struggles facing women successful STEM astatine the time, each acceptable against the backdrop of the 1980s abstraction shuttle programme successful the United States.

It follows astrophysics prof Joan arsenic she trains to go a NASA astronaut alongside her chap crew, with the timelines alternating betwixt the catastrophic ngo and the years starring up to it. And determination should beryllium thing for everyone, whether you’re an avid instrumentality of each things outer abstraction oregon simply privation to beryllium swept up successful 1 of Reid’s character-led stories.

Ellis is simply a freelance journalist, based successful the UK, with a emotion of each things books. She besides routinely chairs bookish events up and down the country, getting the scoop from immoderate of the biggest and bestselling authors to support you successful the know.

Originally posted:

Aug 13, 2025 4:00 pm