25 Books To Read In 2025

So, you’ve set your Goodreads reading challenge goal, you’ve cleared a space on your nightstand, and you’re left wondering: “what should I read in 2025”? Luckily, you’ve got me to guide you! Here are 25 books to read in 2025 – both brand-new titles and books drawn from the backlist that you can probably already get your hands on at your local library.

New Books To Read In 2025

Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Release date: 18 March 2025

Blurb: “As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight… and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.” Pre-order Sunrise On The Reaping here.

Witchcraft For Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Release date: 14 January 2025

Blurb: “They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to Wellwood House in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, to give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened. Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely.” Buy Witchcraft For Wayward Girls here.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Release date: 3 June 2025

Blurb: “Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space. As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined.” Pre-order Atmosphere here.

Out Of The Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young

Release date: 28 January 2025

Blurb: “High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs. But Sarah has begun to wonder… who is she without her other half? In a desperate attempt to fix what they fear is breaking, Sarah and Caleb make the spontaneous decision to get out of their comfort zones and join a grueling hiking trip intended to guide couples through rough patches. What follows is a life-affirming comedy of errors as two nature-averse people fight their way out of the woods in order to find their way back to their roots.” Pre-order Out Of The Woods here.

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

Release date: 18 February 2025

Blurb: “It’s the height of the industrial revolution and ten years into Lenore’s marriage to steel magnate Henry, their relationship has soured. When Henry’s ambitions take them from London to the remote British moorlands to host a hunting party, a shocking carriage accident brings the mysterious Carmilla into their lives. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night. Carmilla, who stirs up something deep within Lenore. And before long, girls from the local villages fall sick, consumed by a terrible hunger…” Pre-order Hungerstone here.

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata

Release date: 15 April 2025

Blurb: “As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents “copulated” in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-twentieth century. Amane strives to get away from what she considers an indoctrination in this strange “system” by her mother, but her infatuations with both anime characters and real people have a sexual force that is undeniable. As an adult in an appropriately sexless marriage—sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest—Amane and her husband Saku decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally, and every person is considered a Mother to all children.” Pre-order Vanishing World here.

Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo

Release date: 20 April 2025

Blurb: “Call Me Ishmaelle reimagines the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick from a female perspective. As the American Civil War breaks out in 1861, Ishmaelle boards the Nimrod, a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors in Polynesian harpooner, Kauri, and Taoist monk, Muzi, whose readings of the I-Ching guide their quest. Through the bloody male violence of whaling, and the unveiling of her feminine identity, Ishmaelle realises there is a mysterious bond between herself and the mythical white whale, Moby Dick.”

The Favourites by Layne Fargo

Release date: 14 January 2025

Blurb: “She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family’s support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating—and each other—to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller-coaster relationship. Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end.” Buy The Favourites here.

Stag Dance by Torrey Peters

Release date: 11 March 2025

Blurb: “Three startling stories surround Stag Dance: “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” imagines a gender apocalypse brought about by an unstable ex-girlfriend. In “The Chaser,” a secret romance between roommates at a Quaker boarding school brings out intrigue and cruelty. In the last story, “The Masker,” a party weekend on the Las Vegas strip turns dark when a young crossdresser must choose between two guides: a handsome mystery man who objectifies her in thrilling ways, or a cynical veteran trans woman offering unglamorous sisterhood.” Pre-order Stag Dance here.

Monsterland by Nicholas Jubber

Release date: 6 May 2025

Blurb: “Monsters, in all their terrifying glory, have preoccupied humans since we began telling stories. But where did these stories come from? In Monsterland, award-winning author Nicholas Jubber goes on a journey to discover more about the monsters we’ve invented, lurking in the dark and the wild places of the earth―giants, dragons, ogres, zombies, ghosts, demons―all with one thing in common: their ability to terrify. Artfully written, Monsterland is a fascinating interrogation into why we need these monsters and what they can tell us about ourselves―how they bind communities together as much as they cruelly cast away outsiders.” Pre-order Monsterland here.

What Happens In Amsterdam by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Release date: 6 May 2025

Blurb: “Wouter van Leeuwen was a Dutch exchange student Dani’s family hosted, a forbidden love that ended in a painful breakup. Years later, there’s still sizzling chemistry between them, and okay, maybe a little animosity. More importantly, Wouter needs to be married to inherit a gorgeous family home on a canal—and when Dani’s job falls apart, she needs a visa. As the marriage of convenience pushes them together in unexpected ways, Dani must decide whether her new life is yet another mistake—or if it’s worth taking a risk on a second chance.” Pre-order What Happens In Amsterdam here.

We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin

Release date: 28 January 2025

Blurb: “Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal, but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. But Sigrid’s detachment veils a deeper turmoil and sensitivity. She’s haunted by the pains of her past—from pretending her parents were swamp monsters when they shook the floorboards with their violent arguments to grappling with losing Greta’s friendship to the opioid epidemic ravaging their town.” Pre-order We Could Be Rats here.

Back After This by Linda Holmes

Release date: 25 February 2025

Blurb: “Cecily would rather do anything other than put her singledom on display (ugh) or take advice from the internet (UGH). But when her boss hints that doing the podcast is the only way to protect a friend’s job, she realizes she has no choice. To make matters more complicated, once she’s committed to twenty blind dates of Eliza’s choosing, Cecily finds herself unable to stop thinking about Will, a photographer she helped to rescue a very big and very lovable lost dog. Even though there are sparks between the two, Will’s own path is uncertain, and Eliza’s skeptical comments about Cecily’s decision-making aren’t helping. On the one hand, Will seems great. But on the other hand… don’t they all?” Pre-order Back After This here.

The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue

Release date: 18 March 2025

Blurb: “Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more.” Pre-order The Paris Express here.

Backlist Books To Read In 2025

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

A film adaptation of The Love Hypothesis was announced back in 2022 – the release has to be getting close!

Blurb: “Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships—but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor—and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend.” Read my full review of The Love Hypothesis here.

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Lesbian librarians saving the world by fighting book bans? Upright Women Wanted is only going to become more relevant over the next four years…

Blurb: “Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her―a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda. The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing.” Read my full review of Upright Women Wanted here.

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Cozzie livs got you down? Turn to the classics to help you make sense of it.

Blurb: “The story of Oliver Twist – orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath – shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters – the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull’s Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.” Read my full review of Oliver Twist here.

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

Elon might’ve declared that he wants “less negativity” on Twitter, but the days of the social media pile-on are far from over.

Blurb: “A great renaissance of public shaming is sweeping our land. Justice has been democratized. The silent majority are getting a voice. But what are we doing with our voice? We are mercilessly finding people’s faults. We are defining the boundaries of normality by ruining the lives of those outside it. We are using shame as a form of social control. Simultaneously powerful and hilarious in the way only Jon Ronson can be, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed is a deeply honest book about modern life, full of eye-opening truths about the escalating war on human flaws – and the very scary part we all play in it.” Read my full review of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed here.

Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner

You’re liable to hear a lot of garbage economics “facts” over the next little while – in fact, they’ll probably quote Freakonomics directly, so best familiarise yourself with the source text.

Blurb: “Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Which should be feared more: snakes or french fries? Why do sumo wrestlers cheat? In this groundbreaking book, leading economist Steven Levitt—Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and winner of the American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark medal for the economist under 40 who has made the greatest contribution to the discipline—reveals that the answers. Joined by acclaimed author and podcast host Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt presents a brilliant—and brilliantly entertaining—account of how incentives of the most hidden sort drive behavior in ways that turn conventional wisdom on its head.” Read my full review of Freakonomics here.

Doppelganger by Naomi Klein

With the proliferation of AI and related mis- and dis-information, the uncanny feeling of false reflections online is only going to become more common.

Blurb: “Not long ago, the celebrated activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein was confronted with a Doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who. Destabilized, she lost her bearings, until she began to understand the experience as one manifestation of a strangeness many of us have come to know but struggle to define: AI-generated text is blurring the line between genuine and spurious communication; New Age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers are scrambling familiar political allegiances of left and right; and liberal democracies are teetering on the edge of absurdist authoritarianism, even as the oceans rise. Under such conditions, reality itself seems to have become unmoored. Is there a cure for our moment of collective vertigo?” Read my full review of Doppelganger here.

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

It’s been over ten years since the English translation of Sapiens came out, and people are STILL talking about it – so if you haven’t read it yet, this is your year!

Blurb: “Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.” Read my full review of Sapiens here.

This House Of Grief by Helen Garner

There’s never a bad time to read Helen Garner – and This House Of Grief, sadly, only becomes more relevant as more men kill the women they married or the children they fathered.

Blurb: “On the evening of 4 September 2005, Father’s Day, Robert Farquharson, a separated husband, was driving his three sons home to their mother, Cindy, when his car left the road and plunged into a dam. The boys, aged 10, seven and two, drowned. Was this an act of revenge or a tragic accident? The court case became Helen Garner’s obsession. She followed it on its protracted course until the final verdict.” Read my full review of This House Of Grief here.

Columbine by Dave Cullen

More than two decades after the Columbine tragedy, school shootings are STILL happening in the U.S. – read this definitive account to re-fuel the fight for better gun control.

Blurb: “Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of “spectacle murders.” It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year. What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we “know” is wrong. It wasn’t about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account.” Read my full review of Columbine here.

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

The #MeToo movement isn’t over – in fact, the power of truth telling grows only stronger over time. Susan Choi’s coming-of-age novel has more resonance with each passing year.

Blurb: “The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.” Read my full review of Trust Exercise here.

Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin

Emily Austin’s new novel is coming out soon – so if you want to be a completist, you’ve got to read Interesting Facts About Space first!

Blurb: “Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she’s not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she’s serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. When she unwittingly plunges into her first serious romantic entanglement, Enid starts to believe that someone is following her. As her paranoia spirals out of control, Enid must contend with her mounting suspicion that something is seriously wrong with her. Because at the end of the day there’s only one person she can’t outrun—herself.”