Bookmark these 25 new books to read in 2025
At this point it's safe to say our TBR lists are never ending (as is the stack of books in the corner of my room) but with a new year approaching, there's plenty more books we will have to add to that list. From our favourite authors returning with new novels, such as Emily Henry, Nicola Dinan and Emma Gannon, to exciting new debuts from the winners of the #Merky Prize, to thought provoking memoirs and heart-racing thrillers. Whatever your go-to genre is, there's a lot of must-read books heading your way in 2025 and these are the 25 at the top of our TBR.
The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
If you loved the Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo then you will be obsessed with this. Cate Kay is one of the world's most famous novelists, with a movie franchise and even theme park in the works and yet she's completely anonymous. In Fagan's debut novel we go into the complicated history of the elusive writer and discover just what made her keep her identity a secret from the world.
Out on 7th January
So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne
I could not put down this novel from Holly Bourne. Its told from the POVs of four best friends, and set across the events of one sweltering hot baby shower, which ends in a fire breaking out (that's not a spoiler BTW, the novel literally opens with the fire). Throughout the chapters the women reflect on their complex feelings towards motherhood, and the wanting or not wanting of children, and how this impacts their friendships, relationships and view of themselves.
Out on 16th January
How To Sleep At Night by Elizabeth Harris
From New York Times reporter Elizabeth Harris comes a novel that could not be more apt for today's political climate. It revolves around two couples, there's Ethan and Gabe who have a pretty good life, that is until Ethan wants to run for congress as a Republican, while Gabe is firmly on the opposite end of the political spectrum. And then there's Ethan's sister Kate who has lost interest in her politics reporting and finds comfort in her girlfriend Nicole, who is now married, but soon everything begins to tail-spin out of control.
Out on 16th January
Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
The author of Bellies is back with a new sharply insightful, warm and heartbreaking novel. Meet Max, she's just entered her 30s and everything is going great. Right?! Yeah not quite. She's a published poet but spends most of her time working as a legal counsel for a tech company. After falling down the stairs at a New Year's Eve party, she decides to go back on the dating apps, where she meets Vincent. Can she trust him? How will she fit in with his conservative friends and family? And will Vincent's own experiences from his younger teenage self sabotage everything they've built?
Out on 23rd January
The Lamb by Lucy Rose
2025 is the year of er, cannibals?! Well at least in this novel. Lucy Rose's debut follows the childhood of Margot, a young girl who lives with her mother in a cottage in the woods, and they have a less than conventional diet. They're content in their unusual world and yet when a stray names Eden turns up who shifts everything in their cottage, Margot must come to turn with the changing family dynamic, question her own desires and what the future ultimately holds for her.
Out on 30th January
Sweat by Emma Healey
If you spend all of January desperately trying to avoid diet culture BS, then you need to read this book. Cassie is a PT who has finally regained control of her life after leaving a toxic relationship with her fitness obsessed ex Liam. And yet when Liam turns up in her gym two years after their breakup, as a very different man, Cassie realises she is the one who holds the power now. But will she use it?
Out on 30th January
Homesick by Silvia Saunders
This is a heart-warmingly relatable novel that will seriously hit home if you've ever felt overwhelmed or slightly out of place in a big city like London. After coming into some family money Mara manages to buy a small flat of her own. And yet it doesn't really feel like home, especially thanks to her nosy and noisy neighbours. Just as she's starting to settle in her boyfriend moves back home, will she ever start to feel comfortable within herself and her flat?
Out on 30th January
Bibliophobia: A Memoir by Sarah Chihaya
This memoir is a must for anyone who's ever read a book that they felt was just written for them alone. Chiyaya details her journey with depression through the books that most profoudnly impacted her which she affectionatly dubs "life ruiners". Thrhough reflections on Anne of Green Gables, to The Last Samurai, details her life up until this point touching on everything from cultural identity, relationships, success, academia and above all our complex connections with books.
Out on 4th February
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
What would you do if you were disowned by your mother and dumped by your partner? Well in Fundamentally the main character Nadia gets a job in the UN in Iraq helping to rehabilitiate ISIS women. It's there she strikes up a friendship with Sara who joined ISIS when she was 15 years old. Their bond is strong but when Sara confesses a secret, Nadia will have to make the most difficult of choices.
Out on 25th February
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
From the writer of We Should All Be Feminists, comes a new novel centred on the lives and loves of four women. There's Chiamaka a Nigerian travel writer living in America who reflects on her past loves while alone in the pandemic. Her best friend Zikora, a lawyer, who gets betrayed and must turn to the person she thought she needed least. Chiamaka’s cousin Omelogor, who is a financial powerhouse in Nigeria and yet is struggling with understanding herself. And finally Chiamaka’s housekeeper, Kadiatou, who is raising her daughter in America but soon a threat appears to come for everything she has worked so hard to achieve.
Out on 4th March
Madame Matisse by Sophie Haydock
Based on a true story, this historical fiction novel is set in the 1930s French Riviera and revolves around the story of three very important women in Henri Matisse' life. There's his wife Amelie, who has given up everything to support her husband in the last 40 years, their daughter Marguerite who is caught in the crossfires of her parents, and Lydia, a Russian emigree who has fled her homeland and finds work with the Matisses, which is sure to set the family on a collision course.
Out on 6th March
Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley
Joe and Percy are both music obsessed, and when Joe plays Percy one of his songs in college, she puts aside her jealousy and aims to help Joe make a career from his talent. As Joe begins to shine in the spotlight can the two grow together and keep their love going, or is it all destined to implode?
Out on 13th March
Raw Content by Naomi Booth
Despite being careful in her legal profession, the same can't be said for Grace's personal life. Her father's work in the police force hangs over and she finds herself acting our recklessly. So when she finds herself accidentally pregnant, her baby's vulnerability frightens her and repressed memories start to come to the surface.
Out on 13th March
A Beautiful Lack of Consequence by Monika Radojevic
Winner of the #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize Monika Radojevic is bringing to our bookshelves her debut short story collection. With 30 tales looking at modern womanhood you're sure to be left feeling entertained, in deep thought and with new found pride in the strength of women.
Out on 20th March
Room on the Sea by André Aciman
The author of Call Me By Your Name returns for another romantic tale. This time it's set in New York and centres on Paul and Catherine who begin an intense flirtation while waiting to be selected for jury service. Not exactly the most romantic of locations. Over the course of the week they leave their normal lives behind and enter a romantic fantasy, but by they end of it they must decide whether to act on this fantasy or leave it firmly in the past.
Out on 10th April
Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford
It's a summer's day in 1989 in New England. The adults are too busy to realise one of the youngest children has disappeared. But her fellow cousins know and they seem something sinister at the edge of the forest of the house. They embark on the challenge themselves, to get through their grandmother's sprawling estate, uncovering family secrets, and find their missing cousin Abi and bring her back.
Out on 17th April
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
One of BookTok's favourite authors Emily Henry is returning in April next year with a new story. When speaking to Cosmopolitan UK earlier this year, Emily revealed she was working on something a little different to her usual romcoms, "I'm working on something new. It is definitely still a love story. And there is still a romance in it, but it does feel like a slight departure, hopefully in a way that readers will be excited about. It was very exciting to me as I was writing it." The result? Great Big Beautiful Life, a story about two writers who are both vying for the chance to tell the story of Margaret Ives, a famous, but reclusive, heiress.
Out on 24th April
Table for One by Emma Gannon
Willow has it all - the partner, the house, the career and so when it all comes crumbling down, she finds herself feeling utterly alone and behind all her friends. However, inspiration can come from anywhere and she finds herself working on the most important relationship she's been seriously neglecting - the one with herself.
Out on 24th April
What A Time To Be Alive by Jenny Mustard
Ready to reflect on all your firsts? Mustard's novel will instantly transport you back there as she shares the story of Sickan, who moves to university in Stockholm. In a new place she decides to reinvent herself, finds new friends and even love with a man who unlike her is completely at ease with himself.
Out on 24th April
This Is Not a Game by Kelly Mullen
A thriller novel with a difference. Mimi and her granddaughter Addie make for an unlikely duo, even less so a pair of detectives, and yet that's exactly what they must become after they attend an impressive party at a socialite's mansion, only for her to turn up dead. And then another body is discovered and the two must race against the clock to find the killer.
Out on 24th April
Albion by Anna Hope
This book, its fascinating characters, steady paced plot and haunting prose will stay with you long after reading. Set over the course of one weekend the Brookes family come back together to their ancestral home for the funeral of their father. Told from each family members' point of view you come to understand the complex secrets they're all clutching onto and their unique relationships with the house and surrounding grounds. Tensions are rising and things are only fractured further with the arrival of a newcomer Clara, who has a secret that will unearth everything they think they know about the home all their identities are so closely interwoven with.
Out on 1st May
Gunk by Saba Sams
From the writer of Send Nudes comes the novel Gunk. Yes, we are obsessed with the title. The novel explores the multi-layered relationship between two women, Jules and Nim. Jules runs a nightclub with her ex-husband that young Nim soon comes to work at. When Nim finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at 19 years old Jules agrees to step in and help, but when Nim abandons the baby, Jules is left picking up the pieces, and wondering if Nim will ever return.
Out on 8th May
Sunstruck by William Rayfet Hunter
Yes, we know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but the artwork for Sunstruck is already making us long to be reading this by the sea. Sunstruck is a rich and complex story of privilege, race and love told through the narrator's relationship with the wealthy Felix Blake. Following a sultry summer spent together in the South of France, once the pair return to a dreary London, what does their future hold?
Out on 15th May
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
She's back! The author of The Seven Husband of Evelyn Hugo returns with a new epic love story. This time its set in the 1980s and revolves around an astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin. As she trains alongside fellow astronauts she finds a new found love and passion. But then aboard a mission in December 1984, everything changes...
Out on 3rd June
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
A historical fiction novel with a twist. The Hounding is set in 18th century Oxfordshire and centres on the five Mansfield sisters, who the town have all collectively agreed are odd. And then one long hot summer, the villagers tell stories of the sisters transformed into dogs and soon mass hysteria settles in.
Out on 26th June
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