39 best books of 2025: From Stephen King epic to the Booker Prize winner
Like we needed another excuse to go book shopping.
It's been a fantastic year for book lovers with some extraordinary releases.
From Stephen King's latest in the Holly Gibney series to the winner of the Man Booker prize, there's been a wealth of literary feasts to devour.
It can be a little daunting seeing so many releases and not quite knowing which books are worth a trip to the shop (not that we really need an excuse).
We at RadioTimes.com have picked out the books you need to buy from 2025 – in no particular order.
39 best book releases of 2025
Here is our list of the best book releases of 2025:
- Normal Women - Ainslie Hogarth
- Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh
- So Thrilled for You - Holly Bourne
- Water Moon - Samantha Sotto Yambao
- Confessions - Catherine Airey
- Made Up, but Still True - Donald Sutherland
- We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes
- The Voices - Natalie Chandler
- Carrion Crow - Heather Parry
- Show Don't Tell - Curtis Sittenfeld
- Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton)
- Universality - Natasha Brown
- A Thousand Blues - Cheon Seon-ran (translated by Chi-Young Kim)
- Deep Cuts - Holly Brickley
- I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan
- Greater Sins - Gabrielle Griffiths
- The Vipers - Katy Hays
- Fair Play - Louise Hegarty
- Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle
- Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros
- The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman
- The Long Shoe - Bob Mortimer
- Never Flinch - Stephen King
- Not Quite Dead Yet - Holly Jackson
- Strange Pictures - Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion
- The Man Who Died Seven Times - Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
- The Compound - Aisling Rawle
- The Killing Stones - Ann Cleeves
- Buckeye - Patrick Ryan
- Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Men in Love - Irvine Welsh
- The Eleventh Hour - Salman Rushdie
- Flashlight - Susan Choi
- What We Can Know - Ian McEwan
- Flesh - David Szalay
- Perfection - Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes
- Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins
- The End of the World as We Know It - Brian Keene & Christopher Golden
Here is all you need to know about these books...
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1. Normal Women - Ainslie Hogarth
Dani, a new mother, has got a fair bit going on in her life. While everything seems to be going well, with her perfectly coiffed hair, she's filled with anxiety that her husband will die, leaving her and her baby with nothing. Her life changes when she goes to a yoga centre, The Temple, which helps women reach their potential through any means necessary. But when the leader goes missing, Dani turns into detective to track her down...
2. Blessings - Chukwuebuka Ibeh
Obiefuna's father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family apprentice, which prompts the strict dad to banish Obiefuna to a boarding school that harbours terrible violence and rules. While alienated from his family, Obiefuna starts a journey of self discovery, bringing together a novel about love and loneliness in this outstanding debut novel.
3. So Thrilled for You - Holly Bourne
Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends for over a decade, but life has its way of pulling them apart - that is, until a baby shower provides the perfect excuse to bring the gang back together. Under the intense heat of a summer day, tensions rise and a fire at the house leaves everyone a suspect - and their friendship damaged forever.
4. Water Moon - Samantha Sotto Yambao
A mysterious disappearance in a pawnshop in Tokyo takes its young owner on a fantastical adventure with a charming physicist. Water Moon is a heartwarming love story for those who love the works of Studio Ghibli.
5. Confessions - Catherine Airey
Confessions is set in the aftermath of 9/11 as teenager Cora is searching for her father who worked in the North Tower. The novel flits between 1970s Donegal and 2001 as one secret takes years to unravel. This one's for fans of Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and is an extraordinary debut novel by Airey, who's bound to be a household name very soon.
6. Made Up, but Still True - Donald Sutherland
The candid and long-awaited personal story of movie legend Donald Sutherland, who will speak open and honestly about his successful career, life and devastating loss.
7. We All Live Here - Jojo Moyes
The Kennedy household is full of secrets, with everyone harbouring something - even the dog has a crime. When something happens in the household, their odd familial relationships will change - for better or for worse.
8. The Voices - Natalie Chandler
Tamsin Shaw has been unresponsive in hospital for 3 years, and when her husband Jamie takes the difficult decision to end treatment, she's listening to everything - and she also hears everything surrounding her accident. Can she wake up in time to get justice for what happened to her?
9. Carrion Crow - Heather Parry
Carrion Crow has been described as a "spine-tingling tale" that explores rampant Victorian colonialism, bodily freedoms and a complex relationship between a mother and a daughter.
10. Show Don't Tell - Curtis Sittenfeld
This collection of 12 short stories will explore the likes of marriage, fame and female friendship, finally putting pen to paper about thoughts we cannot speak.
11. Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Acclaimed author Adichie is back with a novel that's been 10 years in the making. Dream Count is the story of four women and their loves, desires and longings. Set in the pandemic, Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer, reflects on her past decisions while alone in America. Zikora, her best friend, has to turn to someone she thought she didn't need after being left heartbroken. Omelogor, Chiamaka's cousin, questions how well she knows herself. Kadiatou, Chiamaka's housekeeper, is under threat.
Adichie's writing is always exciting and relevant, with her latest novel about to cement her place as a literary great.
12. Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton)
Shaka Isawa was born with a congenital muscle disorder, and as a result has to use an electric wheelchair and ventilator. In the limits of her care home, she lives her life online, studying, tweeting and posting erotica on a blog. When a new male carer reveals he's read it all, she makes an indecent proposal... Hunchback's author was the first disabled author to win Japan's most prestigious literary award (Akutagawa Prize).
13. Universality - Natasha Brown
Those who read Brown's debut, Assembly, will be ready to head to the bookstore on day of release for this one. Universality focuses on a journalist trying to uncover the truth around a brutal bludgeoning of a man with a gold bar in Yorkshire. While she solves the mystery, the journalist's exposé raises more questions than it answers.
Like Assembly, Brown's unflinching use of language will keep you guessing, while cementing her as the most exciting young authors around at the moment. The hype is real.
14. A Thousand Blues - Cheon Seon-ran (translated by Chi-Young Kim)
It's 2035 and two sisters grow up working in a local cafe, but one of them loses their job to an automaton, promoting their family life to become quite uncomfortable. The sisters love their friendship with famous racehorse, Today, but when it's time for the horse to retire, they take it among themselves to rescue the horse before it's put down - and instead of making it go as fast as they can, they have to convince it to go slow. If you love the work of Kazuo Ishiguro, A Thousand Blues will sing to you.
15. Deep Cuts - Holly Brickley
If you're a lover of One Day and High Fidelity, you'll want to pick up Deep Cuts when you can. It's 2000 and Joe and Percy are in college. When Percy hears one of Joe's songs, she realises he's a star, she can help shape his music, and he will leave her for his dreams. With heartbreak on the horizon, will Percy be able to put her feelings aside to help Joe on his path?
16. I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan
As a haunted house story which is set during the rental crisis, the novel follows Áine and Elliot who find a dream rental that's too good to be true - and it is. When strange things start to happen, Áine finds herself not settled and uncomfortable in every facet of life.
Funny, relatable and just so real, I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There will explore the difficult circumstances many young people face today as they enter adulthood.
- I Want to Go Home But I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan
17. Greater Sins - Gabrielle Griffiths
In 1915 Aberdeenshire, a Scottish community is disturbed by the discover of a body in a peat bog that's been perfectly preserved. Lizzie, the wife of a wealthy landowner, and Johnny, a singer and farm hand, pull the body out of the ground as it ends up revealing secrets they themselves are hiding. Greater Sins has an extraordinary sense of place and time, written by an exciting new voice from Scotland.
18. The Vipers - Katy Hays
Hays enjoyed considerably success with her debut novel, The Cloisters, and is set to release her next thriller, The Vipers. This time, we're taken to luxurious Capri as a past murder haunts a rich family. If you love twisty thrillers and The White Lotus, pick up The Vipers in March.
19. Fair Play - Louise Hegarty
Abigail and her brother, Benjamin, have always been close, and to celebrate his birthday, Abigail decides to hire an old house and host a murder mystery party with their friends. While the night gets out of hand, the morning is a sobering affair as Benjamin is found dead, launching a real murder mystery. With everyone a suspect, centring on a locked room and plenty of twists, Fair Play is a prime example of the genre.
20. Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle
Aftertaste focuses on Kostya, a dead-end dishwasher who finds the ability to summon spirits through the food he cooks. With his special gift, he decides to open a restaurant that serves a side of closure with every meal. However, with ghosts of his own, a fragile afterlife preparing to crash and a mysterious lover on the menu, Aftertaste is simply one of those books everyone's going to be talking about.
21. Onyx Storm - Rebecca Yarros
This is the third part in Yarros's romantasy series, following on from Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Our hero, Violet, has to return beyond the walls of Basgiath to find allies to help her in the revolution. This series has taken BookTok by storm for a reason - it's a gripping read and one you'll want to be involved in the discussion about.
22. The Impossible Fortune - Richard Osman
This is the fifth instalment in Osman's charismatic and thrilling Thursday Murder Club series. This time around, a wedding guest in danger seeks help from Elizabeth which in turn sets in motion a complex investigation involving cryptic codes and ruthless villains. This is one of the slickest in the series yet and pushes our beloved bunch beyond the safety of Cooper's Chase.
23. The Long Shoe - Bob Mortimer
Iconic British comedian Bob Mortimer returns for a third outing of his irreverent and fun cosy crime books. Boardroom salesman Matt is at a crossroads in life, but a new job comes along and his life changes as he realises he's perhaps part of something more sinister.. If you love Mortimer's humour, these books are a must-read.
24. Never Flinch - Stephen King
The master of the thriller returns with his beloved character Holly Gibney for a complete page-turner. Two terrible crimes involving a deranged serial killer and a misogynistic stalker start to interweave... a must-read if you love either King, thrillers - or both.
25. Not Quite Dead Yet - Holly Jackson
The author of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder returns with her first ever adult novel. After a terrible attack, Jet is left with just one week left to live before she will eventually succumb to her injuries. She sets upon an ambitious plan to solve her own murder - before it's technically happened. Will she succeed? You'll race through this thrilling novel to find out.
26. Strange Pictures - Uketsu, translated by Jim Rion
This Japanese mystery horror is based around a series of creepy drawings and the reader has to play detective. A young woman makes strange images before her death while a child's horrible picture of his house is drawn and a sketch by a murder victim in his final moments prompts a murder investigation like no other.
27. The Man Who Died Seven Times - Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
Part sci-fi, part murder mystery, Nishizawa's inventive novel sees a man relive the day of his grandfather's death on a time loop while he tries to uncover what really happened on that fateful day. With only a limited amount of times he can rerun the day, can our hero Hisataro prevent his grandfather's death?
28. The Compound - Aisling Rawle
If you're a fan of Love Island and dating shows in general, The Compound flips everything you might think they are on its head. Ten women and 10 men land in a desert and while they're all beautiful, most of them are terrible humans too. Those who couple up and survive to the end will win everything they could ever desire. If they lose? Well, don't think too hard about that. Rawle's dystopian world is haunting and chilling, showcasing the lengths reality TV could get to.
29. The Killing Stones - Ann Cleeves
Jimmy Perez returns in another chilling mystery from the creator of Vera. A violent storm lands on Orkney and leaves a dead body in its wake which causes ripples around the community. Perez has to delve into a personal case to uncover his community's darkness and find out who killed his childhood friend.
30. Buckeye - Patrick Ryan
In a small town in Ohio, Cal and Margaret come together in a moment of passion which is sparked in the aftermath of the Allied victory in Europe. That moment of intimacy will ripple through to the next generation as Ryan explores the meaning of community, love, loss and the need for connection above all.
31. Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid
In the summer of 1980, astrophysicist Joan Goodwin gets the call of a lifetime when she's put on the astronaut training programme at Houston's Johnson Space Centre among excellent candidates from across the country. Joan finds a connection with Vanessa that has a stronger pull than gravity as the pair learn what it means to accept their identities in a world that doesn't always accept them. You'll be in tears by the end of this epic novel.
32. Men in Love - Irvine Welsh
Welsh's iconic Trainspotting crew return in this highly-anticipated sequel to his classic novel. As the late 80s rave culture sweeps over Edinburgh, the boys go looking for love - but will they find it?
33. The Eleventh Hour - Salman Rushdie
Rushdie flits between important locations in his life in this extraordinary novel, asking fundamental questions we will all encounter - how do you cope when you enter the eleventh hour of your life? How do you say goodbye?
34. Flashlight - Susan Choi
Shortlisted for The Booker Prize 2025, Choi's remarkable tale tells the story of one family swept up in the tides of the 20th century, going from post-war Japan to suburban America and the North Korean regime. When Louisa's father disappears, a traumatic mystery commences as she tries to work out what happened to him.
35. What We Can Know - Ian McEwan
A lost poem from 2014 prompts an academic in 2119 to explore what its message could have been when he finds a cryptic clue pointing towards the missing words. What could the poem possibly say? And in a future world, is all really lost?
36. Flesh - David Szalay
The winner of The Booker Prize in 2025 ranges from post-communist Hungary to London. Teenager István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment in Hungary and becomes isolated in his community with his only companion a married woman which causes his life to spiral out of control. Later on, he finds himself in London, carried on the tides of money and power - but is it all it's worth?
37. Perfection - Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes
A young expat couple are living the dream in Berlin - at least that's what their social media says. When work becomes tiresome, friends move away and get on with their lives, Anna and Tom desperately try to find true authenticity in a world consumed by what everyone thinks of you. A perfect novel for 2025 and scathing in its commentary.
38. Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games world expands further in this prequel novel which sees Haymitch Abernathy at the centre of the action. This gripping tale packed to the brim with action and drama tells the tale of the 50th deadly contest.
39. The End of the World as We Know It - Brian Keene & Christopher Golden
The End of the World as We Know It continues to expand the enormous world of Stephen King's The Stand. Award-winning authors Keene and Golden bring together some of the best and most exciting authors who have terrifying and painfully human tales to expand on King's remarkable world-building in his epic novel. A must for any fan of King's original.
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Authors
Helen Daly is the Deputy Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing new initiatives and commercial projects for the brand. She was previously Deputy TV Editor at a national publication. She has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Media & Journalism from Newcastle University.
