Whenever a new year rolls around, I’m already thinking about what books to suggest to my book club. It’s the perfect time to make your TBR lists for the year!
To share that love with you, I’ve put together this list of the best fiction books of 2025.
15 Best New Fiction Books I Can’t Wait To Read in 2025
There are so many great new books coming out in 2025, so here’s my list. Some are sequels to books I love and some are new authors that I’m excited to try. Either way, you are bound to find at least one of your next book club picks on this list!
You’ll notice this list is dominated by women authors. That’s no mistake. I always try to seek out the best new books from female authors and people of color so I can read about diverse experiences.
Let me know if you think of anything else I should add!
Dream Count
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Genre: Literary Fiction, Length: 416 pages
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of my all-time favorite authors, and she hasn’t released a new novel in a while. That’s why I’m so excited that her new book, Dream Count, is coming out in May, 2025!
Dream Count follows four Nigerian women and their loves, plight, and life choices. Chiamaka is a travel writer living in America. Her best friend, Zikora is a successful lawyer; her cousin, Omelogor – a financial powerhouse, and her housekeeper, Kadiatou – a proud mother. They all grapple with the interconnectedness of life and love.
If I know Adiche, I’m expecting to be blown away by the prose and her ability to write a compelling story that’s just about life.
The Emperor of Gladness
Ocean Vuong
Genre: Literary Fiction, Length: 416 pages
I absolutely love Ocean Vuong and am so happy he is releasing a new fiction book this year. His novels are pure poetry (on account of him being an actual poet).
His first novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous was heartbreaking and beautiful. Can’t wait to read more from him.The Emperor of Gladness, Vuong’s second novel, comes out in May of 2025.
In East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge, intending to jump. He is stopped by a voice from afar – Grazina, the elderly widow suffering from dementia.
Hai becomes her caretaker and over the next year, they form a deep bond that changes the course of their lives.
This story of unlikely friendship “shows the profound ways in which love, labor, and loneliness form the bedrock of American life.” (Penguin Press)
When it comes to the best fiction books of 2025, this is definitely one of the best.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
TJ Klune
Genre: Fantasy, Length: 406 pages
I’m so excited that TJ Klune wrote a sequel to the uplifting, cozy fantasy novel, The House in the Cerulean Sea! I gave it 5 stars in my review, so I can’t wait to read his new release, Somewhere Beyond the Sea – book 2 in the Cerulean Chronicles series.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea picks up where the first book left off, but from a different perspective. In Book 1, we followed Linus Baker, the grumpy caseworker from the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. But in Book 2, we get his partner, Arthur’s story!
Arthur is the headmaster of an orphanage for magical children. He works tirelessly to make sure his kids have a good life. But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark childhood, he is forced to fight for the people he loves.
A story of love, chosen family, and resistance, this should be on your reading list this year for sure!
What the River Knows
Abby Jimenez
Genre: Young Adult, Length: 416 pages
What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez is the first novel in the Secrets of the Nile Series. Ibañez’ newest release, Where the Library Hides is book 2 in the series and looks really cool. That one just came out in November 2024, so I want to catch up and go back to book 1 first!
What the River Knows is described as “The Mummy meets Death on the Nile”. It’s a historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure and an enemies-to-lovers romance.
Upper-crust 19th century Bolivian-Argentinian, Inez Olivera, inherits a fortune from her globetrotting parents. Her pursuit of her inheritance takes her to Egypt, where old world magic quickly sucks her in. It’s through this path that Inez learns there’s more to her parents’ death than she originally believed.
The Other Black Girl
Zakiya Dalila Harris
Genre: Thriller, Length: 368 pages
The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris is a thriller that follows Nella Rogers, an editorial assistant at a large New York publishing company. Nella is sick of being the only Black employee in a majority white workplace.
When Hazel, a new Black employee, joins her team, she couldn’t be happier – until Hazel somehow becomes the office favorite. Soon, Nella starts getting threats and secret hostile messages. Nella becomes consumed by the mysterious messages.
“The perfect read for anyone who has ever felt manipulated, threatened, or overlooked in the workplace.” (Simon and Schuster)
Why does this plot sound so creepy and relatable?
The Other Black Girl became a Hulu show in 2023, which I haven’t seen yet, but I’d like to read the book first.
A Thousand Ships
Natalie Haynes
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy; Length: 384 pages
As you may know, I love mythical retellings. My favorite book is Circe by Madeline Miller, but I’ve been meaning to find new authors in this space too.
Natalie Haynes is another well-known author in this genre, that I’d like to try, starting with her novel, A Thousand Ships.
A Thousand Ships is a retelling of the Trojan War from the perspectives of the women involved. We finally get the stories of the Trojan women who lives through the war between Troy and Greece, the Amazon princess who fought in the war, and of course, the infamous Penelope who waits for her husband, Odysseus’ return.
Home Fire
Kamila Shamsie
Genre: Literary Fiction, Length: 288 pages
Home Fire is an award-winning novel by Pakistani-British writer, Kamila Shamsie. I read her 2022 novel, Best of Friends, and fell in love with the author’s style. Shamsie writes beautiful prose and has a way of calling basic principles into question that I can’t wait to read more.
I’m always looking to read more works by BIPOC female authors, especially South Asian diasporic authors. That’s why I’m so glad I discovered Kamila Shamsie’s novels!
Home Fire is described as “The suspenseful and heartbreaking story of an immigrant family driven to pit love against loyalty, with devastating consequences, from the author of Best of Friends”(Riverhead Books).
Season of the Swamp
Yuri Herrera
Genre: Historical Fiction, Length: 160 pages
Season of the Swamp by Yuri Herrera is a new novel by the author of Signs Preceding the End of the World. It follows a young exile, Benito Juarez, who disembarks in a port city on the edge of a swamp – New Orleans in 1853.
Juarez later becomes the the first indigenous Head of State in the post-colonial Americas. But until then, he must navigate the city along with his fellow exiles as they suffer through the summer heat, work odd jobs, and struggle to survive in a lawless land.
Season of the Swamp is one of my And Other Stories books. They’re an independent publishing company that sends subscribers a new book every month. I got the subscription as a gift and they never miss with their unique book picks!
The Wedding People
Alison Espach
Genre: Romance, Length: 355 pages
I always need to balance out the more heavy book picks with a lighter, easy-reading romance.
The Wedding People by Alison Esbach features Phoebe Stone, a tourist in Newport, Rhode Island. Coincidentally, when she gets to her hotel, there’s a huge wedding going on and she’s the only guest who’s not there for the big event. But because she happens to arrive in a dress and heels, she is immediately mistaken for a wedding guest.
In fact, Phoebe is at rock bottom, without her husband, and just trying to treat herself. She ends up befriending the bride at the wedding she shouldn’t even be at.
Playground
Richard Powers
Genre: Science Fiction, Length: 400 pages
Playground is an award-winning new novel by Richard Powers, the author of Bewilderment. I read Bewilderment with my book club, and it was beautiful and profound. Everyone loved it.
Four characters from around the world meet on the island of Makatea, French Polynesia. Historically, the island’s phosphorus deposits helped to feed the world. Now, it is the launchpad for humanity’s next adventure: sending autonomous cities floating into the open ocean.
Playground brings together science fiction, technology, exploration, and environmentalism along with Richard Power’s beautiful writing. I can’t wait to read this new book!
The Lion Women of Tehran
Marjan Kamali
Genre: Historical Fiction, Length: 355 pages
A nominee for the Goodreads Best Historical Fiction of 2024, The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali follows two friends in 1950s Tehran, Iran.
Ellie only knows a life of high society until the unexpected death of her father. Then, she and her mother are forced to move into a small home downtown. It’s there that seven-year-old Ellie and Homa meet, becoming fast friends.
Suddenly they are ripped apart when Ellie’s mother gains the opportunity to return to her previous bourgeois life. They girls lose contact until years later when Homa reappears in Ellie’s world.
The unexpected turn of events set against the political backdrop of Iran’s revolution lead the two young women to change the course of their lives.
This one reminds me of Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Goddess Complex
Sanjena Sathian
Genre: Thriller, Length: 304 pages
Here’s an exciting new book by Sanjena Sathian, the Atlanta-based author of Gold Diggers. Goddess Complex, her second book, is set to release in March of 2025.
As Sanjana Satyanandais works to finalize her divorce after a year of separation, her peers are solidly in the marriage and baby phase. In fact, Sanjana walked out on her husband because of a disagreement on whether to have children.
When Sanjana realizes her husband is missing, she tries to track him down. Along the way, she gets roped into helping women who are looking for advice on fertility and pregnancy. She is forced to face the “what-ifs” of the life she chose vs. what could have been.
“Goddess Complex is a twist-filled psychological thriller and a feminist satire of our age of GirlBosses turned self-care influencers, optimization cults, internet mommy gurus, egg freezing, and much more.” (Penguin Press)
Sathian is an artful teller modern South Asian stories. I loved her first book and cant wait to read Goddess Complex.
Atmosphere
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Romance, Historical Fiction; Length: 352 pages
Taylor Jenkins Reid is back with a new book called Atmosphere coming out in June, 2025. Fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six will be excited for this one.
Keeping up with her journey through the decades, Reid set Atmosphere in the space age of the 80’s.
Joan Goodwin, physics and astronomy professor, has a special affinity for the cosmos. She becomes one of the first female scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. In training, Joan meets her new best friends – four fellow astronauts. As they prepare for their first missions, Joan has a transformative experience.
Immortal
Sue Lynn Tan
Genre: Fantasy, Length: 464 pages
Here comes a new adventure from the author of the Celestial Kingdom series, featuring Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
Sue Lynn Tan’s new book, Immortal , just came out in January of 2025. It looks like a standalone book set in the same mythical kingdom as the Celestial Kingdom series.
Liyen is the young heiress to the crown of a mortal empire. When her grandfather dies, she swears to gain vengeance and end her kingdoms’ obligation to the immortals. Soon, she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, where she builds an alliance with the God of War. To protect her kingdom, she must resist their attraction and stand up to the dark forces surrounding her.
If you like warrior-girl, enemies-to-lovers romances, this should surely be on your list of romantasy books to read in2025.
Katabasis
R.F. Kuang
Genre: Fantasy, Length: 560 pages
Katabasis is the new novel from R.F. Kuang, the author of Yellowface, set to release in August, 2025. “Katabasis” is an Ancient Greek word that means “descent to the underworld”.
Alice and Peter are graduate students of Magick. When their professor, the greatest magician in the world, dies in a magical accident, they go after him. They follow the professor into Hell to save their own careers. Along the way, they discover something that could make them the best allies or the ruin them.
Before You Go…
I hope you’ve enjoyed my list of the best fiction books to read 2025. If you’ve read any, or have any other books you think should be added to the list, leave a message below!
And if you’re looking for more new books to read, check out some of my other reading lists:
- Books About Baking Pies – Books packed with stunning photos, detailed baking techniques, and wonderfully creative pie recipes.
- Summer Easy-Reads – Relax and enjoy some easier reading—not just for summer!
- Favorite Books by Native American Authors – Help celebrate indigenous writers by reading these thrilling books.
- Cozy Fall Books – Grab a blanket and snuggle up while reading some of my fave books for those crisp, chilly days.
