18 best books of 2025 so far: All the releases you need on your TBR list
Like we needed another excuse to go book shopping.
It's another year and another chance to really smash that Good Reads goal out of the park once more.
This year will have plenty of strong book releases to keep us entertained - and keep that target firmly in sight.
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).
Keep this page bookmarked, as we at RadioTimes.com have picked out the books you need to buy and read in 2025 - we'll keep it updated with any new releases as they come.
18 best book releases of 2025 so far
Here is our list of the best book releases of 2025 so far:
- 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
- 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)
- 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
Here is all you need to know about these books...
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1. Normal Women - Ainslie Hogarth
Date released: 2nd January 2025
Synopsis: 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
Date released: 9th January 2025
Synopsis: 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
Date released: 16th January 2025
Synopsis: 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
Date released: 16th January 2025
Synopsis: 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
Date released: 23rd January 2025
Synopsis: 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
Date released: 3rd February 2025
Synopsis: 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
Date released: 11th February 2025
Synopsis: 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. Carrion Crow - Heather Parry
Date released: 27th February 2025
Synopsis: 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.
9. Show Don't Tell - Curtis Sittenfeld
Date released: 27th February 2025
Synopsis: 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.
10. Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Date released: 4th March 2025
Synopsis: 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.
11. Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa (translated by Polly Barton)
Date released: 6th March 2025
Synopsis: 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).
12. Universality - Natasha Brown
Date released: 13th March 2025
Synopsis: 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.
13. A Thousand Blues - Cheon Seon-ran (translated by Chi-Young Kim)
Date released: 13th March 2025
Synopsis: 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.
14. I Want to Go Home but I'm Already There - Róisín Lanigan
Date released: 20th March 2025
Synopsis: 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
15. Greater Sins - Gabrielle Griffiths
Date released: 27th March 2025
Synopsis: 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.
16. The Vipers - Katy Hays
Date released: 27th March 2025
Synopsis: 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.
17. Fair Play - Louise Hegarty
Date released: 3rd April 2025
Synopsis: 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.
18. Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle
Date released: 22nd May 2025
Synopsis: 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.
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Authors
Helen Daly is the Associate 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.
