The Best Books of 2025 (so Far) You Need to Read Right Now
- Merce Miller
- Sep 30
- 4 min read
2025 has been an incredible year for readers, with new releases that have already taken the book world by storm. From heart-stopping thrillers and sweeping romances to thought-provoking literary fiction, these titles deserve a spot on your TBR before the year is over. Whether you’re looking for your next book club pick or a cozy winter read, this list highlights the best books of 2025 you won’t want to miss.
1. "My Friends" by Fredrik Backman
In a quiet town where unspoken truths linger just beneath the surface, bonds of loyalty and love are tested in unexpected ways. With tender humor and aching honesty, this novel asks how well we ever really know the people closest to us.
You’ll love it if… You crave novels that remind you how messy, beautiful, and necessary friendship can be.
2. "Atmosphere" by Taylor Jenkins Reid
In the shadow of NASA’s shuttle program, a brilliant woman is thrust into a world where ambition collides with danger and the stars feel both impossibly close and achingly far. Through fierce training, fragile alliances, and a mission that threatens to unravel in orbit, this novel explores what it means to chase the cosmos while gravity still pulls at the heart.
You’ll love it if… You’re fascinated by the razor-thin line between ambition and survival.
3. "Broken Country" by Clare Lesile Hall
In a quiet farming village after the war, a long-buried passion resurfaces when a past love suddenly returns. What begins with the shooting of a dog spirals into a web of secrets, betrayals, and a shocking death that lands the community in the courtroom. Shifting between two decades, the story unravels questions of love, loyalty, and the haunting weight of choices that can never be undone.
You’ll love it if… You’re drawn to stories that linger in the aftermath of conflict.
4. "Great Big Beautiful Life" by Emily Henry
Two writers arrive on a quiet Southern island hoping to claim the life story of a woman who vanished from public view decades ago. One is a bright-eyed journalist desperate for a breakthrough, the other a Pulitzer-winning biographer with everything to lose. The reclusive subject offers them each one month of access—but with strict terms. As they probe her past, they uncover conflicting fragments, cryptic silences, and buried family dramas. Rivalry, attraction, and betrayal blur their mission: by the time the truth begins to emerge, the lines between biography, memory, and love are dangerously entangled.
You’ll love it if… You can’t resist stories of love and ambition colliding in spectacular ways.
5. "One Golden Summer" by Carley Fortune
On the shimmering shores of Prince Edward Island, two travelers arrive chasing very different dreams: one searching for escape, the other for a long-buried truth. What begins as a chance connection in the heat of summer unfurls into passion, secrets, and choices that will reverberate for years. As past and present collide beneath endless sunsets, the story captures the fleeting magic of one season that changes everything—and asks what it means to hold on when summer inevitably fades.
You’ll love it if… You’ve ever longed to revisit the summer that got away.
6. "County My Lies" by Shopie Stava
A glamorous new life built on perfect appearances begins to crack when whispers of betrayal creep too close to the surface. As carefully constructed lies unravel, hidden connections and buried motives spill into the open, pulling everyone into a dangerous spiral of suspicion. What starts as a glittering façade of success descends into a taut web of secrets, where the truth could destroy everything.
You’ll love it if… You live for twisty tales where trust is a dangerous game.
7. "What Kind of Paradise" by Janelle Brown
At an exclusive resort promising sun-soaked indulgence and effortless escape, the dream of paradise hides fractures beneath the surface. Guests arrive chasing reinvention, pleasure, or power—but each brings secrets they cannot outrun. When unexpected events pierce the illusion of perfection, desire curdles into danger, and the line between sanctuary and prison blurs.
You’ll love it if… You crave glossy settings hiding dark secrets.
8. "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy
On a remote coastline battered by wind and tide, a journey into untamed wilderness becomes a confrontation with grief, memory, and the cost of survival. As humans clash with a world that refuses to be controlled, the story swells with both fury and tenderness, reminding us of nature’s ability to wound—and to heal.
You’ll love it if… You’re fascinated by the raw power of nature.
9. "Alchemised" by SenLin Yu
In a world where myth and magic entwine, transformation is both salvation and ruin. Through forbidden rituals and longing that borders on obsession, a path of creation bends toward destruction. This lyrical tale asks what must be sacrificed to forge something new, and whether love itself can survive the fire of transmutation.
You’ll love it if… You’re drawn to lyrical tales where love and destruction intertwine.
10. "Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil" by V.E. Schwab
In a gothic realm where memory lingers like smoke and graves whisper old secrets, the boundary between the living and the dead grows perilously thin. Shadows stir with unfinished stories, and the weight of what was lost refuses to stay buried. With haunting beauty, this novel digs into the soil of grief and desire, unearthing a tale of love, death, and the ghosts we carry with us..
You’ll love it if… You’re enchanted by gothic tales that blur life and death.
Pick up any of these standout 2025 releases and discover some of the most unforgettable stories the year has brought us — and it’s not even over yet. From page-turners you’ll devour in a single sitting to novels that linger long after the last line, these must-read books deserve a spot on your end-of-year TBR. Don’t let the season slip away without finding your next favorite read—close out 2025 with stories that will stay with you well into the new year. Happy reading!
