You won’t want to put down these tomes (iStock/The Independent)
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Whether you’ve joined the 2025 challenge on Goodreads or you’re already planning your spring break and summer holiday reading material, you’re spoiled for choice with new book releases from the past year.
From lighthearted reads to cure seasonal blues to novels that transport you to warmer climes, the criteria for a good book is simple: you won’t want to put it down. We might only be in March, but the new titles of 2025 are standout.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s first novel in 10 years, Dream Count, is already a critics hit, following four women who’s lives haven’t turned out as planned, while the Pulitzer-Prize winning author Ann Tyler’s new novel, Three Days in June, is quietly majestic. As for debuts, Nussaibah Younis’s Fundamentally is a witty story of Islamic State brides and Sarah Harman’s upcoming novel, All The Other Mother’s Hate Me, is sure to be one of the buzziest books of the summer.
Plus, the new paperback releases are equally worth diving into (and not just to save on shelf or hand luggage space) – think Kaliane Bradley’s charming time-travelling romance, The Ministry of Time, and Percival Everett’s reimagining of Huckleberry Finn, James. And that’s not forgetting the last year’s anticipated titles from acclaimed authors such as Sally Rooney, Taffy Brodesser-Akner and Coco Mellors.
The varied authorship is reflected in the diverse themes addressed, ranging from an Irish family in turmoil to love in the trenches of the First World War, grieving sisters, slavery in the American south, and astronauts on the International Space Station.
Some of our favourite new book releases of the last year (Daisy Lester)
We’ve read dozens of new releases over the past year, including hardbacks and paperbacks. This list includes the best original page-turners with superb quality prose and the most captivating stories that stayed with us after we’d reached the end. From books for history lovers to romance novels, witty romantic comedies and acclaimed prize-winners, there’s something for every type of reader.
Why you can trust us
Daisy Lester is a senior shopping writer at The Independent. As well as writing about beauty and fashion, she specialises in reviewing books. She always has her finger on the pulse when it comes to new releases from both debut authors and acclaimed writers. Daisy knows what makes a gripping, moving or important story, whether it’s a romantic comedy or historical drama. She loves books of every genre, from satire to mystery and crime, so rest assured there will be a book for every taste in her round-ups.
The best new books to read in 2025 are:
Best overall – 'Dream Count' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, published by Fourth Estate: £16, Waterstones.com
Best literary retelling – ‘James’ by Percival Everett, published by Mantle: £16.34, Amazon.co.uk
Best debut – 'Fundamentally' by Nussaibah Younis, published by W&N: £14.19, Amazon.co.uk
Best romance novel – You are Here by David Nicholls, published by Sceptre: £10, Amazon.co.uk
Best time-travel romance – The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, published by Sceptre: £13.99, Amazon.co.uk
'Dream Count' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, published by Fourth Estate
Best: Overall
Release date: 21 January
Genre: Literary fiction
Americanah author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is back with her first novel in 10 years, Dream Count. The story is split into four sections, each following a different woman (testament to her writing, each part could easily stand on its own as a book). Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America who, faced with the isolation of lockdown in the pandemic, Googles and ponders the men who have come and gone in her life. Zikora is her best friend and lawyer, who is struggling with the heartbreak of her partner leaving her before the birth of their child.
Chia’s housekeeper, Kadiatou’s story takes us from Guinea to the US. Raising her daughter as a single mother in America, her dreams come crashing down by an incident that mirrors the real life accusations made in 2011 against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Then there’s Chia’s cousin and best friend, Omelogor. Extroverted and bad-tempered, she’s richly drawn as a woman of many contradictions. Just like Chia, she is suffering under the same weight of expectation to find a man.
Addressing everything from FGM to the American dream, this wide-reaching and moving novel was thankfully well worth the wait.
'Fundamentally' by Nussaibah Younis, published by W&N
Best: Debut
Release date: 21 January
Genre: Literary fiction/comedy
One of the buzziest debuts of the year, Nussaibah Younis’s Fundamentally is an entertaining and funny novel about a serious subject. It follows Nadia, a young lecturer in criminology who is asked by the UN to lead a deradicalisation organisation, following an article she had written on IS brides. Newly heartbroken and itching for a change, she accepts the job and is thrown into the chaotic world of international aid.
Nadia soon forms a connection with east Londoner Sara, who joined IS when she was just 15. The novel follows Nadia’s attempts at Sara’s repatriation, and in turn explores everything from faith and friendship, to radicalism and racism, as well as decades of bureaucratic and systemic corruption and hypocrisy. Younis is thoughtful and sensitive on these difficult topics, awarding the story brevity as well as seriousness.
‘The Husbands’ by Holly Gramazio, published by Chatto & Windus
Best: Overall
Genre: Romantic comedy
Release date: 4 April 2024
A romantic comedy with a surrealist twist, The Husbands follows Lauren, a single, thirtysomething woman who returns to her two-bed flat in South London one evening to find she has a husband. If that wasn’t unexpected enough, she then discovers if she sends her husband into the attic he’ll be replaced by a new one. With every new husband who descends from the magic attic, Lauren finds she also has a new life, habits and sometimes even career.
Over the course of more than 200 husbands at a near-daily rate, the book becomes a satirical and smart dissection of swipe-right dating, as Lauren sends the husbands she finds minor faults with back into the attic to start afresh with a new one (if only life was that easy).
From needy and aloof husbands to cheating or just plain weird husbands, Gramazio’s descriptions of the various partners are a riot to read. Lighthearted, utterly unique and hilarious, this fresh debut is the perfect escapism going into the new season.
‘Intermezzo’ by Sally Rooney, published by Faber & Faber
Best: Character development
Release date : 24 September 2024
Genre: Family drama/romance
Normal People author Sally Rooney has returned with her fourth novel, Intermezzo. Just like her previous novels, the new tome explores messy relationships and the love or loss that can come with them. But this time they aren’t just romantic, with the novel centering on two brothers in Dublin, 22-year-old Ivan and 32-year-old Peter. Ivan is a socially awkward, local chess star, while Peter is an extroverted but cynical lawyer. On paper, the two brothers couldn’t be more different, but both are greiving the recent death of their father and struggling to convey their complicated emotions.
At the start of the novel, Ivan begins a relationship with Margaret, a woman 16 years older, while Peter is stuck between the love of his life, Sylvie, who’s suffering from chronic pain after a car accident, and his 22-year-old student lover. Written in Rooney’s signature prose with comic moments that lift the tone, it shifts between Ivan, Peter and Margaret’s narration with Joycean-style stream of consciousness sequences. Rooney’s talent is character writing and each line of Intermezzo paints a more vivid picture of Ivan, Peter and their complicated relationship. Joining the ranks of literary characters you won’t forget (see Connell and Marianne), Intermezzo is a powerful, quiet and moving story.
‘Long Island Compromise’ by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, published by Wildfire
Best: Satire
Genre: Family saga
Release date: 9 July 2024
Both Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s debut Fleishman is In Trouble and the Apple TV adaptation were critically acclaimed, so, the writer had a lot to live up to with her follow-up. A satire of the wealthy, Long Island Compromise tells the story of a rich multi-generational Jewish family in Long Island, New York. It begins with an engrossing account of the kidnapping of factory owner Carl Fletcher in 1980 by men holding him to a ransom of $250,000. The impact of this traumatic week-long ordeal reverberates down his family. His sons are both dysfunctional in adulthood: Beamer has a fierce addiction problem (both with drugs and his weekly dominatrix), while Nathan has crippling anxiety and spends his inherited millions on various life insurance schemes. Meanwhile, Carl’s daughter Jenny is just as lost and aimless.
When Carl’s mother and glue of the family dies, the Fletchers must grapple with their collective trauma and the possibility of money not actually being able to fix all their problems. Engrossing and darkly comic, this book will see you growing to despise and love the Sucession-style characters in equal measure. The TV rights have already been snapped up, of course.
'The Ministry of Time’ by Kaliane Bradley, published by Sceptre
Best: Time-travel romance
Genre: Time travel
Release date: 16 May 2024
An addictive sci-fi romantic comedy, Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time is set a couple of years in the future, when the British goverment have got their hands on a time-travel portal. As part of an undisclosed mission, they’ve brought back five “expats” from history. Among the time travellers is Commander Gore, a 38-year-old Navy officer from the 19th Century who was part of Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition to the Arctic. In real life he died in 1847, but in Bradley’s genre-bending tome he’s forced to acclimatise to the 21st century, while our nameless narrator, a disaffected civil servant, is assigned as Gore’s “bridge” to help him settle in.
Grappling with everything from aeroplanes, dating apps, the British Empire and iPhones, what follows is a part girl-meets-boy (or Victorian-Arctic-explorer) love-story and part thriller. Laugh-out-loud funny and a suprisingly powerful meditation on the climate crisis, it’s above all exciting, fun and a good old-fashioned page-turner that you’ll recommend to all your friends.
An engrossing thriller and important historical reckoning, Percival Everett’s James retells Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. It begins in 1861, when Jim learns he will soon be sold to a new owner in New Orleans, meaning he’ll be seprated from his wife and daughter. To escape his fate, he flees the village to a nearby island on the Mississippi River, where he runs into Huck Finn, a boy who has faked his own death to escape his violent father.
Hatching a plan, the unlikely duo begin a dangerous journey along the Mississippi River in search of the freedom they’ve heard lies north. Though their odyssey plays with the original Huckelberry Finn (the characters of the Duke and King make an appearance), Everett makes the story entirely his on, showing how Jim adapts to survive. For example, Jim’s outward speech is the same as in Twain’s novel (“Da mo’ betta dey feels, da mo’ safer we be”), but in James, it’s a calculated code-switch to make white people feel superior. The constant jeopardy makes it a real page-turner, but the thriller aspect is balanced by the emotional and horrifying reality of slavery in the American south. James just fell short of winning last year’s Booker Prize but, after reading it, you might agree with us that it should have won.
‘Orbital’ by Samantha Harvey, published by Vintage
Best: Shorter story
Genre: Philosophical fiction
Release date: 27 June 2024 (paperback)
The winner of the Booker Prize 2024, Orbital is a philosophical meditation from space. The book follows a team of six astronauts on the International Space Station over a 24-hour period, as they circle Earth 16 times, passing deserts, glaciers, mountains and oceans, and experiencing sunrise after sunset. The team conduct their scientific experiments, test the limits of the human body and collect meteorlogial data with the mundanity of day-to-day life on Earth. Despite how long they’ve each spent in space, none are any less transfixed by our planet’s beauty.
As a tornado gathers pace on Earth and news of the passing of the mother of one of the astronauts reaches them, conversations and thoughts turn to human fragility, the meaning of life, the passing of time and their fears and dreams. At just 130 pages and with beautiful prose, Harvey’s book is short but sweet, serving as a love letter to Earth and humanity.
Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan, published by Faber & Faber
Best: State of the nation novel
Genre: Social satire
Release date: 4 April 2024
Andrew O’Hagan (author of the beloved book Mayflies) is back with his latest novel: Caledonian Road. A vast state-of-the-nation novel that jumps between characters and social worlds, the book’s near-700 pages contain Dukes and Duchesses, drill groups, refugees, journalists, students and more – painting a vivid picture of our post-pandemic, post-Brexit times.
Campbell Flynn is a well-known art historian who now mixes with the upper echelons, despite his Scottish tenement upbringing. As both his material and mental state become increasingly fragile, O’Hagan pays just as much attention to the wider cast of characters, from Milo, a young computer hacker, to Flynn’s publically disgraced old university friend and bitter sitting tenant (the book even comes with a cast list so you don’t lose track). A novel that’s just as much about the city of London and the fall of a man as it is a biting satire on modern society, class and politics, Caledonian Road is a masterful feat of storytelling.
'The Wedding People' by Alison Espach, published by Orion
Best: Wedding-related comedy
Genre: Romantic comedy
Release date: 1 August 2024
A New York Times bestseller, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People follows a woman who accidentally gatecrashes a Rhode Island wedding. Phoebe Stone is a professor who has found out her husband has been having an affair. Recently divorced and depressed, she decides to book into the coastal luxury hotel that she dreamt of going to with her husband.
Upon arrival, she realises the entire hotel has been booked out for a wedding party, and as Phoebe is in her finest dress, she’s mistaken for one of the guests. While the bride fears this stranger could ruin her carefully planned big day, Phoebe worries that her solo trip and the secret reason behind it is entirely spoiled. But among the chaos, an unlikely friendship blooms between the two troubled women. Laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly moving, you’ll have the most fun tearing through Espach’s charming novel.
‘Good Material’ by Dolly Alderton, published by Fig Tree
Best: Comedy novel
Genre: Comedy
Release date: 1 August 2024 (paperback)
Some writers suffer from second-novel syndrome, but not Dolly Alderton. The author and columinist’s second book Good Material is a cliché-avoiding break-up novel, in the vein of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity.
Told through the eyes of recently dumped Andy, we follow him as he grapples with single life after his girlfriend realised she wanted to be alone. This in itself is a powerful narrative, with Alderton making a case for the happy and single 30-something woman.
Genuinely laugh-out-loud funny – with characters straight out of a Richard Curtis film (the elderly lodger who’s prepping for doomsday is a highlight) – whipsmart dialogue and relatable millennial themes (Alderton’s forte) mean there’s never a dull moment. Despite it being a pleasingly easy read (we tore through it in a single day), Good Material still manages to be thought-provoking and wise.
There’s nothing new about an affair novel – but, testament to Madeleine Grey’s writing, Green Dot is fresh and modern. Hera, a 24-year-old, has just started an admin job at a newspaper, where she meets Arthur. Older, more senior and attractive, Hera distracts herself from the boredom of her day-to-day life by crashing headfirst into a workplace romance.
When she discovers he’s married, the illicit affair consumes her life. Part Bridget Jones, part Fleabag, Green Dot is funny, fast-paced and witty, with plenty of relatable millennial and Gen Z references (and not to mention a painfully relatable lockdown passage). We tore through it.
‘So Thrilled for You’ by Holly Bourne, published by Hodder & Stoughton
Best: Exploration of motherhood
Genre: Drama
Release date: 15 January 2025
Part whodunit, part dark exploration of motherhood, Holly Bourne’s novel So Thrilled For You follows a group of university friends who reunite at one of their baby showers. Now in their 30s, they’re all leading very different lives. Steffi is feeling judgement over her happy, child-free lifestyle; Charlotte is desperate to conceive; Lauren is finding out that motherhood is not all it’s cracked up to be; and Nicki doesn’t even want to be at her own baby shower. This melting pot of tension comes to a head over one sweltering hot weekend. Then, someone starts a fire at the house, and everyone becomes a suspect. Pacy and funny thanks to smart writing and relatable characters, there’s a touch of Agatha Christie as we follow the police putting together the facts. Documenting both the highs and lows of motherhood and female friendships, you’ll tear through the domestic thriller.
‘The Fetishist’ by Katherine Min, published by Fleet
Best: Revenge fantasy
Genre: Darkly comic/romance
Release date: 29 February 2024
Sadly, Katherine Min’s darkly comic novel The Fetishist was published posthumously following her death from cancer in 2019. The partially finished manuscript was edited and finished by her daughter, which adds to the poignancy of the novel. A riff on Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, the story is told from three perspectives: Daniel, an ageing violinist who fetishizes Asian woman; Alma, a prodigal cellist with a terminal diagnosis and the love of Daniel’s life; and Kyoko, a mid-Twenties punk singer who is seeking revenge on Daniel for driving her mother to her death through suicide.
Part revenge fantasy and part decade-spanning love story, it gives narrative control to the wronged women (unlike Lolita) with the story seeing Daniel forced to reckon with his fetishisation. Exploring race and sexual politics, forgiveness and desire, the book is hilariously funny and often sexy, all while being deeply thought-provoking.
‘You are Here’ by David Nicholls, published by Sceptre
Best: Romance novel
Genre: Romantic comedy
Release date: 23 April 2024
Fresh from the success of Netflix’s One Day adaptation, David Nicholls is back with a comforting romance novel that serves as the perfect sun lounger companion. Marnie, a divorcee who works alone at the computer in her London flat, feels like life is passing her by, while Michael, recently seperated and increasingly misanthropic, has taken up long, solitary walks across the moors as his own form of therapy.
When a mutual friend organises a group hike through the Lake District, Nicholls not only beautifully evokes quintessential British landscapes, but also maps a will-they-or-won’t-they love story between the two midlifers (fans will be reminded of One Day’s Dexter and Emma). The chapters alternate between Michael and Marnie’s narrative, with comic moments found in the pair’s bumbling, burgeoning romance. Rest assured, you’ll be very invested in a happy ending.
‘Blue Sisters’ by Coco Mellor, published by Fourth Estate
Best: Novel about siblings
Release date: 23 May 2024
Genre: Family drama
After the runaway success of Coco Mellor’s Cleopatra and Frankenstein in 2022, the author’s follow-up Blue Sisters has a lot of hype surrounding it. Mostly, it delivers. Swapping hedonistic lovers in her first novel for grieving siblings in her second, the book follows three sisters grappling with the loss of their fourth sister in an accidental overdose.
Not only are they grieving, but both are fighting personal battles. The youngest, Lucky, is a 26-year-old model in Paris who relies on drugs and alcohol to escape the noise of her mind; the middle child, Bonnie, has given up a successful career in boxing to be a bouncer in the LA bar; and Avery, the eldest, is having an affair with a man while her wife pines for them to have a child. If you can get over the cliché and slightly cringey characters, the sister’s stories are gripping enough to sink your teeth into.
‘Three Days in June’ by Anne Tyler, published by Chatto & Windus
Best: Short novel
Genre: Drama
Release date: 15 February 2025
Having penned more than 20 novels, you know you’re in reliable hands with Anne Tyler. Her latest title, Three Days in June, is a short novel (just 176 pages) that can be devoured over a lazy weekend.
The protagonist Gail is single, socially awkward and has just lost her long-standing job as assistant mistress at a school. To make matters worse, her ex-husband, Max, has arrived on her doorstep requesting a place to stay during their daughter’s wedding, while the bride herself has discovered that her fiancée has been keeping a secret.
Taking place over three days during the nuptial celebrations, the quietly profound tome is infused with Tyler’s signature wit, astute human observation and humour. The author has a talent for evoking chemistry between people and writing characters that feel alive on the page. You’ll find yourself rooting for Gail and Max to find a happy resolution to their messy history.
‘As Young at This’ by Roxy Dunn, published by Fig Tree
Best: Relatable novel
Release date: 4 April 2024
Genre: Relationships novel
Roxy Dunn’s debut novel explores womanhood, relationships and what happens when your life takes an unexpected direction. Told from the point of view of 34-year-old Margot who has found herself single once again, each chapter tells the story of a man she’s dated.
From her first relationship at the end of school to the longer partners who have helped shape her, each one teaches her something new about herself and what it is to be a woman. Fertility is a theme that runs through the book, with Margot’s biological body clock a ticking time bomb in each relationship as she gets older. But there’s plenty for men to relate to too, with Dunn’s writing perfectly capturing the exciting beginnings and achingly sad ends of relationships. You won’t be able to put it down.
‘Sandwich’ by Catherine Newman, published by Doubleday
Best: Holiday novel
Release date: 6 June 2024
Genre: Family comedy
Catherine Newman’s debut We All Want Impossible Things, made us cry and laugh simultaneously – and her second novel, Sandwich, is just as heartfelt and charming. Rachel (affectionately known as Rocky) is in her mid-fifties and her family has escaped to the picture-esque Cape Cod every summer for two decades. Pitching up annually at the same rustic beach town rental, the house, landscape and beaches are full of memories and nostalgia.
Her kids are now adults yet young enough to still need her, while her parents are still alive and healthy, leaving Rocky feeling sandwiched between the two generations (giving the book its title). But this blissful balance on holiday is soon disturbed by harboured secrets.
Whether it’s considering her now-foreign body as she goes through menopause or losses in the past, Rocky’s inner monologue reveals both the pains and joys of mid-life, as well as the passing of time. Full of warmth and hilarity, it makes you nostalgic for family holidays and sun-soaked days.
Lottie Hazell’s searing debut challenges the notion of domestic bliss. Kit and Piglet (a derisive nickname from childhood) are the picture perfect couple. They own a new build home, have seemingly sucessful careers and are planning their wedding that’s straight out of a brochure.
But 13 days before the wedding, Kit reveals a terrible secret that sends Piglet spiralling and their life to come crumbling down around then. The motif of food threads throughout the novel, from evocative passages about binging to Piglet’s own insatiable appetite for following the rules. Dark, witty and very well-written (the descriptions of food are reminscent of Nora Ephron’s Heartburn), Piglet is a satire that explores everything from class to body image.
‘The Lagos Wife’ by Vanessa Walters, published by Hutchinson Heinemann
Best: Thriller
Release date : 29 February 2024
Genre: Thriller
Part mystery and part domestic noir, The Lagos Wife takes us to the heart of Lagos after the disappearence of Nicole Oruwari. Escaping London and a trouble family past, Nicole married a handsome Nigerian man, moved to a palatial house and became involved in a glamorous group of other wives.
After she vanishes without a trace after a boat trip, her aunt Claudine flies to Nigeria to take matters into her own hands. As she digs deeper into Nicole’s life, the cracks begin to show and Claudine’s own buried history threatens to be unconvered. Gripping and thought-provoking, Walter’s writes with nuance but in the page-turning style of a classic thriller.
Fans of Zadie Smith’s kaleidoscope approach to storytelling will love Oisin McKenna’s debut Evenings and Weekends. Set in London over a June weekend in 2019, it follows a series of interconnecting characters over that blisteringly hot summer before the pandemic. Maggie is 30 years old, pregnant and broke, while her partner, Ed, is trying to run from his secretive past involving Maggie’s best friend Phil.
Falling for his housemate Keith while stuck in a dead-end office job, Phil lives for the weekend while his mother, Rosaleen, has just been diagnosed with cancer and is travelling to London to tell Phil. As all their lives convene over one Saturday night, secrets, fears, hopes and harsh realities come to the forefront. Mckenna’s writing is intoxicating and intimate, with the characters so richly drawn you’ll ponder about them long after the final page.
'Onyx Storm' by Rebecca Yarros, published by Piatkus
Release date: 21 January
Genre: Romance/fantasy
The third entry in Yarros' Empyrean series, Onyx Storm continues the romantasy themes from books one and two in a tumultuous tale of love and sacrifice. For those not familiar with the series, it revolves around the college of Basgiath where cadets – if they're brave enough – learn to become dragon riders. Onyx Storm picks up with the protagonist where Iron Flame left off (*spoilers ahead*), in Violet Sorrengail's second year after we discovered that Xaden Riorson, her boyfriend and former wingleader, had begun to turn venin. The plot follows the pair as they navigate the search for a cure, all the while learning more about the their magic (termed signets, in Yarros' world) and working to defeat the hoards of venin descending on the realm.
Yarros keeps readers enthralled from pages one through 500 and mixes her renowned spicy scenes perfectly with a whole host of tales awash with friendship, battle, humour and discovery. And, of course, it wouldn't be Yarros without the inevitable cliffhanger to tie it off. Guess we'll be waiting another two years...
A literary event 10 years in the making, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream Countis a story of four women linked not just by their love for one another, but also by their dreams, pains and desires. Each story gives a different perspective and experience of womanhood, making it both a relatable but also enlightening read.
