These fiction and non-fiction books by award-winning authors and boundary-pushing newcomers set to release in 2025 promise to reshape the way we understand the world
Books whisk us away into worlds unknown and unknowable. Every book we pick up is a bridge connecting us to something larger than ourselves; it gives us a chance to travel across time, step into someone else’s shoes, or simply lose ourselves in the rhythm of a beautifully crafted sentence. We turn to books, and stories, to understand the world, to question it, and to find our place in it.
From books by Nobel laureates and Booker/Pulitzer Prize winners to debut authors, from biting satire and immersive fiction to tell-all memoirs and well-researched biographies, from dystopian visions to the urgent concerns of our times like Gaza and Ukraine, this year’s literary lineup has something for every palate. It’s a dazzling panorama of stories — some tender, others sharp; some heartwarming, others gut-wrenching — by a wide range of voices across countries that illuminate the world in unexpected, thought-provoking ways.
The Federal takes you through books that you can look forward to reading in 2025:
Fiction
In 2024, South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” Now, 2025 brings us We Do Not Part (Hamish Hamilton), a new novel from Kang, translated by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris, that reaffirms her unparalleled ability to translate profound, painful truths into lyrical, haunting narratives. Set on Jeju Island, a site deeply scarred by history, We Do Not Part follows Kyungha, who, while tending to a friend’s bird, is drawn into the undercurrents of personal grief and historical trauma. Through the intertwined journeys of Kyungha and two white women grappling with their own losses and fraught reckonings with cultural guilt, Kang revisits the violence and silence that have shaped Jeju’s past.
Another Nobel laureate, Tanzania’s Abdulrazak Gurnah, will publish Theft (Bloomsbury) –– his first novel since he won the 2021 Nobel Prize –– that will capture ‘a time of dizzying global change.’ A coming-of-age story of three young people in Tanzania at the turn of the 21st century, it explores how each of them arrives ‘at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands’ when ‘tourism, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils reach their quiet corner of the world’. Pulitzer Prize-winner Anne Tyler (Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, Clock Dance) gifts us her 25th novel, Three Days in June (Penguin), an exploration of love, marriage, and family life, pivots on a mother of the bride, her ex-husband, and their daughter who confront secrets that upend their daughter’s wedding, and revisit their shared past.
Also read: The Federal’s 15 notable books (fiction) of the year 2022
In her first novel in 20 years, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny (Penguin), Kiran Desai, the Booker Prize-winning author of The Inheritance of Loss, explores the multifaceted nature of loneliness through the story of two young Indians in the US, examining how it manifests across cultures and generations, influenced by factors like identity and belonging in a globalised world. One of Pakistan’s finest writers, Mohammed Hanif, is back with his fourth novel, The Rebel English Academy (Hamish Hamilton), which takes off from the hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and is centred on the intertwined lives of a captain haunted by a botched mission, a district champion runner, a former revolutionary and a progressive imam at a school in a small town. Two novels by Indian writers you can’t miss this years are: Ruchir Joshi’s Great Eastern Hotel and Amitabha Bagchi’s Unknown City, both by HarperCollins.
Similarly, it will be interesting to see what Daisy Rockwell, the translator of Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree’s International Booker Prize-winning novel, achieves in her debut novel, Alice Sees Ghosts (Bloomsbury). Keshava Guha’s state-of-the-nation novel, The Tiger’s Share (Hachette), set in Delhi, shows how ‘the pursuit of private aspiration plays out against a dystopian daily background of ecological collapse and political unrest.’ Mirza Waheed’s fourth novel, Maryam and Sons (Westland), tells the story of a British mother whose life changes after her son, suspected of involvement in a distant conflict in Iraq, goes missing. Annie Zaidi and Jeet Thayil have a new novel coming out this year: The Comeback (Aleph) and Melanin (HarperCollins).
One of the most exciting fiction releases this year is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s first novel in more than a decade, Dream Count (Fourth Estate), which tells the interconnected stories of four Nigerian women who must come to terms with the choices they have made and how they shape their lives. An examination of the very nature of love, it asks questions such as these: ‘Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved?’ Tash Aw’s new novel, The South (Fourth Estate), inaugurates a planned quartet exploring Southeast Asia’s histories through the portrait of a family. The publisher has described it as “a radiant novel of the longing that blooms between two boys over the course of one summer – about family, desire, and what we inherit.”
Meanwhile, Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel (Penguin), a chilling speculative mystery about one woman’s fight against an unjust system in the age of surveillance, uncovers the dark truths of power and control. On the other hand, Sanjena Sathian’s second novel Goddess Complex (Penguin), following her acclaimed debut, Gold Diggers, is a psychological thriller-meets-feminist satire, which examines the cultural and existential crises of a millennial woman’s struggles with fertility, identity, and modern-day cults of self-optimisation. Ocean Vuong, celebrated for his scintillating debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, will be out with his third novel, The Emperor of Gladness, a lyrical meditation on memory and care. Katie Kitamura’s fifth novel, Audition (Penguin), which unravels the mysterious relationship between a middle-aged woman and a young man, promises to be as electrifying as her last novel, Intimacies.
Irish novelist Eimear McBride’s fourth novel, The City Changes Its Face (Faber & Faber) –– a companion to The Lesser Bohemians (2016) –– is a tale of love and obsession. Set in 1995, it follows Eily, 19, and Stephen, 40, as they negotiate the intensity of their relationship in a small flat filled with passion and chaos. Over 18 months, their world shifts as routine sets in, past wounds resurface, and unspoken truths emerge. The arrival of Gracie, Stephen’s teenage daughter, threatens to upset everything, mirroring the changing face of the city outside. Colum McCann’s Twist (Penguin), set against the backdrop of technological and personal fractures on Africa’s West Coast, explores love, loss, and the challenge of mending what’s broken in a divided world. Elaine Feeney’s Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way (Harvill Secker) brings us back to the intimate. A woman returns to Ireland to care for her dying father, and has to reconcile with her past that begins to haunt her.
Booker Prize finalist David Szalay’s new novel Flesh (Simon & Schuster) is about a man ‘whose future is derailed by a series of events that he is unable to control.’ This is Szalay at his best, reminiscent of All That Man Is, unspooling lives burdened by history and choice. Natasha Brown’s Universality (Penguin) is a razor-sharp indictment of modern hypocrisies, which continues the incisive brilliance of her debut, Assembly. Young British writer Gurnaik Johal surprised us with his debut collection of short stories, We Move. His first novel Saraswati (Hachette) is one of the most promising debuts of the year, along with Aria Aber’s Good Girl (Penguin), the story of a daughter of Afghan refugees and her self-discovery in Berlin when she meets an American writer, who opens the former’s eye to artistic freedom. For horror fans, there is Never Flinch (Hachette) by the master, Stephen King, in which a celebrity feminist activist is targeted by a stalker; Holly Gibney, King’s most memorable character, is back, so the anticipation will be high among King’s admirers.
Non-fiction
The non-fiction titles of 2025 are equally compelling. Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy’s first memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me (Penguin) delivers what her fiction has always promised — an unflinching gaze turned inward. It chronicles her life through the lens of her fraught relationship with her mother, Mary Roy. In The World After Gaza (Juggernaut), Pankaj Mishra interrogates the geopolitical hypocrisies that shape our times. Exploring the moral compass of a world scarred by colonial atrocities and the Holocaust, Mishra probes why certain lives are deemed more valuable than others. Uncompromising in its urgency, this book demands its readers confront uncomfortable truths about power, suffering, and global inequality.
Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer (which has been adapted into an HBO series) returns with To Save and to Destroy: Writing as an Other (Harvard University Press), “a moving and unflinchingly personal meditation on the literary forms of Asian American otherness and a bold call for a radically expansive political solidarity.” Ta-Nehisi Coates explores how narratives shape realities in The Message (Hamish Hamilton). Travelling to Dakar, Columbia, and Palestine, Coates dissects the destructive consequences of stories we tell ourselves.
Another writer’s memoir we couldn’t wait to read is Geoff Dyer’s Homework (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux), in which he reflects on his grammar school education in the 1960s and ’70s, tracing how these formative years fuelled his literary career while distancing him from his working-class roots. I’ll also be waiting to read Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow’s Mark Twain (Penguin), the story of one of America’s foremost literary giants. Chronicling Twain’s Southern upbringing, early career in journalism, and pursuit of fame, Chernow paints, according to the publisher, a vivid picture of the man behind The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Rebecca Romney’s Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector’s Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend (S&S), offers a fascinating glimpse into the intellectual currents that shaped a literary legend.
J. Randy Taraborrelli returns to the Kennedy saga with JFK: Public, Private, Secret (St. Martin’s Press). Following his biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, this account delves into John F. Kennedy’s private life. By balancing well-known anecdotes with lesser-explored facets of JFK’s personality, Taraborrelli offers a nuanced portrait of a man who continues to capture the public imagination. With wit and wisdom, Brooke Shields reflects on aging and self-perception in Brooke Shields is Not Allowed to Get Old (Hachette). Ian Leslie’s John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs dives into the creative partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. With fresh insights, Leslie examines the dynamics that defined one of the greatest songwriting duos in history.
Ash Sarkar’s debut, Minority Rule (Bloomsbury), is a critique of inequality, information overload, and the erosion of community. Building on the legacy of works like Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Sarkar’s analysis promises to reshape the political discourse. David Sheff’s Yoko (Simon & Schuster) is a definitive biography of Yoko Ono that goes beyond her relationship with John Lennon to explore her groundbreaking contributions to art, music, and activism. Drawing from personal archives and interviews, Sheff reclaims Ono’s legacy as an icon in her own right.
In Israel and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West (Simon & Schuster), Josh Hammer argues that the survival of Western civilization is tied to the flourishing of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Combining historical analysis with contemporary insights, Hammer presents a bold manifesto for a Jewish-Christian alliance as Israel continues its assault on Palestine. I Dream of Joni: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell in 53 Snapshots by Henry Alford (Simon & Schuster) explores the life and legacy of the legendary Joni Mitchell through 53 essays, shedding light on her childhood, her rise to fame in Los Angeles, and her creative journey, enriched by insights from friends and collaborators. Where Madness Lies: The Double Life of Vivien Leigh by Lyndsy Spence (Simon & Schuster) reveals the struggles behind Vivien Leigh’s iconic public image, focusing on the mental health challenges she faced, particularly after a nervous breakdown in 1953, and how these personal battles shaped her life and career.
Dianaworld: An Obsession by Edward White (Allen Lane) provides a unique exploration of Princess Diana’s lasting cultural influence, examining not just her life but also the devotees who continue to elevate her as an icon, from drag performers to Gen Z fans on social media. In Resistance (Fourth Estate), Steve McQueen looks back at 100 years of activism in Britain, documenting key moments such as the suffrage movement, the Black People’s Day of Action, and the Miners’ Strike, with McQueen using a mix of photographs and personal accounts to capture the evolution of protest in the UK.
Anuradha Roy’s first work of non-fiction, The Himalaya in Twelve Pieces (Hachette), offers a fragmented yet cohesive meditation on one of the world’s most awe-inspiring landscapes. Shot through with Roy’s keen observations, it captures both the timeless beauty of the Himalayas as well as the looming threats it faces. Tamil author Perumal Murugan addresses modern censorship and identity politics in No Need to Take It to Heart (Eka). Drawing on his own legal battles and Tamil Nadu’s socio-political landscape, Murugan delivers a searing critique of social orthodoxy. Ipsita Chakravarty’s Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir’s Conflict (Context) presents a ground-level view of a region often reduced to political soundbites. In his new collection of essays, Wild Fictions (HarperCollins), Amitav Ghosh writes passionately about environment and climate change, subjects that have fascinated for the last 25 years. In Nalanda: How it Changed the World (Vintage), poet-diplomat Abhay K. charts Nalanda Mahavihara’s rise as a preeminent seat of knowledge, its eventual decline, and its resurgence.
Ita Mehrotra’s Uprooted: A Graphic Account for Forest Rights (Context) shines a light on the human and ecological toll of displacement in Uttarakhand’s forest communities. Shashi Tharoor’s The Constitution of India (Aleph) and Gautam Bhatia’s The Indian Constitution: Conversations with Power (HarperCollins) engage in an intellectual dialogue about India’s foundational document. Tharoor examines the promises of the Constitution, while Bhatia critiques its failings. Nirmala Lakshman’s The Tamils (Aleph) promises to be an exhaustive exploration of Tamil history, society, and culture. Similarly, Ghazala Wahab’s The Hindi Heartland (Aleph) is a novel biography of nine states with Hindi as their official language, known as the Hindi belt. Anirudh Kanisetti's Lords of Earth and Sea: A History of the Chola Empire (Juggernaut) is another not-to-be-missed book of the year.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. But these titles, spanning fiction and non-fiction, showcase why we read in the first place: to see the world anew, to feel deeply, and to think harder. Here’s to a year of unforgettable stories!
