Books I’m Looking Forward to Reading in 2025

Last week, I shared about the funnest (deal with it) books I’ve read so far in 2025. It was a good reminder to me that reading is one of my favorite and most accessible forms of fun! And the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve allowed myself to prioritize fun in my reading. No one is going to come take my English degree away from me if I’m not reading literary fiction and classics year-round. (And what would they do with it if they did?)

So today, I’m sharing a roundup of books I’m looking forward to reading—hopefully this year. I’d say I’ll share what made the cut at the end of the year, but I probably won’t be able to help myself from giving a Q3 update, so stay tuned!

The Hawthorne Legacy

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is the next book in The Inheritance Games series. I really enjoyed the first book and am looking forward to giving the next one a try to decide whether I want to be a completionist about the series. This series tells the story of Avery, a high schooler who mysteriously inherits a billionaire’s fortune and then finds herself solving riddles and untangling secrets alongside the billionaire’s four handsome (obviously), charming (obviously) grandsons. Hijinks ensue.

My Friends

Fredrik Backman is a beloved author, and My Friends is his latest release. I’ve enjoyed many of his previous works, particularly Anxious People and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry. Backman manages to be both funny and poignant, and his characters often seem both real and impossibly kind. I’m looking forward to reading his newest work!

The Many Lives of Mama Love

A few months ago, my book club read The Sun Does Shine, which tells the story of Anthony Ray Hinton, an innocent man who spent 30 years on Alabama’s death row. Hinton was eventually freed thanks to the tireless efforts of Bryan Stevenson, and his story features in Stevenson’s Just Mercy. In The Sun Does Shine, Hinton tells his story in his own words, and my book club was astonished by how well Hinton’s ghostwriter captured his voice, interwove various timelines, and shared the heartbreaking story without losing hope.

As it turns out, that ghostwriter had some familiarity with the subject matter (minus the innocence). In The Many Lives of Mama Love, Hardin shares her own story of opioid addiction, felony conviction, release, and recovery. I love a good memoir, and this one sounds fascinating.   

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

I heard about The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers from Faith Adjacent co-host and fellow Enneagram One Evan Dodson. I’m a big fan of puzzles (jigsaw, crossword, you name it), so this sounded right up my alley. According to the sales copy, “When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton’s life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. So begins Clay’s quest to uncover the secrets surrounding his birth, secrets that will change Clay—and the Fellowship—forever.” Interestingly enough, this has some parallels with the plot of The Inheritance Games, so maybe I’ve found a weird little book niche for myself.

The Professor

I really enjoyed Nossett’s first thriller, The Resemblance. However, I do want to caveat that a big part of my enjoyment was the University of Georgia setting. UGA is my alma mater, and it was fun to be able to easily picture the places Nossett describes (minus the Greek life, which wasn’t my thing). I always miss Athens in the fall, and The Professor seems like a great way to visit.

The Grey Wolf and The Black Wolf

If you like a good mystery/thriller and haven’t read Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series yet, you are in for a treat. The Grey Wolf and The Black Wolf are books 19 and 20 in this series, which begins with Still Life. I reread the series over the course of the last couple years, saving #19 to read right before #20 comes out at the end of October. I recommend reading the books in order, as the main characters’ storylines progress throughout the series. Many of the books are too intense to qualify these as “cozy mysteries,” but the food writing and description of Three Pines will want to make you visit Canada no matter how many murders occur in that idyllic small town.

The Impossible Fortune

While we’re on the subject of murder, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention The Impossible Fortune, the newest installment in the Thursday Murder Club series, releasing September 30. These books follow the antics of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim, retirees who spend their free time trying to solve cold cases. The characters are a delight, and I’m also looking forward to the (perfectly cast) movie adaptation releasing on Netflix at the end of August.

The Road to Tender Hearts

I think I first heard about this one on my favorite bookish podcast, From the Front Porch. I haven’t read Annie Hartnett’s previous work, but this one sounded fun. It tells the story of a sixty-something lottery winner who goes on a road trip to try to reconnect with his newly single high school sweetheart. Joining him on the journey are the recently orphaned grandchildren of his brother, his adult daughter, and a cat. Alison Espach (author of The Wedding People, which I LOVED), described it as “a brilliant and poignant journey of family, forgiveness, and rediscovery.” That might be a little too touchy-feely for me, except she also described the characters as “hilarious,” so I’m back in.

What are you looking forward to reading this year? What types of books are fun for you? I’m apparently into murder mysteries, puzzles, and people coming into large fortunes. Let me know in the comments if you’ll be adding any of these to your TBR!

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