Courtesy of Red Tower Books

January 30, 2025

25 New Reads for 2025

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Check out some of the exciting new reads coming in 2025 — from haunting historical fiction to thought-provoking nonfiction to sweeping fantasies. Take a leap and explore the literary world this year.

January

  1. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

In Rebecca Yarros’ highly anticipated third book in the Empyrean series, Violet Sorrengail journeys beyond the wards of Basgiath War College to uncover the secrets Navarre and its Archives have kept for centuries. The venin are more dangerous, the stakes higher and the secrets are devastating. I am currently reading this book, and it’s amazing. I highly recommend it!

  1. The Sirens’ Call by Christopher L. Hayes

Attention spans have shortened, phones are dominating our social lives and both are contributing to changing society and politics. Hayes explores the commodification of attention and how it is being harvested to change our minds and the fabric of our society.

  1. The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

Annie Jenkins is thrilled to be working with a Vogue editor to organize the 1978 Met Gala. Charlotte Cross, curator of the Department of Egyptian Art, wants nothing to do with the Met Gala, instead wishing to focus on researching Hathorkare, a rare female pharaoh. Until the night of the gala when a rare artifact is stolen and Hathorkare’s curse is evoked.

  1. A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

A story featuring magical realism as a woman grapples with the loss of her brother, but the more she investigates, the more questions arise. 

  1. Seeds by Angie Paxton

A Greek mythology retelling following Kore (Persephone) and Demeter based on the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. This book is super exciting because it tells this familiar story and comes from a more mythologically dense source which includes the Eleusinian Mysteries.

  1. The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight

A witty, heartfelt coming-of-age story of a woman studying at the University of Edinburgh who hopes to uncover her parents’ secrets with the help of their writer friend while also discovering herself.

  1. Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor

A struggling author’s life is upending, until she decides to take the risk and write a science fiction novel that somehow changes reality itself. 

February

  1. Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine

Junie has been enslaved on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama her whole life, and when the death of her sister swallows her life in grief, she turns to daydreams, poetry and secret forest wanderings. One day she commits an act that raises her sister’s ghost — and she must free her spirit or she will be tethered to the world forever.

  1. The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

A man has lost everything and seeks solace in his family’s summer cabin only to find out he is not alone. Inside is Artemis Darth Vader, a mysterious young girl with strange powers. I have heard amazing things about this author so I’m excited to try it soon.

March

  1. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins’ second prequel novel from the world of The Hunger Games follows Haymitch Abernathy’s Quarter Quell games. Collins has said this book will lean more into themes surrounding propaganda and its ability to control narratives. As a longtime fan of the series, I am so excited for this book!

  1. Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green

John Green’s nonfiction novel follows his friendship with a tuberculosis patient and comments on how health inequities impact access to care, unfortunately making a curable disease like tuberculosis one of the deadliest.

  1. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Adichie’s new novel follows the story of Nigerian women Chiamaka, Zikora, Omelogor and Kadiatou, exploring their longings, loves, choices and pursuits of happiness. Adichie’s rich prose captures the complexities of women’s lives and dreams through a powerful lens.

  1. The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry

A renowned author leaves behind a mystery when she disappears off the coast of South Carolina, leaving behind a family and a book written in an invented language none can translate. Years later, her daughter journeys to London to learn about her mother and the story she left behind. 

April

  1. Fearless by Lauren Roberts

The third book in the popular Powerless series follows Paedyn and Kai as they return to the Kingdom of Ilya after the thrilling events of Reckless. Tensions will rise, loyalties will be tested and Paedyn is faced with a choice that will alter her life. 

  1. The Eights by Joanna Miller

In 1920, Oxford University has admitted female students for the first time. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne and Otto come from different backgrounds yet find companionship and courage in each other in a time laden with misogyny, disease and ghosts of the Great War.

  1. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Emily Henry’s new book follows two writers competing to tell the story of the reclusive and mysterious Margaret Ives. Alice Scott has been waiting for years for her writing break and to finally impress her family, but Hayden Anderson is standing in her way.

  1. The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner 

Historical fiction novel involving a hunt for sunken treason, but with witchcraft. I haven’t read historical fiction in a while, but the premise of this novel seems so intriguing. 

May

  1. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Sybil Delling is a Diviner, a prophetess sworn to service within the walls of a cathedral where each night she is greeted in her dreams by Omens. Yet when Diviners start disappearing she is left in the dark and forced to rely on the help of a heretical knight. I discovered Rachel Gillig last year and she is now one of my top authors. Her writing is incredibly atmospheric and her worldbuilding is amazing!

  1. Never Flinch by Stephen King

Buckeye City Police receive a note from an unknown writer promising to “thirteen innocents and one guilty,” and a feminist speaker is being relentlessly stalked. How are the two connected? In Stephen King’s new thriller, these intertwining stories feature exciting characters, both old and new, as they race to outmaneuver their wrathful adversary.

June

  1. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab 

Three women die and are buried in midnight soil spanning years in Santo Domingo de la Calzada, London and Boston. They all return with sharp white teeth in an interconnected story of rage and hunger. This is such a strange but intriguing premise, and I have enjoyed the author’s previous work so this is definitely going on my list.

  1. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A romance story set in 1980s NASA as a woman seeks to be one of the first women in the Space Shuttle program.  

August

  1. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

This new dark academia book follows Alice Law studying Magick at Cambridge University until her professor dies and goes to Hell. But even death won’t stop her pursuit of education as she decides to journey to Hell to get him back. R.F. Kuang’s other works are stunning, and she actually came to Cornell last year!

  1. A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid

The dark academia sequel to A Study in Drowning that follows Effy’s thesis writing journey and Preston’s ensnaring and cryptic dreams. The blend of dark academia and fairytale lore in this series seems absolutely perfect, so I can’t wait to start the duology!

September

  1. Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber

It starts in Folklore 517, a class taught by the Professor thought by most to teach stories of fiction. Holland St. James knows differently. As she begins a quest to uncover her past through her thesis, her path quickly turns dangerous as secrets and dark magic unveil themselves. Stephanie Garber is my all-time favorite author and this is her first time writing an adult novel and I can’t wait to see where she takes it.

October 

  1. The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker

Sequel to When The Moon Hatched, which follows Raeve, an assassin fighting for the rebellion and Kaan, a dragon rider and king. The book is an action-packed story with dragons and a delightfully unique lunar magic system. I have been waiting to read this series for too long, the magic system is so unique and there are many helpful guides to understand the worldbuilding within the book which I appreciate.

Ayla Kruse Lawson is a sophomore in the College of Human Ecology. She can be reached at [email protected].