There is little I love more than reading – and I’ll take every opportunity I can to get lost in the pages of my current read. Whether it’s a twisty turny thriller, or a spine-tingling horror, an adorable romance where you root for the main characters from the first page, or my favourite genre – literary fiction. I love it all.
But, while I am a prolific reader, I understand not everybody can read at the rate and speed I do, so you have to prioritise the books you want to read a little more carefully. That’s why I’m here to tell you the top five books you definitely need to read, based on the 100 books I’ve read so far in 2025. So, buckle up and feel free to jot down any that take your fancy.
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5. Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett
Not to be confused with the song from The Smiths with a very similar title, this book is angst at its finest, and I absolutely loved it. It horrified me, made me chuckle, and left me wanting more – three things my favourite books tend to do.
It’s unique, weird as anything, but it’s also so much deeper. It’s a look into childhood trauma, grief, accepting yourself, all from the perspective of a clown who has an obsession with MILFs.
Cherry is one of the messiest main characters I’ve read about in a long time, but I was rooting for her despite her flaws. Jokes aside, and there are many in this book that will make you laugh, the story is guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings.
4. The Conditions of Will by Jessa Hastings
Everybody wants the (final?) Magnolia Parks instalment in the form of the third Daisy Haites book – but somehow Jessa Hastings brought us something even more incredible. This book. When she announced that this book would be coming out, Jessa’s fan base went wild. Some were pleased, and others were gutted, calling the author out saying that she was giving ‘us everything but the next Magnolia Parks book’.
This, in my opinion, was better. It was more mature than Magnolia Parks. It was deep, it left me speechless, had the perfect plot twists to keep me intrigued. And, there was a Magnolia Parks crossover that made me literally gasp, run to my partner, and try to explain what had happened, much to his confusion.
I don’t know what it is about Jessa Hastings’ writing, but she has me in a chokehold. In fact, someone joked on Goodreads: “Questioning if I finished this book or it finished me,” and that pretty much sums it up. Read it, even if it’s not your usual vibe.
3. So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne
This book by my auto-buy author, Holly Bourne, really shines a light on women’s choices, and the fact that people are often jealous of the situation they do not find themselves in. Set from the perspectives of four women – Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi – the action occurs on a sweltering hot summer’s day, when tensions between the women rise.
Something horrendous happens at one of the women’s baby showers, so police are called and they have to piece together what’s happened.
But the truth shocked me, and it will definitely leave you cold and feeling seriously uncomfortable. This is one of those books that I thought about for ages after I’d read it, and you will too.
2. Paradise Logic by Sophie Kemp
First off, I want to point out that I really did judge a book by its cover here and chose this book because of that. If that makes me shallow, so be it – but Paradise Logic is anything but shallow.
It’s a fever dream of wild absurdity and jarring horrors. It feels odd to say I enjoyed it, so I’ll have to say I thought it was great.
Books that are character-focused rather than plot-focused are very much my thing, so this ticked that box. Reality Khan was such a unique and messy protagonist, I wanted more.
It made me excited for Sophie Kemp’s future books. But, please look up trigger warnings beforehand, and I wouldn’t recommend this book for under 18s as it contains a lot of adult themes.
1. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Grady Hendrix has done it once more with this incredible book. Set in Florida in 1970, the book focuses on a group of pregnant teenage girls who are sent away to a maternity home for unwed girls.
When they find a book all about witchcraft, and their lives are completely transformed. At first, you may side-eye Grady Hendrix for attempting to write a book with such a feminist message at its core, but he handles it, as he does every other book he has feminist messages in, with grace and genuine allyship.
This book will infuriate you, make you feel physically sick, and highlight comparisons to today’s scary landscape – note, the concerning overturning of Roe v. Wade.