As the New Year approaches, many of us are considering resolutions for 2025 to lead a more fulfilling and happier life. And if you’re looking to pick up a rewarding and relaxing hobby, reading is one of the best.
Diving into a good book before bedtime can significantly improve your sleep and mental health, particularly if you’re trying to reduce screen time. However, with an overwhelming number of books available, it can be challenging to decide where to start or what to read.
To help with this, one author has shared his top 12 book recommendations – one for each month of 2025 – that everyone should consider adding to their reading lists for the upcoming year.
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Writer Nic Marna, also known as @bookbinch on TikTok, revealed his top picks in a video that has already garnered over 700k views.
Instead of focusing on the latest releases, he’s chosen to highlight some ‘hidden gems’ from previous years that you might have overlooked. Here’s his list of must-read books that everyone should consider picking up in 2025, as reported by the Express.
Open Water – Caleb Azumah Nelson
This book is described as a ‘beautiful, touching and intimate’ love story. The narrative follows a blossoming romance between a photographer and a dancer, interweaving significant themes about identity, class and race, making it a crucial read,
Nic suggested that the perfect book to kick off the year with is a short one, just 145 pages long, so it won’t feel like a daunting task and you’ll be able to tick off your first goal quickly.
If Beale Street Could Talk – James Baldwin
This story has a gripping narrative that will draw you in immediately. Set in Harlem in the 70s, it’s a tale of love in the face of brutal injustice and the significance of family and friendship.
Nic said: “It talks about being black in the 1970s in America, but it’s also relevant today. It’s such a good book.”
Minor Detail – Adania Shibli
This is a ‘haunting reflection on war, violence and memory’, centred around a horrific crime committed during the 1948 Nabka war in Palestine and the desire to make things right now. Nic said: “If you haven’t read this book, you have to read it. It sticks with you.”
The Great Believers – Rebecca Makai
This book was published in 2018, and continues to receive much acclaim – which is ‘deserved’ according to Nic. Divided into two parts, one set in 1980s Chicago at the peak of the AIDS epidemic, and the other in present-day Paris where a woman is searching for her estranged daughter.
Nic said: “It’s an angle to the AIDS epidemic in the media that I have never experienced or read, and I’m so thankful that I have, because I really loved it.”
There, There – Tommy Orange
Nic recommends this book for those looking to avoid a ‘reading slump’ halfway through the year. He said: “It’s a ton of little vignettes. They’re all short stories, you’re doing an investigation in your mind because you’re trying to find out how all these characters are related.”
All the characters are from Native American communities struggling to make sense of their identity. Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2019, it’s definitely one to add to your list.
Bad Habit – Alana S. Portero
This story of a trans woman growing up in Madrid in the 1980s was also loved by Dua Lipa and was featured as her Book Club Pick for September last year. Described as ‘beautiful and deeply moving’, the book focuses on how community and chosen family can be so powerful when you’re feeling lost in yourself.
Nic said: “The precision in the writing is so delicious and juicy. It’s so good.”
Evenings and Weekends – Oisin McKenna
Nic described this as the ‘perfect summer read’ – so worth saving until you’re chilling on the beach or by the pool one afternoon. Released earlier this year, this book features the lives of interconnected characters that are ‘super messy’, all taking place against the backdrop of one swelteringly hot weekend in London.
During this time, secrets are revealed and simmering tensions come to a head – making for the perfect beach read that you won’t be able to put down.
Kindred – Octavia E. Butler
This book is hailed as a true modern classic, initially hitting the shelves in the late 70s – and if it’s not yet graced your bookshelf, consider this the sign you needed to dive in. It narrates the gripping saga of a woman who journeys back in time to the height of the antebellum South, encountering slavery in its rawest form along with her ancestors, and finding herself wrapped up in the life of a plantation community.
Nic said: “It’s gripping, it’s really powerful and it’s just such a great book that everybody should read.”
Real Life – Brandon Taylor
As autumn leaves begin to fall, there’s no better fit than ‘Real Life’ by Brandon Taylor, a tale echoing the season itself since it unfolds on a university campus, painting the struggles of a research student attempting to find his place amidst barriers of race and sexuality. Nic said: “It’s really intimate and interesting the way we get into his head – it’s so good.”
Monstrilio – Gerardo Sámano Córdova
This literary horror may not chill your spine but will certainly provoke thought. Nic said: “It’s about grief taking corporeal form as this little monster and how grief can ripple through a family. It’s devastating, it’s touching, it’s so beautiful.”
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
This quintessential Gothic novel from the 30s may not be of our era, but its flowing narrative makes it an accessible treasure for any winter reader looking for a dose of mystery within the walls of a grand estate. Nic said: “It’s a classic from the 30s but it reads really easily. It’s the perfect winter read because it’s like this weird mystery set in this big manor – it’s super gothic and it keeps changing in shifting.”
The tale unfolds around a woman wed to a widower, tormented by the omnipresence of his late wife throughout their home.
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
Nic hailed this as the ultimate book to conclude the year with, he said: “It gives you a lot to chew on, but it’s also really good. It tracks the rich history of a family over the course of eight generations, starting with two sisters in Ghana in the 18th century.” Touted as ‘perfectly executed’, this novel is pitched as the quintessential finale to your annual literary journey.
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