Never fear, book lovers. We may be in the clutches of the darkest, coldest part of winter right now, but the good news is that a year’s worth of great books is on the way. What follows is just a taste of some of the most anticipated books of 2025, from novels to memoir to historical nonfiction.
“The Heart of Winter”
by Jonathan Evison (Dutton, Jan. 7)
Bainbridge Island author Evison’s latest novel is a love story — the account of a 70-year marriage that began with a bad blind date and ends with a remarkable reflection on what it means to truly love someone.
“Death of the Author”
by Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow, Jan. 14)
Award-winning Nigerian American sci-fi author Okorafor’s latest novel is about a Nigerian American sci-fi author who begins to feel reality fall apart all around her. Okorafor’s earlier books transformed the genre of Africanfuturism forever, and her legion of fans is eagerly anticipating her take on metafiction.
“Let’s Call Her Barbie”
by Renée Rosen (Berkley, Jan. 21)
Just a year and a half after her blockbuster feature film, Barbie gets a bold reinvention in this novel about Ruth Handler’s invention of the most popular doll of all time, and its impact on society that still reverberates today.
“Tartufo”
by Kira Jane Buxton (Grand Central Publishing, Jan. 28)
Local author Buxton’s debut novel, “Hollow Kingdom,” was told from the perspective of a domesticated Seattle-area crow. Her third novel ranges much farther afield — it’s about the eccentric residents of a tiny Italian town and the discovery of a giant truffle that throws the entire village into chaos.
“Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us”
by Jennifer Finney Boylan (Celadon Books, Feb. 4)
Boylan’s “She’s Not There” was the first book by an out transgender American author to reach bestseller status 20 years ago. Her latest book offers a deep dive into the differences and similarities between men and women, as well as a meditation on how the American public has become more suspicious of and hateful toward transgender people.
“Harlem Rhapsody”
by Victoria Christopher Murray (Berkley, Feb. 4)
Jessie Redmon Fauset changed the world when she quit her schoolteacher job and moved to Harlem for a job at a literary magazine, through which she helped ignite the Harlem Renaissance. Murray’s novel brings Fauset into the spotlight, recognizing her as one of the most important figures in African American cultural history.
“Source Code: My Beginnings”
by Bill Gates (Knopf, Feb. 4)
One of the Seattle area’s most famous residents offers a memoir of his formative years, stretching from childhood through the founding of Microsoft.
“Dream Count”
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Knopf, March 4)
Adichie’s 2013 novel “Americanah” made one of the strongest bids for the title of “Great American Novel” we’ve seen yet in the 21st century. Finally, after over a decade, she’s ready to share another.
“On Air”
by Steve Oney (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, March 11)
Subtitled “The Triumph and Tumult of NPR,” this eagerly anticipated history of National Public Radio has been in the works for more than a decade.
“The Antidote”
by Karen Russell (Knopf, March 11)
The author of the bestselling “Swamplandia!,” a MacArthur “genius,” returns with a novel about five Nebraskans struggling to survive in the storm-ravaged Dust Bowl.
“Sunrise on the Reaping”
by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press, March 18)
The latest “Hunger Games” prequel tells the story of Haymitch Abernathy, the star athlete-turned-alcoholic burnout who is portrayed in the movies by Woody Harrelson, with the help of a truly remarkable hairpiece.
“Abundance”
by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, March 18)
New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and Atlantic journalist Derek Thompson offer a timely reconsideration of what a 21st-century agenda for the Democratic Party might look like.
“A/S/L”
by Jeanne Thornton (Soho Press, April 1)
Transgender novelist Thornton delivers the much-anticipated follow-up to her award-winning “Summer Fun.” In 1998, three teenagers team up on the early internet to create a video game. Decades later, that unfinished game brings them together in person for the very first time.
“The Fact Checker”
by Austin Kelley (Atlantic Monthly Press, April 15)
In the distant past of 2004, a magazine fact-checker trying to confirm a quote for an upcoming issue finds himself drawn into a confusing web of misinformation and heartbreak. This is the debut novel from Kelley, who previously worked as a fact-checker for The New Yorker.
“The Book Club for Troublesome Women”
by Marie Bostwick (Harper Muse, April 22)
In this 1960s-set novel from a bestselling Washington state author, four women form a book club to discuss Betty Friedan’s classic “The Feminine Mystique.” The friendship they form begins to feel like the only authentic thing in their suburban community.
“Mark Twain”
by Ron Chernow (Penguin Press, May 13)
It seems that every generation gets its own high-profile Mark Twain biography. This year’s attempt at a canonical life story of Samuel Clemens comes from the Pulitzer-winning biographer of Americans including John D. Rockefeller, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.
“The Condiment Book”
by Claire Dinhut (Flatiron Books, May 20)
Under the name “Condiment Claire,” Dinhut has charmed audiences on TikTok, Substack and Instagram with her deep-dive investigations into condiments of all kinds. Her debut cookbook offers condiment history, plenty of recipes and all kinds of useful tips for getting the biggest flavors out of your jams, sauces and dressings.
“Storybook Ending”
by Moira Macdonald (Dutton, May 27)
Seattle Times arts critic Macdonald’s debut novel is a comedy of manners about an unlikely correspondence that begins when a lonesome tech worker tries to woo a dashing Seattle bookseller. Her anonymous note winds up in the hands of another bookstore patron instead, and an unlikely — and somewhat lopsided — love triangle is born.
“Atmosphere”
by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Ballantine Books, June 3)
After the wild success of “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” and “Daisy Jones & The Six,” every new novel from Reid is an event. Her latest centers on a scientist who is selected by NASA to go to space as a citizen astronaut.
“Hate Revisited!”
by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, June 12)
Throughout the 1990s, local cartoonist Peter Bagge’s indie comic book “Hate” lampooned Seattle’s grunge years with acid wit. Thirty years later, Bagge is checking in on Buddy Bradley and the rest of the misanthropic cast of “Hate,” who are aging just as poorly as their fans would probably expect.
“Liberation Summer”
by Micki McElya (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, June 17)
Subtitled “The Moment That Changed the Women’s Movement and the Future of American Politics,” the latest book from historian McElya dives into two important protests at the Miss America and Miss Black America pageants in 1968 that forever changed the way Americans think about women’s rights.
“Black Soldiers, White Laws”
by John A. Haymond (Atlantic Monthly Press, July 15)
In 1917, 118 Black soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment in Houston took up arms when they heard a racist mob was preparing to attack them. Eventually, 19 of those soldiers would be executed — many of whom were given no chance to appeal their case. Haymond successfully won retroactive clemency for the soldiers, and now his book documenting the tragic case is an attempt to clear their name once and for all.
“Twelve Churches”
by Fergus Butler-Gallie (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, Aug. 26)
The author, journalist and ordained Anglican priest visits 12 Christian churches all over the world in order to find a more populist and inclusive Christianity.
“Katabasis”
by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager, Aug. 26)
Between her young adult anti-colonial riff on Harry Potter, “Babel,” and her dark literary thriller, “Yellowface,” Kuang has fast become one of the most exciting novelists under the age of 30. Her latest is about two academics who travel to hell to save their adviser from eternal damnation.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated “Dream Count” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as her sophomore novel. It is her fourth.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated author Nnedi Okorafor writes Afrofuturism. She writes Africanfuturism.
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