Autumn is basically here, but this list of the best new books fall 2025 has to offer heralds the unofficial start to the season. What is better than books, falling leaves, cozy blankets, and hot tea? Not much! Here’s my roundup of the 10 new fall 2025 books I’m most excited to read. Let’s go!
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The Summer War by Naomi Novik – September 16
I’ve highlighted fantasy writer Naomi Novik’s writing here on the blog before, so I’m pumped that she’s publishing another book this fall. The Summer War is a novella about Celia, who accidentally cursed her older brother, Argent, to a life without love when she was too young to understand or control her blossoming magical talents. Now Celia sets out to correct the mistake while also trying to mend the tensions between Celia’s people and the menacing creatures known as the summerlings At just 144 pages, The Summer War is a quick read that will stay with you long after you’ve read the last page.
How to read it: Purchase The Summer War on Amazon
Fiend by Alma Katsu – September 16
I absolutely loved Alma Katsu’s spy thriller, Red Widow, so I’m eagerly anticipating her newest release: Fiend. This horror novel focuses on the wealthy Berisha family, who seem to have especially good luck that protects them from scrutiny and instead focuses its wrath on rival companies. But now the truth behind the Berishas’ almost supernatural success streak comes to light and, even worse, it seems like they’re on the wrong side of a ruthless curse… Katsu is one of our most imaginative and dynamic writers working today, and Fiend is sure to deliver chills and thrills.
How to read it: Purchase Fiend on Amazon
The Killer Question by Janice Hallett – September 23
Ever since I read Janice Hallet’s The Examiner, I was hooked. Hallett specializes in cozy mysteries told in epistolary formats. The Examiner really blew my mind because Hallett managed to stoke suspense in an era where our digital detritus reveals every facet of our lives online. In The Killer Question, Hallett returns to form. In this mystery, sisters Sue and Mal run a pub trivia night in their out-of-the-way bar. Then a body turns up in a river nearby, and a suspicious new team comes in and crushes the competition. Is there a connection? You’ll race through this one to find out.
How to read it: Purchase The Killer Question on Amazon
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sulley by Kiran Dasei – September 23
I’m all for an epic book and a romance, so I’m so excited to read Kiran Dasei’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sully, which combines both! This buzzy new novel has been long listed for the 2025 Booker Prize. This book is a bit of a come back for Dasei, whose last book, published 20 years ago, was the critically and commercially successful The Inheritance of Loss. In this 600+ page doorstopper, Indian-born Sonia and Sulley each seek a better life in America and instead find anything but. When their parents conspire to get them together, it sounds like it could be a disaster. But then it isn’t. If you want a sweeping family saga and a breathless romance, add The Loneliness of Sonia and Sully to your fall TBR.
How to read it: Purchase The Loneliness of Sonia and Sully on Amazon
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan – September 23
This dazzling new novel from Ian McEwan (Atonement) breaks genre rules. In a dual timeline, the story weaves between 2014 and 2119. In the 2014 section, acclaimed poet Francis Blundy reads his wife a new poem dedicated to her, “A Corona for Vivien,” at a dinner party. But the guests soon forget the poem, and since there’s no copy of it, “A Corona for Vivien” is lost to time. Fast forward to 2119 and we’re living in an apocalyptic conditions after a nuclear power catastrophe. Literary scholar Thomas tries to track down “A Corona for Vivien,” a quest that will lead him through the archives and into the past. Blending mystery with science fiction and historical fiction, What We Can Know is one of the buzziest books of fall 2025 and a masterpiece you won’t want to miss.
How to read it: Purchase What We Can Know on Amazon
Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood – September 23
As a cat mom, I was immediately intrigued by the feline-focused cover of Patricia Lockwood’s new novel, Will There Ever Be Another You. But I was pulled in even more by the book’s premise. Lockwood’s story follows a young woman who is dealing with the mental, physical, and financial fallout from contracting a beguiling illness. I must admit, I’m fascinated with books that touch on pandemic stories, like Sigrid Nunez’s The Vulnerables, which I loved. As I work on this article, we’re more than five years out from when COVID hit, and I’ve always wondered, as a writer, do we pretend like COVID never happened, do we address it head on, knowing how catastrophic it was for the world, and knowing how life will never be the same? Novels like Lockwood’s are brave enough to look the pandemic in the face and not flinch at the answers.
How to read it: Will There Ever Be Another You on Amazon
Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon – October 7
Anytime there’s a new novel from Thomas Pynchon, it’s time to auto-add it to your TBR. In his latest book, Shadow Ticket, Pynchon takes on the noir genre in a story set in 1932 Milwaukee. Our hero is private eye Hicks McTaggart, who is drafted to track down a missing heiress. Hicks’ mission takes him across the pond as he encounters a changing Europe. Pynchon is in top form here. If you love historical fiction and mysteries, as well as hard-boiled detective fiction, this is the novel you’ll want to put a hold on at the library several weeks out.
How to read it: Purchase Shadow Ticket on Amazon
We Survived the Night by Julian Brave NoiseCat – October 14
It will be hard to miss Julian Brave Noisecat’s We Survived the Night when you’re researching the best new releases of fall 2025 because this book is definitely highly anticipated. In this compelling, vital work of nonfiction, Noisecat explores the contemporary life of America’s First Peoples, from activists working to rename racist sports team names to the movement to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline, all while reflecting on his own relationship to the Indigenous community. But Noisecat’s story is also a memoir about his complicated relationship with his Native father and how generational trauma has shaped it. We Survived the Night is the book we need right now, and if nonfiction is your jam, or even if it’s not, you’ll want to grab this one when it hits shelves on October 14.
How to read it: Purchase We Survived the Night on Amazon
All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu – October 14
I’m a big fan of Ken Liu’s short stories, like the collection The Paper Menagerie, so I’m so excited that Liu is releasing a new sci-fi thriller this fall, All That We See or Seem. The first in a series, this pulse-pounding thriller with immersive world building stars elite hacker Julia Z as she’s hired to find a dream artist, Elli, who’s been kidnapped, a journey that will take her through the criminal underground. Danger and adventure abound in this science fiction mystery you’ll want to clear your schedule to read.
How to read it: Purchase All That We See or Seem on Amazon
1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — And How It Shattered a Nation by Andrew Ross Sorkin – October 14
We owe the phrase “too big to fail” to Andrew Ross Sorkin, one of our preeminent financial reporters, whose book Too Big to Fail laid out in horrific, shocking detail how the 2008 recession came about when the biggest banks, even those “too big,” failed. Now, in his latest book, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History — And How It Shattered a Nation, Sorkin digs deep into how all the conditions were ripe for a crippling depression when Wall Street self destructed in 1929. Even though the events in Sorkin’s new book took place almost a hundred years ago, he writes with riveting, minute-by-minute detail with the pacing of a thriller. This is the It Book in American nonfiction for fall 2025, and you won’t want to overlook it.
How to read it: Purchase 1929 on Amazon
King Sorrow by Joe Hill – October 21
Horror readers out there probably already have Hill’s latest novel, King Sorrow, on their fall 2025 books TBR. But even if you’re not a horror reader, you’ll still want to put King Sorrow on your radar. In this doorstopper that flies by, college student Arthur gets pressured into stealing rare books from the university library by a drug dealer. Arthur’s friends work up a scheme to get him out of the situation: they’ll use a book to conjure up a dragon for some extra leverage. What could go wrong? Even though this novel is nearly 900 pages, you’ll fly through it, as early reviews suggest. Readers who have managed to get a copy of King Sorrow are raving about this one, and, based on Hill’s oeuvre to date, that comes as no surprise.
How to read it: Purchase King Sorrow on Amazon
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite – November 4
The last entry in our list of the best new books fall 2025 is Cursed Daughters. This quirky read by the author of the smash hit My Sister, the Serial Killer focuses on Eniiyi, who is born the day her mother’s cousin, Monife, dies. Since Eniiyi and Monife look alike, people start to believe that Eniiyi is Monife reincarnated. Not only is Eniiyi saddled with the pressure to live up to embody Monife, she’s also saddled with the alleged family curse and what it might mean for romance. As a superstitious person, I can’t wait to dive into this offbeat novel.
How to read it: Purchase Cursed Daughters on Amazon
And there you have it! Broke by Books’ roundup of the best new books fall 2025 has to offer. See any you can’t wait to read? Jump into the discussion!
