There’s a world of stories waiting for you in this shiny new year!
If “Read more books” made it to your New Year’s resolutions for 2025, you’re in the right place. After all, there’s no better motivation than diving into great reads that transport you to new places, enrich your life, and give you plenty to recommend to those close to you.
This year sees the release of books from established authors like Suzanne Collins, who launches a new Hunger Games installment after a four-year wait; Agustina Bazterrica (Tender Is the Flesh), who weaves another dark tale sure to give you goosebumps; Nobel Prize winner Han Kang (Vegetarian, Human Acts) who’s publishing her newest masterpiece soon; and the prolific writer Grady Hendrix (Horrorstör, How to Sell a Haunted House), who delivers a fresh story just a year after his last.
Also making waves in 2025 are translated Korean and Japanese fiction, ranging from funny and sharp to bizarre and eerie—perfect escapes into women’s fiction, sci-fi, speculative, and horror. Because we know you love both high and low-stakes fantasy to curl up on the couch with, Sue Lynn Tan’s latest romantasy and Samantha Sotto Yambao’s novel about a mysterious pawnshop made it to this list.
From unearthing hidden Korean history buried deep in snow to falling in love with a blob, saving an abandoned house full of stray cats, solving robot crimes in a near-future Korea, winning a ticket to a magical market, falling for an immortal being, or getting to know a “bad mom” solving a crime to save her son—there’s a world of stories waiting for you in 2025.
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“Immortal” by Sue Lynn Tan


Set in the rich, immersive world of Tan’s Daughter of the Moon Goddess duology, this standalone fantasy brims with political intrigue, forbidden magic, and a slow-burn, delicious romance. When young heir Liyen ascends the human throne after her grandfather’s death, she vows to protect her kingdom by breaking its ties with the immortals. But when summoned to the Immortal Realm, she must forge an uneasy alliance with the enigmatic and fearsome God of War. As peril looms and tensions rise, Liyen must navigate dangerous secrets, growing attraction, and a threat that could destroy everything she’s fighting to protect.
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“How to Be Enough” by Ellen Hendriksen


A perfectionist herself, Hendriksen sheds insights into the root causes and pitfalls of perfectionism, including its “three boats”: self-oriented perfectionism (we are our own toughest critics), other-oriented perfectionism (the one we set on others), and lastly, the most toxic one, and on an upward march thanks to social media, socially-ascribed perfectionism. While perfectionism isn’t entirely bad, Hendriksen ruminates on what works and rethinks what doesn’t, guiding readers to be kinder and more compassionate to themselves.
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“Strange Pictures” by Uketsu


For the horror and mystery fans, this spine-tingling debut by a Japanese author, who is somewhat of an enigma himself, is one you absolutely can’t miss. Strange Pictures weaves together four interconnected stories: an innocuous blog, a child’s haunting sketch of a house, a cryptic drawing scrawled by a murder victim in his final moments, and an amateur sleuth who is led down a rabbit hole. Scattered throughout the book, eerie illustrations serve as clues, drawing readers into a dark web of intrigue and daring them to solve the mystery, puzzle by puzzle.
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“Water Moon” by Samantha Sotto-Yambao


A cozy ramen shop, a hidden pawnshop that buys people’s deepest regrets, a loved one that goes missing, rides on paper cranes—sign us up! Yambao’s latest novel feels like stepping into a magical, breathtaking dream you’ll never want to leave. Need another reason to pick it up? The origami-inspired book jacket that folds into a boat. How cool is that?
“Witchcraft for Wayward Girls” by Grady Hendrix


Witchcraft for Wayward Girls follows fifteen-year-old Fern, who was sent to Wellwood House, a home for unwed mothers in 1970s Florida. Under the watchful eye of Miss Wellwood, Fern and the other girls endure a rigid, joyless existence—until they meet an itinerant librarian who gifts them an occult book and a way out. But everything has a price, and with each ritual, Fern and her friends spiral deeper into a dangerous game that can cost them everything.
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“We Do Not Part” by Han Kang (Release date: January 21)


In her latest novel, Nobel Prize winner Han Kang dives into a forgotten chapter of Korea’s history. Kyungha, a journalist, is stuck in an apartment in Seoul, writing and rewriting a will she tears up and writes again the next day. One winter morning, she receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon, who is hospitalized, begging her to rescue her pet bird on Jeju Island. Once Kyungha gets there, a snowstorm hits the island, and she’s forced to grapple with fragments of loss, trauma, suffering, and the painful memories buried deep in the snow.
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“The Rainfall Market” by You Yeong-Gwang (Release date: January 21)


This delightful debut introduces us to Serin, a lonely girl who wins a “ticket” to the mystical Rainfall Market, where she can completely change her life. Together with a magical cat named Issha, Serin has to browse and search through bookstores, perfumeries, clothing boutiques, and other fantastical realms to choose the life she wants to have. The catch? She has one week to decide, or she’s doomed to disappear into the market forever.
“Blob” by Maggie Su (Release date: January 28)


Another debut novel, this one delivers an enthralling absurdist tale about a young woman who finds a sentient blob in an alley and molds it into the perfect boyfriend by feeding it a diet of cereals and American pop culture. Weird, surreal, bizarre, yet utterly relatable, Blob dives into the chaos of twenty-something life—navigating desire, relationships, identity, confusion, and the elusive quest for self-love. Prepare to laugh, cringe, and perhaps wish for a blob of your own.
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“Single” by Nicola Slawson (Release Date: February 11)


The sensational author smashes outdated narratives portraying single women as incomplete or miserable. Insightful, raw, and honest, Single is a book that celebrates independence, self-discovery, and the unique joys of single living.
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“The City of Lost Cats” by Tanya Lloyd Kyi (Release Date: March 4)


This big-hearted middle-grade novel follows 12-year-old Fiona, who tries to stop an abandoned house where “a city of cats” lives from being demolished. But she soon discovers the task is not as easy as it first looks: destruction is imminent, and the cats are fighting among themselves. Can Fiona and the cats she’s grown to love save their city together before it’s too late?
“The Unworthy” by Agustina Bazterrica (Release Date: March 4)


Bazterrica’s follow-up to her international bestseller Tender is the Flesh is a chilling dystopian horror set against the backdrop of a climate-ravaged world. The story unfolds in a secluded convent, where nuns are isolated from the chaos beyond its walls. At its heart is our protagonist, a low-ranking member of the Sacred Sisterhood labeled an “unworthy.” Lonely and disheartened, she clings to a single hope—the dream of one day ascending the ranks of the Enlightened. But when a fellow “unworthy” arrives and befriends our narrator, she is forced to grapple with her long-buried past and the secrets within the convent’s walls.
“Luminous” by Silvia Park (Release Date: March 11)


In a future reunified Korea, three estranged siblings—Jun, a detective in the Robot Crimes Unit; Morgan, a roboticist on the brink of disaster; and Yoyo, their long-lost robot brother—are drawn together by an unexpected discovery in a junkyard. As past wounds reopen and a murder investigation unfolds, the siblings grapple with the blurred boundaries between human and machine. Perfect for fans of Klara and the Sun and Toward Eternity, Luminous is a haunting, thought-provoking debut about family, identity, and what it means to truly be alive.
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“All the Other Mothers Hate Me” by Sarah Harman (Release Date: March 11)


It’s easy to hate Florence, an unreliable and immature train wreck of a person. But when her son is suspected of killing his bully, a boy from a prominent family, Florence needs to use her horrible personality to clear her son’s name, even if it means having to navigate the judgment of condescending school moms who hate her. Perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building, Bad Moms, or Ginny & Georgia.
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“Hunchback” by Saou Ichikawa (Release Date: March 18)


Hunchback is an uproariously funny Japanese novel about Shaka Isawa, a girl born with a congenital muscle disorder living in a care home. Despite her physical limits, Shaka’s mind has no boundaries: she takes classes online, publishes explicit fantasies on websites, and maintains a troll Twitter account. One day, she tweets into the void an offer of wads of money for a sperm donor. To her surprise, her new male carer reveals he’s read it all and that he accepts the dare. Shaka’s life is about to change.
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“Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins (Release Date: March 18)


The Hunger Games is back! The fifth book in the series takes us 24 years before Katniss’ saga, where young Haymitch Abernathy (you may remember him as Katniss and Peeta’s mentor) is drawn to be one of District 12’s tributes. But this is no ordinary Hunger Games, with the second Quarter Quell reaping twice as many children. As he battles for survival in a deadlier arena and navigates the treacherous world of Capitol politics, Haymitch must outsmart both his enemies and the brutal system that threatens to consume him.
Bookmark these exciting titles to add to your TBR. And if you’re looking to nurture your reading life further this year, go ahead and take on Fully Booked’s 2025 Reading Challenge. Browse Fully Booked Online for more titles to read this new year!
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