Yesterday, I posted a list of my favorite books of 2024. Today, I wanted to post a list of the books I’m most looking forward to reading in 2025! There are well-over 1000 books on my To-Read list right now, so it took a while to break it down into a “most anticipated” list. I was originally going to make this 25 books long (since it’s going to be for 2025), but that felt really unwieldly when I started trying to write it up. So, instead, we’re going to lower that list down to 10 titles. I’d also like to add that I’m limiting this list to titles we have at the library, so you can check them out, too. And finally, no rereads on this list. I reread a lot and there are plenty of titles I’m looking forward to reading again. But, to keep this simple, we’re only looking at books that I’ll be reading for the first time.
I hope you enjoy my list of my top ten most anticipated titles of 2025 (in no particular order)!
The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón)
When Daniel begins to forget his dead mother’s face, his father takes him to a secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where he chooses a novel called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Fascinated by the book, he attempts to track down other titles by the author, only to discover a shocking conspiracy: someone is systematically tracking down every copy of Carax’s books and destroying them. In fact, Daniel’s copy of The Shadow of the Wind might be the last Carax book in existence. What follows is a tale of murder, madness, and doomed love.
I’ve been wanting to read this one for years now, ever since a coworker told me that I absolutely had to check it out. After all, what’s not to love about a book about books? But, one can only read so many books in a year, so I’ll be bumping this one up to the top of the list!
Delicious in Dungeon (Ryoko Kui)
Laios and his team of adventurers lose everything in a disastrous dungeon quest, including all their food and supplies and Laios’ sister (she was eaten by a dragon). That’s the bad news. The good news is that there’s still time to save her before she’s digested. But, the team is completely broke and starving, which means getting creative at mealtime. What do you do when you have no food and you’re trapped in a dungeon? Eat the monsters, of course! When they meet a dwarf who specializes in dungeon meshi, delicious cuisine made from ingredients like giant bats, walking mushrooms, and screaming mandrakes, lunchtime gets a lot more appetizing!
Delicious in Dungeon has been getting some good press and the anime appears to be quite popular, so I’m very excited to sink my teeth into this culinary fantasy series!
Carter Beats the Devil (Glen David Gold)
Charles Carter (Carter the Great) is a young master performer whose skills as an illusionist exceeds that of the great Houdini. But, nothing could prepare him for his greatest stunt of all, which stars none other than President Warren G. Harding and could end up costing Carter his career if he fails.
I love a good Faustian bargain! There’s something deeply chilling about a deal with the devil, and I love reading stories where the stakes are raised as high as you can (and what can be a higher stake than the fate of your eternal soul?) Now, I’d like to add as a quick caveat that I don’t actually know if the titular devil is real or a metaphor here. And I think that’s part of the fun–I have no idea what I’m getting myself into here, and I’m really excited to find out!
A group of scientists unearth the tomb of Cheops, an ancient Pharoah who was one of the most horrifying villains of his day. Said scientists then resurrect Cheops with electricity and he soon steals their airship and travels to 22nd-century England, where he sets about manipulating a corrupt government from the shadows. But, what are his intentions and can he be stopped?
I like to read books about mummies, but I haven’t read this one yet! Not only does it sound like a chilling tale with a frightening monster, but Webb’s creative predictions for the 22nd century sound too interesting to pass up! Also, for those of you who need more convincing, this book was written when the author was only seventeen! I can’t imagine writing a novel like this now, much less when I was still a teenager!
Dial A for Aunties (Jesse Q. Sutanto)
When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help her get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might think, and somehow, the corpse ends up inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to an over-the-top billionaire’s wedding that Meddy’s family is catering. It’s their biggest job in the wedding business, so the body needs to be located before everything falls apart. But, things go from bad to worse when Meddy’s college heartbreak makes a surprise appearance. Can she escape a murder charge, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend?
I love a dark comedy, and this one sounds like it’s going to be a real corker! I mean, how does one accidentally kill their blind date? I’ve heard some great things about this title, so this will definitely be towards the top of my TBR.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles (Hajime Komoto)
In the magic realm, everything is determined by magic, including your place in society. Mash lives deep in the forest with his father and has no concept of the outside world and its unusual ways of doing things. Thanks to his daily training, he’s a fitness god. But, when Mash is discovered, he’s forced to enroll in magic school, where he must rise to the top without revealing the truth: he has no magic ability at all! Instead, he must use his amazing physical prowess and pass it off at magic, instead.
If this doesn’t sound like a fun premise, I don’t know what does! I’m already intrigued by how someone would go about pretending to have magic powers using physical skill alone. And best of all, there’s at least 17 volumes in our collection (at the time of this writing), so I certainly won’t have to worry about running out anytime soon!
The Battle of the Beast (Jack Meggitt-Phillips)
Ebeneezer Tweezer is over 500 years old, thanks to the Beast that lives in his attic and gives him whatever he wants–including potions that keep him young and handsome. All it requires in exchange is to be fed. And if it sometimes has usual requests, that’s hardly a problem. But, when the Beast comes to Ebeneezer demanding a scrumptious child to eat, for the first time in 500 years, Ebeneezer is not sure that he can do it. But, he needs that potion, so to keep his conscience quiet, he decides to find a child that deserves to be eaten. Enter Bethany. She’s loud, obnoxious, and mean, just the sort of child that anyone would want to feed to a hideous attic monster…right? The longer she sticks around, the more trouble that Ebeneezer has handing her over. In fact, despite her prickly nature, he’s finding that he’s rather fond of her. But, with the clock ticking on his immortality, Ebeneezer must make the ultimate choice: his life or Bethany’s?
▲That’s the description for the first book (which was one of my favorite reads of 2023). And book 2 was also really good. I’m actually looking forward to reading book three, but I can’t say too much without giving away content from books 1-2. So, if you’re interested in a series about a child-eating monster and a very, very selfish old man, then I think you’d totally dig these books. The first was amazing and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
Cal Sounder is a detective who specializes in sensitive cases. At first, his latest case appears to be nothing special, but on closer inspection, Cal realizes that the murdered man is over seven feet tall, and even though he doesn’t look a day over 30, he’s actually 90 years old. He’s a Titan–godlike super-humans and one of society’s genetically altered elites. A dead Titan is big news; a murdered one is unimaginable. But, Titans happen to be Cal’s specialty, and his ex-girlfriend, Athena, is one, too. In fact, she’s the daughter of Stefan Tonfamecasca, the controversial genius who discovered T7 genetic therapy, which made the creation of Titans possible in the first place. As Cal digs deeper into his investigation, it becomes more and more clear that there are no easy answers, and this crime runs deep into the rotten heart of the world.
I’m not much of a science fiction or a thriller reader but the combination of the two makes a story that just sounds too juicy to resist. The concept of these super-humans, a corrupt society, and a bit of a hard-boiled mystery? Count me in!. I’ve mentioned earlier in this post that I enjoy a good dose of dark humor, and it’s my understanding that there will be plenty of that here!
Wake of Madness (Eleanor Bourg Nicholson)
Religion meets horror in the third book in the Fr. Thomas Edmund Gilroy series! When Fr. Michael Walsh, a Jesuit priest on the western coast of Ireland, faces a charge of embezzlement, a London newspaper sends expatriate Irish reporter Hugh Buckley home to get the scoop–or else. Buckley and his photographer friend Freddie arrive in the village of Doolin and fall right into the middle of a bloody mess–parish politics, occult practices, and murder, not to mention zombies rising from the ground at night. Forced to confront his feelings towards his country and abandoned faith, Hugh becomes acquainted with Fr. Thomas Edmond Gilroy, an unassuming Dominican priest who seems to have a curious knowledge of the unusual circumstances surrounding the town. Can Hugh and Freddie survive long enough to save their jobs? Or will they be consumed by the dark powers at work in Doolin?
Nicholson’s book A Bloody Habit was one of my best reads of 2023. So, you can only imagine how excited I am to pick up the sequel, which features even more hair-raising fun! If you’re curious about the other books in the series, you should start with A Bloody Habit and then try Brother Wolf.
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend (M.J. Wassmer)
Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Perhaps he doesn’t exactly deserve it, having never really lived up to his potential or done anything above average, but he’s in paradise with his girlfriend, drinking beer and relaxing…when the sun explodes and the world is plunged into darkness. As temperatures drop and tensions rise and some of the more elite resort guests try to establish themselves as the ruling class, Dan accidentally becomes a beacon of hope. But, when a six-person plane is discovered, Dan must make a choice. Does he escape with his girlfriend and leave the rest of the resort guests to their fate, or does he take charge for the first time in his life and become the hero that the world needs him to be?
Oooh, this sounds like such a fun read! An apocalypse story with my favorite kind of character: flawed, likeable, and kind of a jerk. Goodreads promises that this is a funny one, so I’m definitely looking forward to a good laugh!
