2025 Most Anticipated!

Did I even read the majority of my 2024 Most Anticipated List? Let's not get too wild here - I'm a major mood reader! Plus, you know, that whole "opening a brand new brick-and-mortar" thing combined with the "having 2 small children" life. But there are so many amazing new books coming in 2025 that I can't help myself from making a wishlist. This year its gotten a bit out of control, kind of like The Big 10. So, without further ado, here's 30 Books I'm Very Excited About for 2025! (no, the graphic doesn't have all of the covers, since some books still don't have a finalized cover yet!)

• JANUARY
• Immortal - Sue Lynn Tan - 07 January
• There's another book in the Daughter of the Moon Goddess universe? And it's, somehow, even more gorgeous than the others? Swoon.
• The Stolen Queen - Fiona Davis - 07 January
• Fiona Davis is back, taking us through 1930s Egypt & 1970s New York. Am I secretly hoping for some of the wonderful magic as portrayed in the iconic 1999 film The Mummy? Yes. Is that likely? No. But a girl can dream.
• Death of the Author - Nnedi Okorafor - 14 January
• I'm so incredibly behind on reading Nnedi Okorafor's prolific writing, but absolutely everything I read from her is stunning.
• Mother of Rome - Lauren J.A. Bear - 14 January
• The sophomore effort from the author of Medusa's Sisters, which caught me by wonderful surprise in 2023.
• Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - Grady Hendrix - 14 January
• Grady Hendrix has yet another new title, and its about wayward women in the 1970s? Say less. 
• Good Dirt - Charmaine Wilkerson - 28 January
• Black Cake author Charmaine Wilkerson is back with her sophomore effort; another family saga that will most likely sneak up on me out of nowhere and catch me by my feelings.
• FEBRUARY
• Harlem Rhapsody - Victoria Christopher Murray - 04 February
• Co-author of The Personal Librarian Victoria Christopher Murray is taking on the Harlem Renaissance in this solo effort with big ambitions.
• Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales -  Heather Fawcett - 11 February
• I don't care how many books Heather Fawcett writes about Emily Wilde. I will read them all.
• Life Hacks for a Little Alien - Alice Franklin - 11 February
• Sneaking a debut onto this list! Blurbed for lovers of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Remarkably Bright Creatures PLUS a love letter to language? I'm all over this.
• The Queens of Crime - Marie Benedict - 11 February 
• Historical Fiction queen Marie Benedict is back and we're tackling 1930s crime - feminist style.
• Dance of Shadows - Gourav Mohanty - 25 February
• I picked up Sons of Darkness on a bit of a whim, despite it being a massive brick. I was very lost most of the time I was reading it, but I couldn't put it down? The very last page of the book made me need the second book.
• MARCH
• The Winter Goddess - Megan Barnard - 11 March
• I really enjoyed Jezebel and I'm really excited to jump into this retelling of an Irish myth from Barnard!
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham Jones - 18 March
• Stephen Graham Jones, stop. Please. I beg. I love your work, but I cannot keep up. But a 1910s Indigenous vampire novel? How can I say no?
• When the Moon Hits Your Eye - John Scalzi - 25 March
• John Scalzi is back, and this time the moon really IS cheese. My Wisconsin self is thrilled, but to my deep shame, my lactose intolerant tummy could never.
• APRIL
• A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett - 01 April
• I picked up The Tainted Cup on a whim earlier in 2024 and it absolutely blew me away. I didn't even realize that it was the beginning of a new series, and I'm so glad I don't need to wait ages to continue.
• Faithbreaker - Hannah Kaner - 01 April
• Hannah Kaner is rapidly climbing up my list of favorite authors. I absolutely devoured Godkiller & Sunbringer - plus she managed to write and release the full trilogy at an insane pace.
• MAY
• Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame - Neon Yang - 06 May
• "A queer novella with an armored, oath-bound hero reminiscent of The Mandalorian"? That's all the description I need, thanks.
• The Ladies Road Guide to Utter Ruin - Alison Goodman - 06 May
• The follow-up to The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies, Gus & Julia are back! Don't let that cover fool you - this is no cozy.
• Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me - Django Wexler - 27 May
• I absolutely fell in love with How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying and I cannot wait to rejoin Davi.
• The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club - Martha Hall Kelly - 27 May
• I absolutely adored Lilac Girls and Lost Roses (though Sunflower Sisters & The Golden Doves still languish shamefully on my TBR) & I just love the idea of a new historical fiction adventure from Kelly.
• JUNE
• Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid - 03 June
• It's a brand new Taylor Jenkins Reid. I'm going to read it and I'm going to love it.
• My Friends - Fredrik Backman - 03 June
• It's a brand new Fredrik Backman. I'm going to read it, I'm going to (probably) feel a lot of feelings about it, and I'm going to love it
• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - V.E. Schwab - 10 June
• V.E. Schwab has a new standalone title and it sounds dark and spooky? I'm a bit nervous about the multiple mentions of teeth in such a short description, but it sounds like it will be a fantastic read.
• The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses - Malka Older - 10 June
• The third installment of the "Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti" series. I've got a major soft spot for these sapphic, steampunk novellas with unwieldy titles. 
• JULY
• Angel Down - Daniel Kraus - 29 July
• I really enjoyed Kraus's previous title, Whalefall, and after meeting him recently, have added several other titles to my TBR. Angel Down just sounds so darkly intriguing.
• The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World - J.R. Dawson - 29 July
• We read The First Bright Thing as a book club selection in 2024 and I absolutely loved it. This summary sounds phenomenal. Sign me up.
• AUGUST
• Accomplice to the Villain - Hannah Nicole Maehrer - 05 August
• This is my favorite "popcorn" series at the moment. Are they high class literature? No. Do I have a lot of fun reading them? Yes.
• Automatic Noodle - Annalee Newitz - 05 August
• While the title added an immediate sense of "when is Alecto coming out" (IYKYK), this novella seems like it will be reminiscent of A Psalm for the Wild-Built, which snuck its way into its place as one of my favorite books of all time.
• The Possession of Alba Díaz - Isabel Cañas - 19 August
• I loved both The Hacienda and Vampires of El Norte, so I'm thrilled to see another from Cañas.
• Katabasis - R.F. Kuang - 26 August
• Making me wait until the second half of 2025 when this was announced pretty early in 2024 feels cruel. Why, R.F. Kuang, why?

I'm so incredibly sad that I'm still waiting for a release date (or the rumor of one - Tamsyn, please...) for Alecto the Ninth! I would spend the rest of the year re-reading The Locked Tomb series to snap this one up on release day. I'm also really looking forward to a release date for Hellrunner, after absolutely devouring Heavenbreaker in a long weekend earlier this year.

What releases are you most looking forward to in 2025? Leave a comment below! Need to see what's up-and-coming? I've spent even more time looking through catalogues this year, so now there's a rather overwhelming Pre-Order Collection!