6 hotly anticipated fiction and non-fiction books coming out in 2025

The simple act of sitting down to read a book is something many people have given up altogether in today’s technology-led world. But doing so could enrich your mind, expand your worldview, and help you maintain sharp cognition.

Here are six hotly anticipated titles, both fiction and non-fiction, coming out in 2025.

1. Sunrise on the Reaping, Suzanne Collins

Following the global success of The Hunger Games trilogy, and its subsequent prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins returns with yet another prequel: Sunrise on the Reaping.

With The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes being set 64 years before The Hunger Games, Sunrise on the Reaping takes us to Panem, a dystopian version of the US, 24 years before The Hunger Games trilogy takes place.

This new novel will focus on the origin story of Haymitch Abernathy, who was introduced in the second book of the original trilogy, Catching Fire, as the only previous Games winner from impoverished District 12.

Set to be released in March 2025, Hunger Games fans will no doubt be enthralled by this next instalment from Collins.

2. Dream Count, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer and feminist critic.

Her novels, Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, and Purple Hibiscus, led her to global acclaim, along with her TED Talk, We Should All Be Feminists, which has garnered nearly 9 million views. Adichie’s work explores the concept of “dual identity”, Nigerian history, and womanhood.

Her new novel, Dream Count, is set to be released in March, and tells the tale of a Nigerian writer living in the US during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With The Independent calling this novel “The return of a literary titan”, you won’t want to miss Dream Count this year.

3. Is A River Alive?, Robert Macfarlane

One of the world’s most acclaimed living nature writers, Robert Macfarlane has produced several seminal pieces of writing detailing the grandiose power and delicate intricacies of our environment.

His new book, Is A River Alive?, is an exploration of three rivers around the world: one in Ecuador, one in India, and one in Quebec, Canada. It asks radical questions about the function of rivers in human society, and ponders the question: should rivers, like animals and humans, have legal rights and protections?

Combining the personal and the political in a time of rising climate urgency, Macfarlane’s book comes out on 1 May 2025, and is available to preorder now.

4. Nancy’s Green and Easy Kitchen, Nancy Birthwhistle

Nancy Birthwhistle is a Sunday Times bestselling author, known for her clear-cut guidance on eco-friendly ways to make delicious food.

Her new recipe book, Nancy’s Green and Easy Kitchen, is the latest in her long line of helpful publications that aim to encourage home cooks to enjoy food while being good to the planet.

The recipes will focus on making sure leftovers are used up, batch-cooking, dietary alternatives, and making family-friendly meals everyone can enjoy.

Nancy’s Green and Easy Kitchen will be available to purchase on 27 February 2025.

5. Mining Men: Britain’s Last Kings of the Coalface, Dr Emily P Webber

Historian, Dr Emily P Webber, has written a deep-dive into the coal pit closures of the last 50 years, and how these events affected mining communities and the men who lived within them.

The book uses interviews and historic documents to piece together the lives of miners whose careers were forced to change as a result of continued pit closures, and how this affected them personally. It examines British culture and how mining communities have contributed to it, and with the last deep coal pit being closed in 2015, how our country is changing as a result.

Mining Men will be available to buy from most bookshops from 13 February 2025.

6. The Garden, Nick Newman

Nick Newman, known for his young adult fiction work, returns to the scene with his brand-new novel, The Garden.

Telling of two elderly sisters who live in a secluded home and walled garden, beyond which they have not strayed in a long time. Suddenly, they find a little boy hiding in the grounds, an event that changes their world forever.

This dystopian psychological thriller is hotly anticipated by critics, and can be purchased from 18 February 2025.