As 2025 draws to a close, the literary landscape has been shaped by a remarkable collection of new releases. From prize-winning novels to powerful memoirs, it has been a year of exceptional storytelling. Our chief book critic, Martin Chilton, has undertaken the challenging task of selecting the 15 finest books published this year, a list that inevitably omits other worthy works but highlights the absolute best.
The Year's Standout Fiction
Leading the fiction selections is Sarah Hall's audacious novel Helm, published by Faber. Two decades in the making, this imaginative work personifies Britain's only named wind, the northeasterly Helm that blows down Cross Fell in the Pennines. Hall's immersive prose conjures the Cumbrian landscape in a story that explores humanity's connection to nature with both humour and profundity.
The 2025 Booker Prize was awarded unanimously to David Szalay for Flesh (Jonathan Cape). This sparse, powerful novel traces the life of its Hungarian protagonist, István, examining contemporary masculinity through themes of sex, war, and everyday struggle. Its hypnotic quality lies in Szalay's ability to animate an introverted character with such compelling force.
Debut fiction also shone brightly in 2025. Charlotte Runcie's Bringing The House Down (The Borough Press) delivers a sharp, compassionate satire of arts journalism set against the drama of the Edinburgh Festival. Meanwhile, Florence Knapp's scintillating first novel, The Names (Phoenix), presents three divergent life paths stemming from a single decision: a mother's choice of name for her newborn son. Spanning 35 years, it's a clever exploration of fate, friendship, and identity.
Other notable fiction includes Katie Kitamura's Booker-shortlisted Audition (Fern Press), a unsettling novel about performance and unreliable narration, and Benjamin Myers's inventive Jesus Christ Kinski (Bloomsbury Circus). Myers's spellbinding tale revolves around a writer obsessed with Klaus Kinski's infamous 1971 Berlin performance about Jesus, using it to reflect on art, censorship, and cancel culture.
Unforgettable Non-Fiction and Memoirs
The non-fiction realm was equally rich. Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things, released a candid and perceptive memoir, Mother Mary Comes To Me (Hamish Hamilton). It details her disturbing childhood in northeast India, focusing on her abrasive mother and absent father, alongside her evolution into a writer-activist.
In a uniquely formatted memoir, poet and playwright Amanda Quaid penned No Obvious Distress (JM Originals) entirely in verse. This highly original work details her experience undergoing treatment for a rare, aggressive malignant tumour, utilising a mix of prose and poetry styles to powerful effect.
Actress and director Kathy Burke offered one of the year's quirkiest and most endearing celebrity memoirs with A Mind of My Own (Simon and Schuster). With evocative wit, she shares startling tales from her life and career, alongside refreshingly blunt observations about the fame game.
The essay collection that stood out was Anne Enright's Attention: Writing on Life, Art and the World (Vintage). This compilation of her cultural criticism and autobiographical prose showcases the intelligence, compassion, and humour familiar to fans of her fiction.
Biographies and Cultural Studies
Biography was strongly represented by Frances Wilson's Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark (Bloomsbury Circus). This excellent study focuses on the early, eventful years of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie author, weaving together strands of espionage, poverty, and mental health to portrait an enigmatic writer.
Francesca Wade delivered a balanced and fascinating account of modernism's godmother in Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife (Faber). Dubbing Stein a "megalomaniac" yet examining her qualities alongside her flaws, Wade benefits from being the first to examine a rich archive of material collected by the late researcher Leon Katz.
In the realm of cultural study, John Higgs's Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) provides a compelling "biography of the infamous Time Lord" that also offers telling insights into British society and the BBC's failings, complete with shocking accounts of the show's early actors and corporate figures.
Environmental writing excelled with Chris Fitch's Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle (William Collins). This uplifting read investigates how pioneering global cities are fighting to reclaim nature, detailing the undeniable benefits through personal anecdotes and thorough investigation.
Finally, Sam Parker's Good Anger: How Rethinking Rage Can Change Our Lives (Bloomsbury) proved a timely and engaging guide. The British GQ senior editor draws on psychology and philosophy to argue that "leaning into anger" can be a path to mental peace and a healthier perspective, a powerful message for a stressful age.
This final selection, made in a year that marked Jane Austen's 250th birthday, truly embodies the sentiment that there is no enjoyment quite like reading. These fifteen titles represent the sheer joy and profound insight that the best books of 2025 have to offer.
