It’s the perfect season to refresh our reading list and dive into novels that have generated buzz throughout the year.
From page-turning thrillers to intimate, emotionally rich dramas, this selection features some of the most anticipated releases, ideal for savoring under the sun, by the sea, or during a quiet afternoon.
These are books that invite you to slow down, breathe, and escape into other worlds — just when you need it most.
The Names, Florence Knapp
Novel
Published: 2025
Pages: 336
Author’s nationality: UK
A mother, a seemingly simple decision and a moment of hesitation open the door to three different versions of one life.
After a devastating storm, Cora arrives at the registry office with her nine-year-old daughter to register the birth of her baby. Her husband — a respected doctor in the community but a controlling and menacing figure at home — expects the child to be named after him.
But at the critical moment, Cora hesitates.
That brief pause sets in motion a story that spans 35 years, where identity, autonomy and the long-lasting effects of domestic violence are explored with powerful emotional depth.
Through an innovative and deeply moving structure, this novel shows how a single choice can shape entire destinies. The author captures, with sensitivity and insight, the pain, hope and complexity of family bonds, raising profound questions about the power of personal agency —even in the face of overwhelming circumstances.
King of Ashes, S. A. Cosby
Novel
Published: 2025
Pages: 352
Author’s nationality: U.S.
New York Times bestselling author S. A. Cosby blends family drama and organized crime in the heart of the American South. Set in Jefferson Run, a struggling Virginia town where the Carruthers family runs a crematorium and faces death every day, the real danger begins when their father falls into a coma after a suspicious car crash.
Debts, long-buried secrets, and ruthless criminals close in, and Roman — the eldest son — comes back home determined to protect his family, even if it means risking everything.
Echoing The Godfather and driven by relentless tension, Cosby builds an immersive novel where loyalty, vengeance and buried truths collide with the harsh reality of modern violence.
The Girls Who Grew Big, Leila Mottley
Novel
Published: 2025
Pages: 352
Author’s nationality: U.S.
At just sixteen and facing an unexpected pregnancy, Adela Woods is sent by her parents from Indiana to live with her grandmother in Padua Beach, a small town on Florida’s northwest coast. There, she meets a group of young mothers who will change her life.
Far from the judgmental eyes of the town, these girls aren’t lost, they’re forging their own path.
This moving and vibrant novel is a tribute to young motherhood from a rarely seen perspective — one of sisterhood, resilience, and the will to keep going despite social judgment.
Through intense friendships, hard choices, and fragile bonds built and broken, the story captures the complexity of being both a mother and a teenager.
Full of hope, heart, and raw honesty, it offers a powerful, luminous portrait of what it means to grow up too soon while still holding on to girlhood.
Fox, Joyce Carol Oates
Novel
Published: 2025
Pages: 672
Author’s nationality: U.S.
At an elite boarding school, the arrival of a new and charismatic English teacher sets off a wave of fascination, unease and suspicion.
Francis Fox, charming and enigmatic, captivates students, parents, and colleagues alike —though some begin to question who he really is.
Everything shifts when two brothers discover his car half-submerged in a nearby nature preserve, along with scattered human remains in the surrounding woods. From that moment, the academy’s facade of calm begins to crumble, and long-buried secrets surface, revealing a far more disturbing past than anyone had imagined.
Written by one of the most celebrated voices in contemporary American literature, this novel is a hypnotic exploration of crime, manipulation, and the darkest corners of the human psyche.
Francis Fox joins the ranks of literary figures as fascinating as they are dangerous, reminiscent of Tom Ripley or Humbert Humbert.
This is a gripping and provocative read that raises uncomfortable questions about justice, charm, and the response evil demands.