One year I went too far in shopping for Xmas gifts. I had a panic attack and had to sit down abruptly in the aisle of a bookshop, trying to look like the kind of person who likes to sit down in the aisle.  I wanted to lie down, but that would have been going too far – I am happy to say that people walked around me without paying attention.

But I learned that it is much easier to shop if you have a list.  Below is a list of new books that might help you out of a jam and charm the readers in your life.

FAVORITE NEW LITERARY FICTION 2025

What We Can Know, by Ian McEwan

Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai

Audition, by Katie Katumura

FAVORITE NEW BOOKS IN TRANSLATION 2025

There’s No Turning Back, by Alba de Cespades

The Colony, by Annika Norlin (I loved this Swedish novel, but didn’t write about it. See Europa Editions page.)

The Brittle Age, by Di Pietrantonio

FAVORITE SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY 2025

Written on the Dark, by Guy Gavriel Kay

The River Has Roots, by Amal-El Mohtar

FAVORITE MYSTERIES 2025

The Silver Bone, by Andrey Kukov, a Ukrainian writer, nominated for The International Booker Prize 2024

The Stolen Heart, by Andrey Kukov, sequel to The Silver Bone (a new hardcover)