A fantasy series allows us to explore the complexities of characters, the far corners of their worlds, and the consequences of their actions - for best-selling author Samantha Shannon, this is "a privilege, and such a joy." Here she recommends five rich, sustained fantasy worlds, featuring old gods, spymasters, witches, plagues, and the land of the dead - and above all, characters who keep surprising us.
HISTORICAL FICTION Babylonia by Costanza Casati 🏆 Winner of the 2025 Wilbur Smith Prize for Adventure Writing
“Babylonia is set in ancient Assyria, in the ninth century BCE…The fiction scatters off in lots of different directions, but the fundamental basis that it’s built upon is true.”—Nathan Gray, fighter pilot and Wilbur Smith Prize judge
BIOGRAPHY Maria Theresa by Edward Crankshaw
“This is the most readable and entertaining biography of a Habsburg”—Nicholas Parsons, author, The Shortest History of Austria
HISTORY BOOKS The Devil Reached the Sky by Garrett Graff 🎧 Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award for a truly exceptional audiobook
“He puts together the story of the Manhattan Project and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki using 450+ first-person accounts”—Five Books editors
NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai
🏆 Winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature
“My absolute favourite among Krasznahorkai’s novels.”—Ellen Mattson, Nobel committee member and author
NONFICTION BOOKS The Dope by Benjamin Smith
“This is a very readable book written in a very approachable style. At the same time, it is probably the best scholarly study that we have of the history of Mexican drug trafficking”—Timo Schaefer, historian
NEW BOOKS/FANTASY Katabasis by RF Kuang
“This is the perfect beach read for fans of Five Books, set at Cambridge University and full of jokes about the intellectual life. It’s 500+ pages, but I read it in two days (at home, as it’s too cold for the beach by now)”—Sophie Roell, editor, Five Books
CRIME NOVELS I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
“It’s about a woman who is a podcaster. She went to high school in New Hampshire…and she returns to teach some classes”—Michele Cobb, audiobook expert
FICTION BOOKS Cursed Daughters: A Novel by Oyinkan Braithwaite
“This bleakly humorous family saga will not disappoint those who loved Braithwaite’s hit debut, My Sister, the Serial Killer and offers a fascinating portrait of life in Lagos, which she depicts as utterly modern yet deeply superstitious”—Cal Flyn, Five Books
THRILLERS Redemption by Jack Jordan
“You will finish this book in a heartbeat, because you want to know what’s going to happen next…it truly takes you on an adventure through the Nevada desert, around every emotion, and back to the start again.”—Nathan Gray, fighter pilot and Wilbur Smith Prize judge
BIOGRAPHY/LITERARY FIGURES Jane’s Fame by Claire Harman
“It’s a two-fold book. A chunk of it is a flashback to Jane Austen’s actual life, but the bulk of the book is about her afterlife, the making of her reputation”—Lyndall Gordon, biographer
MEMOIR Twenty Letters to a Friend by Svetlana Alliluyeva
“Stalin had three children, but the one he was closest to when she was young was Svetlana…Her mother died by her own hand—evidently after a quarrel with Stalin—when Svetlana was about six”—Sheila Fitzpatrick, historian
FANTASY FICTION The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin 🏆 Winner of the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novel
“The world of these books is so unsettling and compelling, really brilliantly drawn. We’re on a planet disrupted periodically by its climate, a harsh period known as ‘the fifth season’”—Sylvia Bishop, SFF editor, Five Books
THE BEST KINDLES IN 2025 Which Kindle to get?
“That’s an easy question for me, Kindle Paperwhite is the most popular Kindle by far…It has all the best features that you would want”—Maneetpaul Singh, Kindle reviewer and author of Kindle Bookworm
NONFICTION BOOKS Hitler by Ian Kershaw
“I don’t think that any historian should ever accept that a book is definitive. But I don’t see Kershaw’s work on Hitler really ever being surpassed”—Antony Beevor, military historian
ROAD TRIP NOVELS The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits ⭐ Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize
“The roads are lonely. You spend a lot of time in diners or restaurants, in cheap motel rooms”—Ben Markovits, novelist
FUNNY BOOKS Good Material: A Novel by Dolly Alderton
“If you like bittersweet, funny romantic comedies, then this is your book….Have a laugh, have a cry, put some good music on the radio—you’ll have a wonderful time”—Justin Albert, Wodehouse Prize judge
BOOKS FOR KIDS The Secrets of Vesuvius by Caroline Lawrence
“A good novel for kids about the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, part of the Roman Mysteries series”—Five Books editors
THE BEST MYSTERY BOOKS OF 2025, our annual list of prize shortlists and personal favourites, curated by Five Books editor, Sophie Roell
“A broad range of books are filed under ‘mysteries’ these days, and we try to give a flavour of what’s out there”
AI BOOKS ChatGPT-4 offers its own opinions on artificial intelligence “These books offer valuable insights into the development, challenges, and future prospects of AI”—ChatGPT-4, AI chatbot
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