The Best Fiction Books

Publisher Foundry Editions was set up in 2023 to showcase beautiful writing, unusual storytelling, unforgettable characters and intelligent entertainment from across the Mediterranean region. Here are five of their most recent books, now available in English for the first time, from Spanish noir to historical fiction from Cyprus, an Italian bestseller and a family saga and gothic ghost story set in Palestine.

Why do so many people fantasise about getting in their cars and driving away from everything they know? The novelist Ben Markovits reflects on the near-universal urge to get out on the open road, as he recommends five of the best road trip novels—from Jack Kerouac to Anne Tyler.

Classic books have stood the test of time and continue to appeal to new readers, but they can feel intimidating. Whether you want to ease your way into classic literature by starting with shorter books, don’t have much time to read, or simply admire writers who are able to say more with less, below is a list of short classic books recommended by experts on Five Books over the years.

Looking for the perfect books to escape with whilst you’re on holiday? From thrillers to romances and fantasy to cottage core, these are our top page-turners.

Shorter is better is the mantra of the digital age, but for some of us, there is no greater pleasure than reading a really long novel. Here we've listed some of the novels recommended on Five Books that are 400,000 words or more long, from literary classics to potboilers.

It's tempting to think that good psychological thrillers are all about plot twists, but in reality it's the characters that make some books truly memorable. Novelist and literary critic Hannah Beckerman recommends five of her favourites, from Agatha Christie to Alex Michaelides.

Sometimes we all need the novelistic equivalent of a hot cup of cocoa and a warm blanket. We asked the novelist Mike Gayle, who appears at the Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words this week, to recommend us five heartwarming feel good books that leave their reader comforted and entertained.

Marcel Proust's 3000-page masterpiece In Search of Lost Time might intimidate, but it also enthrals, argues Joshua Landy, Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Stanford University. We asked him to introduce us to the most rewarding of the seven volumes that make up this classic novel, as a helpful guide for the general reader.

A short novel can be the perfect way to occupy the mind during an empty evening or a long journey. One can also appreciate a well-written book's true complexity when it can be read and digested in a single, immersive sitting. Here, we've pulled together a list of short literary novels—most of them fewer than 200 pages in length—that have been recommended on Five Books over the years.

If you like your novels long, Spanish literature has some gems to lose yourself in. Richard Village, translator and publisher of Spanish Beauty, recommends five of his favourites, from the chaos of 17th-century Spain to the traumas of the 20th century, and also including a classic detective novel.