The Best Fiction Books

Quick Reads, published every year by the Reading Agency, are short books designed to help struggling readers, particularly those who find a longer text challenging. The books are often written by bestselling authors and are designed to encourage reading for pleasure.

Every year, the Pulitzer Prize jury awards $15,000 to a work of "distinguished fiction published during the year by an American author, preferably dealing with American life." We've compiled a guide to the books that have won this prize since the turn of the millennium.

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.

Dark academia is a phenomenon with deep roots, says bestselling author Lev Grossman. He introduces five of the best examples, covering secret societies, gentleman scholars, boarding schools – and unforgettable descents into darkness. We have long told stories about forbidden knowledge: now, we make it look good.

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.

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.

Stephen King—widely dubbed "the king of horror"—has published dozens of books since Carrie, his 1974 debut. We asked Hans-Åke Lilja, who has run a website devoted to King's output for decades, to recommend five of the best Stephen King novels, offering new readers a place to start.

The 2025 shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction features a family saga about formerly rich Iranian refugees, a surprisingly funny tale of ISIS brides and a "weird" midlife crisis adventure in suburban California. We asked the bestselling novelist—chair of this year's judging panel—to talk us through the six finalists.

If you're planning a trip to the City of Lights—or in the mood for a bit of armchair travel—then you might like to get yourself in the mood by picking up a novel set in Paris. From the Francophone masterpieces of Victor Hugo to more modern classics by Hemingway and Mantel, you're sure to find a book to suit your tastes among our expert recommendations.