Best Books to Gift 2025 - Adult Fiction

Books make the best gifts.

Updated November 25, 2025
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Greater Victoria Public Library
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The secret of secrets : a novel
Brown, Dan
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The world's most celebrated thriller writer and author of The Da Vinci Code returns with his most stunning novel yet--a propulsive, twisty, thought-provoking masterpiece that will entertain readers as only Dan Brown can do. ...
The killing stones
Cleeves, Ann
Paper Book
The Killing Stones marks the eagerly awaited return of Ann Cleeves' beloved detectives from the Shetland series, and a gripping new investigation with a stunning new setting, from the New York Times bestselling author and creator of three iconic detectives beloved in TV...
The Paris Express a novel
Donoghue, Emma, 1969- author.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the bestselling and "soul-stirring" (Oprah Daily) author of Room, a sweeping historical "nail-biter" (People) of a novel about the infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station. Based on an 1895...
Patchwork: A Graphic Biography of Jane Austen
Evans, Kate
A bold reimagining of the life of much-loved English Regency writer, Jane Austen, from the author of RED ROSA and THREADS In her later years, Jane Austen made a patch­work quilt. She folded thousands of tiny scraps of fabric over diamond-shaped slips of paper and...
The correspondent : a novel
Evans, Virginia
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Discover the word-of-mouth hit hailed by Ann Patchett as "A cause for celebration"--an intimate novel about the transformative power of the written word and the beauty of slowing down to reconnect with the people we love. "The...
The three lives of Cate Kay
Fagan, Kate (Sports writer)
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK | NATIONAL BESTSELLER Named A Best Book of 2025 by Time Magazine, NPR, Goodreads, and others. "[A] propulsive puzzle of a novel." --New York Times Book Review "This story swept me away with its big...
The Goode Girls of Maple Lane
Firkins, Jacqueline
A struggling vet student and a rescue golden retriever save each other in this heartwarming, Fall-themed rom-com about second chances, found family, and the wholesome side of the internet. Cameron Goode is on the verge of giving up her dream of becoming a vet. Buried...
The wilderness : a novel
Flournoy, Angela
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE 2025 KIRKUS PRIZE FOR FICTION LONGLISTED FOR 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION "Flournoy has delivered a future classic--the kind of novel that generations to come will read to understand the nuances and peculiarities of this time."...
Physics for cats cartoons.
Gauld, Tom.
Paper Book
What happens to a cat who goes through a wormhole? Tom Gauld returns with Physics for Cats, his second collection of science-based cartoons for the New Scientist. Find out why every scientist worth their sodium chloride has a Tom Gauld cartoon taped to their...
Dinner at the night library : a novel
Harada, Hika
The Night Library is no ordinary library. Within it are found the rarest and most unusual collections - the books of deceased famous writers: the books they wrote; the books that inspired them; the books they loved.
Problematic summer romance
Hazelwood, Ali
The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the New York Times bestselling author of Deep End. Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out...
Detective Aunty a novel
Jalaluddin, Uzma
Paper Book
"I'll read anything Uzma Jalaluddin writes."--New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn "I am such a fan."--New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry When her grown daughter is suspected of murder, a charming and tenacious widow digs into the case to unmask the real...
The mysterious case of the missing crime writer
Ragnar Jónasson
Paper Book
An Instant National Bestseller The next thrilling golden-age-style mystery from #1 Icelandic bestseller Ragnar Jónasson, author of Death at the Sanatorium and Reykjavík. One winter evening, bestselling crime author Elín S. Jónsdóttir goes missing.
Katabasis : a novel
Kuang, R. F.
Dante's Inferno meets Susanna Clarke's Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save...
Cannon
Lai, Lee
Paper Book
A LAMBDA Award winner and breakout fiction sensation returns with a darkly funny slice of friendship strife We arrive to wreckage--a restaurant smashed to rubble, with tables and chairs upended riotously. Under the swampy nighttime cover of a Montreal heat-wave, this is...
The Hunger We Pass Down : A Novel
Lee, Jen Sookfong.
Jordan Peele's Us meets The School For Good Mothers in this horror-tinged intergenerational saga, as a single mother's doppelganger forces her to confront the legacy of violence that has shaped every woman in their family. "Genuinely frightening story of rape, abuse,...
Elphie : a Wicked childhood
Maguire, Gregory
Paper Book
Order now to receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION-- only available on the first printing while supplies last! The collector's hardcover features stenciled edges and a color illustrated map of Oz. What happened to young Elphaba before her witchy powers took hold in Wicked?...
A Guardian and a Thief : A Novel
Majumdar, Megha.
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * FINALIST FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE * Megha Majumdar's electrifying new novel, following her acclaimed New York Times...
Wild dark shore
McConaghy, Charlotte
Paper Book
REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 AMAZON BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR 2025 "A breathtaking novel of ROMANCE, MYSTERY, AND TWISTS that will shock you...I love this book so much." --Reese Witherspoon "A WILDLY TALENTED...
What We Can Know : A Novel
McEwan, Ian.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the Booker prize-winning, bestselling author of Atonement and Saturday, a genre-bending new novel full of secrets and surprises; an immersive exploration, across time and history, of what can ever be truly known...
The bewitching
Moreno-Garcia, Silvia
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic. "In Silvia Moreno-Garcia's sure hands, every uncovered secret is...
Death of the author a novel
Okorafor, Nnedi
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Order now and receive the stunning DELUXE LIMITED EDITION while supplies last―featuring a special alternate cover design on the hardcover case, gorgeous sprayed edges, and exclusive endpapers. This breathtaking edition is only available on a limited...
Overdue
Perkins, Stephanie
Paper Book
A SPARKLING ADULT DEBUT FROM BELOVED NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR STEPHANIE PERKINS! Get this stunning deluxe edition while supplies last! The collector's hardcover features beautiful lush pink edges, custom endpapers and a unique foiled case stamp. Perfect for any bookshelf!...
The hounding : a novel
Purvis, Xenobe
Paper Book
National Bestseller * A New York Times Editor's Choice Pick * Named a Best Book of the Year by TIME and Kirkus Reviews * The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth-century England...
We Had a Hunch
Ryan, Tom.
Nancy Drew meets Yellowjackets in We Had a Hunch--a dark and suspenseful thriller from USA Today bestseller Tom Ryan that asks a simple question: what happens to your favorite teenage detectives when they grow up? Few stories captured the public's imagination in...
Tailored Realities
Sanderson, Brandon
Paper Book
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson―creator of the Stormlight Archive, the Mistborn saga, and numerous smash-hit works of science fiction and fantasy―comes Tailored Realities, a new short fiction collection including the...
Woodworking
St. James, Emily
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE 2025 'Big-hearted and hilarious, an ode to authenticity and a must-read in our current times.' -Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures. 'Writing a funny book is hard. Writing a convincing takedown of...
Flesh: A Novel
Szalay, David
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2025 BOOKER PRIZE Finalist for the Kirkus Prize | Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence From "the shrewdest writer on contemporary masculinity we have" (Esquire), a "captivating...hypnotic...virtuosic" (The Baffler)...
Pick a colour a novel
Thammavongsa, Souvankham, 1978- author.
WINNER OF THE GILLER PRIZE From O. Henry Award winner and two-time Giller Prize winner Souvankham Thammavongsa comes a revelatory novel about loneliness, love, labor, and class, an intimate and sharply written book following a nail salon owner as she toils away...
The Book of Records
Thien, Madeleine
Paper Book
Lina and her father arrive at an enclave called The Sea, a staging post between migrations, with only a few possessions. In this mysterious and shape-shifting place, a building made of time, pasts and futures collide. Lina befriends her neighbors: Bento, a Jewish scholar in seventeenth-century...
The in-between bookstore : a novel
Underhill, Edward
Paper Book
"What would you tell your teen self if you could go back in time? Underhill's tender, innovative debut is the smartest take on this trope I've ever read. . . and for the record, I read it in a single sitting. A beautiful, thoughtful study of how we find our truest selves, and whom we choose to...
Colin gets promoted and dooms the world
Waddell, Mark
Colin is a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises, a hell-like multinational corporation solving the world's most difficult problems in deeply questionable ways. After years of toiling away in a cubicle, he's ready to climb the corporate ladder and claim the power he's never had. The only problem is...
Murder by memory
Waite, Olivia
Paper Book
Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in this sci-fi ode to the cozy mystery, helmed by a formidable no-nonsense auntie of a detective A mind is a terrible thing to erase... Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious...
Good dirt : a novel
Wilkerson, Charmaine
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from the bestselling author of Black Cake, a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick "Engrossing . . . Wilkerson...
Hole in the sky : a novel
Wilson, Daniel H.
A Native American first contact story and gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse "Thrilling and personal... an important addition to the landscape of science fiction."--Pierce Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of...

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