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Fiction Staff Picks 2025Unpublished

Recommended reads from staff at Puke Ariki, Community Libraries and the Museum

Updated December 18, 2025

Kōtui New Plymouth Libraries

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Fiction Staff Picks 2025

Recommended reads from staff at Puke Ariki, Community Libraries and the Museum

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Alchemised

SenLinYu

Paper Book

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy--and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past. This stunning hardcover edition features a...

Alien clay

Tchaikovsky, Adrian

Paper Book

"A staggering, alien vision of deepest solidarity." - Esquire, Best of the Year. From Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky comes a far-future epic that confirms his place as a modern master of science fiction, in which a political...

All fours : a novel

July, Miranda

Paper Book

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP 10 FICTION BOOKS OF 2024 ONE OF NPR'S "BOOKS WE LOVE" 2024 NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: THE NEW YORKER &...

All the colors of the dark : a novel

Whitaker, Chris

Paper Book

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD * From the author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that "hits like a sledgehammer . . . an absolutely must-read novel" (Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl). Read...

Atmosphere : a love story

Reid, Taylor Jenkins

Paper Book

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * From the author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go...

Birnam Wood

Catton, Eleanor

Paper Book

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Financial Times, Slate, The Chicago Public Library, Kirkus, The TelegraphA...

The book of guilt : a novel

Chidgey, Catherine

Paper Book

Amazon Editors' Best Books of 2025 | Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Books of 2025 In an alternate world where nobody won WWII, three brothers are the only boys left in an orphanage whose dark secret is the reason for their existence--and the key to their survival-...

Broken country : a novel

Hall, Clare Leslie

Paper Book

" A love triangle unearths dangerous, deadly secrets from the past in this thrilling tale perfect for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing. "The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him."<...

Butter : a novel of food and murder

Yuzuki, Asako

Paper Book

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer, and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story There are two things that I simply cannot tolerate: feminists and...

City of night birds : a novel

Kim, Juhea

Paper Book

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "This story left me thinking about the ways we overcome setbacks and redefine what truly matters." - Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club December '24 Pick) A once-famous ballerina faces a final choice--to return to the world of Russian dance that nearly broke...

The covenant of water : a novel

Verghese, Abraham

Paper Book

OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * SUBJECT OF A SIX-PART SUPER SOUL PODCAST SERIES HOSTED BY OPRAH WINFREY From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in...

Heartless hunter

Ciccarelli, Kristen

Paper Book

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! "A steamy game of cat and mouse between witch and witch-hunter, played out against a backdrop of opulence, secrets, and bloody history. I couldn't look away." - Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of...

Cry havoc : a thriller

Carr, Jack (Joint pseudonym)

Paper Book

"Easily Jack Carr's most ambitious and best realized book yet, a scintillatingly seminal tale with echoes off le Carré, Forsyth, and Ludlum." --BookTrib From the "hottest author on the thriller scene today" (The Real Book Spy), #1 New York Times...

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...

Deep end

Hazelwood, Ali.

Paper Book

The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis. Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream...

The devils

Abercrombie, Joe

Paper Book

An Instant New York Times, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey Holy...

The emperor of Gladness : a novel

Vuong, Ocean

Paper Book

The instant New York Times bestseller * Oprah's Book Club Pick * Named a Best Book of 2025 by TIME, The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, USA Today, NPR, People, Christian Science Monitor, Scientific American, and Kirkus Reviews * A 2026...

Great big beautiful life

Henry, Emily

Paper Book

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK ∙ AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping novel from Emily Henry. As...

The intruder

McFadden, Freida

Paper Book

"A dark and stormy night. An isolated cabin in the woods. A runaway child with a mysterious past...Thriller fans, buckle up!" -- Jason Rekulak, New York Times bestselling author of The Last One at the Wedding There's someone at your front door - should you let them...

Isola : a novel

Goodman, Allegra

Paper Book

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * "A shocking story, made all the more stunning by the fact that it has its roots in true history."--Jodi Picoult, author of By Any Other Name "A new generation of survival story . . . an extraordinary book that reads like a...

The Jackal's mistress : a novel

Bohjalian, Chris

Paper Book

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * In this Civil War love story, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, the wife of a missing Confederate soldier discovers a wounded Yankee officer and must decide what she's willing to risk...

The kill list

Forsyth, Frederick

Paper Book

An extraordinary cutting-edge suspense novel from the master of international intrigue and #1 New York Times–bestselling author. In Virginia, there is an agency bearing the bland name of Technical Operations Support Activity, or TOSA. Its one mission is to track, find, and...

Magic hour : a novel

Hannah, Kristin.

Paper Book

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Women comes an incandescent story about the resilience of the human spirit, the triumph of hope, and the meaning of home. In the rugged Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest--nearly a million acres of...

The names

Knapp, Florence

Paper Book

THE YEAR'S BREAKOUT NOVEL AND WORD-OF-MOUTH HIT--A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND READ WITH JENNA PICK "Dazzling. . . Knapp tirelessly and beautifully replicates not just loss and grief but endless rebirth and delight." --The Washington Post "Elegant. . ....

Nesting

O'Donnell, Roisín

Paper Book

In this beautiful, urgent, and ultimately uplifting novel by a rising Irish literary star comes a heart-pounding, life-affirming story about one woman trying to leave her marriage and start over. On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second...

One golden summer

Fortune, Carley

Paper Book

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ∙ A radiant escape to the lake from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After and This Summer Will Be Different As featured in The New York Times ∙ People ∙ Good Morning...

Onyx storm

Yarros, Rebecca

Paper Book

Accolades: AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * TV series now in development at Amazon MGM Studios with Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society * Amazon Best Romantasy Books of the Year 2025 * Apple Books Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Novel Best Sellers 2025, #4 * Apple Books...

Orbital : a novel

Harvey, Samantha

Paper Book

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024 * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **New York Times Book Review Book Club Pick** **Stephen Colbert's The Late Show Book Club Pick** Winner of the 2024 Hawthornden Prize Shortlisted for the 2024...

Quicksilver

Hart, Callie

Paper Book

This #1 New York Times bestseller is a highly addicting enemies-to-lovers Romantasy with razor-sharp banter, heart-stopping action, and blistering hot romance. Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate. ...

Say you'll remember me

Jimenez, Abby

Paper Book

She's a killer

McDougall, Kirsten

Paper Book

'Satire at its best' ELEANOR CATTON 'Outrageous, comic, disturbingly timely' THE GUARDIAN Bold, darkly funny and brilliantly bizarre, She's a Killer is the story of what happens when a stubborn...

Silver elite

Francis, Dani

Paper Book

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * In the first book of a sizzling dystopian romance series, psychic gifts are a death sentence and there are rules to survival: Trust no one. Lie to everyone. And whatever you do, don't fall for your greatest enemy.

Small things like these

Keegan, Claire

Paper Book

**OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK 2024** **NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB PICK 2024** NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CILLIAN MURPHY A New York Times Bestseller * Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize * Winner of the Orwell Prize for...

The society of unknowable objects : a novel

Brown, Gareth, (Novelist)

Paper Book

From the author of the internationally bestselling The Book of Doors, another fantastical, stand-alone novel in which a trio of seemingly everyday people are members of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects--ordinary items with extraordinary properties....

Somewhere beyond the sea

Klune, TJ

Paper Book

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES, #1 USA TODAY and #1 INDIE BESTSELLER! Hope is the thing with feathers. And hope is the thing with fire. DELUXE EDITION--Featuring gorgeous golden yellow sprayed edges! Somewhere Beyond the Sea is the hugely anticipated sequel...

Speak to me of home : a novel

Cummins, Jeanine

Paper Book

What does it mean to call a place home? From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jeanine Cummins comes a deeply felt multigenerational family story On her wedding day in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1968, Rafaela Acuña y Daubón has mild misgivings, but...

Summer romance

Monaghan, Annabel

Paper Book

Benefits of a summer romance: it's always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken. There aren't enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris's life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn't worn pants with a zipper in longer than she...

There are rivers in the sky : a novel

Shafak, Elif

Paper Book

Sweeping across centuries, and stretching from Mesopotamia to London, this enchanting new novel by a Booker Prize finalist conjures a trio of characters living in the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time. In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River...

The vanishing place

Rankin, Zoë

Paper Book

Instant #1 International Bestseller * A New York Times and Washington Post's Best Thriller of 2025 A shocking murder in the New Zealand bush--and the witness who looks all too familiar--draws a woman back to the very place she swore she'd never return to in this...

What happened to Nina? : a thriller

McTiernan, Dervla

Paper Book

A New York Times' best thriller of the year! From the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Murder Rule comes an emotional novel of suspense about two families at war. Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his...

When the moon hatched

Parker, Sarah A. (Fantasy fiction writer)

Paper Book

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ORDER NOW to get a limited edition with blue-stained edges - available only on the first printing! This deluxe hardcover features metallic and embossed jacket effects and colored endpapers with exclusive character artwork. The #1 internationally...

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...

Wild reverence : a novel

Ross, Rebecca

Paper Book

* This stunning luxe edition includes a jacketed printed case with custom character art, full-color designed endpapers, black stained edges and foiled cover elements. While supplies last! * Set in the world of the gods first introduced in Divine Rivals, #1...

With a vengeance : a novel

Sager, Riley

Paper Book

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A haunted past. A train with no stops. Thirteen hours to reckon with the truth. In 1954, Anna Matheson boards a luxury overnight train bound for Chicago that she's commissioned, along with a list of names and a...

You are here : a novel

Nicholls, David

Paper Book

THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A Good Housekeeping "Book We're Most Looking Forward To" * An Independent Today "Best Fiction Books to Read" * A GQ Magazine (UK) "Best Book of 2024" * A Harper's Bazaar (UK) "Best Novels to Read" * A ...

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