Best Books to Gift 2025 - Adult Fiction

Books make the best gifts.

Updated November 25, 2025
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Greater Victoria Public Library Greater Victoria Public Library
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Best Books to Gift 2025 - Adult Fiction

Books make the best gifts.

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The tiger and the cosmonaut
Boudel Tan, Eddy
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2025 GILLER PRIZE A noirish page-turner about a mysterious disappearance and a moving portrait of a Chinese Canadian family navigating insecurities, expectations, and simmering anger in their small BC town. Casper Han grew up the dutiful...
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. ...
Rufous and Calliope : A Novel
Butler, Sarah Louise.
In this stunning tale of love and loss, a middle-aged cartographer, suffering from memory loss and claustrophobia, hikes through the interior of British Columbia in search of a treehouse where he spent one memorable summer on the run with his four siblings. In Rufous and Calliope, Sarah...
The killing stones
Cleeves, Ann
Paper Book
Detective Jimmy Perez returns in The Killing Stones by Ann Cleeves, New York Times bestselling author of the Vera, Shetland, and Two Rivers series. When a violent storm descends upon the Orkney Islands, the body of Archie Stout is left behind in its...
Our Vicious Oaths
Davenport, N.E.
"An instant romantasy classic!" -- Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author Enter a new world of romantic fantasy from award-winning author N.E. Davenport--a journey of powerful magic, enemies-to-lovers, and political intrigue--as a warrior-princess and a vengeful king from rival...
The Paris Express a novel
Donoghue, Emma, 1969- author.
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the author of Room, The Wonder, and The Pull of the Stars comes a taut and suspenseful historical novel that reimagines an 1895 French railway disaster, an event famously documented in dramatic photographs The Paris Express is set over a single day, as...
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...
Finding Flora
Florence, Elinor
Paper Book
Instant #1 Bestseller A rollicking historical novel set in turn-of-the-century Alberta about a young woman on the run from her abusive husband who uses a legal loophole to claim a homestead in the Wild West--perfect for fans of Outlawed and The Giver of Stars.<...
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."...
Horsefly
Gagné, Mireille
Paper Book
A chilling tale about what happens when we mess with nature. In 1942, a young entomologist, Thomas, is sent to a remote island to work on biological weapons for the Allied military. The scientists live like prisoners while they produce anthrax and look for the perfect virus carrier among...
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...
Hollow
Halle, Karina
An Instant USA Today Bestseller! A sexy, dark fantasy reimagining of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where Katrina Van Tassel doesn't have to choose between Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane, and there are worse things haunting them than the Headless Horseman. ...
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
When her grown daughter is suspected of murder, a charming and tenacious widow digs into the case to unmask the real killer in this twisty, page-turning whodunit--the first book in a cozy new detective series from the acclaimed author of Ayesha at Last After her husband's unexpected...
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.
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, case effects, and illustrated endpapers. Dante's Inferno meets Susanna Clarke's Piranesi in this all...
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.
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER. From the bestselling author of Superfan comes a haunting novel about the demons passed down through five generations of women in a Chinese Canadian family, and what it might take for them to finally break free of the past. Will you break your mother's curse...
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 * FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE Megha Majumdar's electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller A Burning--longlisted for the National Book Award--is set in a near-future Kolkata ravaged by...
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.
"A philosophically charged tour de force by one of the best living novelists in English." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[What We Can Know] gave me so much pleasure I sometimes felt like laughing. . . . It's the best thing McEwan has written in ages. It's a...
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 a new small-town mystery from USA TODAY bestselling author Tom Ryan that asks a simple question: what happens to your favorite teenage detectives when they grow up? Twenty-Five Years Ago Few stories captured the...
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 "Writing a funny book is hard. Writing a convincing takedown of one of America's most popular prejudices is harder still. Writing a funny novel in which complex, imperfect characters make a compelling case for one of our...
Flesh: A Novel
Szalay, David
Paper Book
From Booker Prize-winning author David Szalay, comes a propulsive, hypnotic novel about a man who is unravelled by a series of events beyond his grasp. Fifteen-year-old István lives with his mother in a quiet apartment complex in Hungary. New to the town and shy, he is unfamiliar...
Pick a colour a novel
Thammavongsa, Souvankham, 1978- author.
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE 2025 GILLER PRIZE From Giller Prize and O. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa comes a revelatory novel about loneliness, love, labour, 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
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE QUEBEC WRITERS' FEDERATION AWARDS PARAGRAPHE HUGH MACLENNAN PRIZE FOR FICTION * Named a Most Anticipated Release by Toronto Star * Literary Hub * Esquire * The Washington Post * One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of the Summer * An...
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
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! WARNING! Under no circumstances must employees strike a deal with unauthorized personnel on Dark Enterprises property. Such behavior could result in death...or the end of the world. Colin is a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises, a...
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...
You've Changed
Williams, Ian.
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 GILLER PRIZE NATIONAL BESTSELLER The eagerly awaited follow-up novel from the Giller prize-winning author of Reproduction, You've Changed is a daring and clever dissection of a crumbling marriage between two people who are morphing in ways...
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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