Fiction Staff Picks 2025

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

Updated December 18, 2025
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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 colours of the dark
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...
Broken country : a novel
Hall, Clare Leslie
Paper Book
Over 1 Million Copies Sold A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK | A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall is an unforgettable story of love, loss, and the choices that shape our lives...but it's also a masterfully crafted mystery that...
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...
The crimson moth
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
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
Okorafor, Nnedi.
Paper Book
THE INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Recommended by New York Times Book Review * People * NPR * Rolling Stone * Los Angeles Times * Reader's Digest * and more! "This one has it all." -- George R.R. Martin * "As delicious as it...
Deep end
Hazelwood, Ali
Paper Book
The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! This edition includes an exquisite, glistening cover with effects and brilliantly illustrated four-color interior art. A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from...
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
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...
Fable for the end of the world
Reid, Ava.
Paper Book
The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this stand-alone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything. By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. ...
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 Hop : a novel
Clarke, Diana
Paper Book
"A fresh ode to sisterhood and sexual agency that crackles with verve and wit. I couldn't put it down."--Gabriela Garcia, author of the New York Times bestseller and Good Morning America Pick Of Women and Salt "Clarke refuses to turn this story into a morality play. . . [and her] newly...
Hum
Phillips, Helen
Paper Book
A Most Anticipated Book for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Goodreads, LitHub, and Book Riot A Best Book of the Summer for Esquire, Electric Lit, and Town & Country A People Book of the...
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
Deep in the Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest- nearly one million acres of impenetrable darkness and impossible beauty. Even in this modern age, much of it remains undiscovered and uncharted. From the heart of this old forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and alone, she...
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
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...
Out on a limb
Bonam-Young, Hannah
Paper Book
A hot one-night stand--and an unexpected pregnancy--lead a young woman to someone she can depend on, from the viral TikTok author of Next of Kin and Next to You. "A beautiful love story, full of joy from beginning to end!"--New York Times bestselling author Sarah...
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
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller! "No one does funny, emotional, life-affirming love stories quite like Abby Jimenez. She just keeps outdoing herself." ―Emily Henry There's no such thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier...
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
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...
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
From the Booker Prize finalist, author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two great rivers, all connected by a single drop of water. "Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too...
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...
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 BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (NPR, TIME, USA Today, The Economist, Scientific American, Good Housekeeping, Reader's Digest, HuffPost, The Globe...
Wild reverence
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
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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