For avid readers every year comes with the opportunity to read new books and experience the worlds inside of them. Here are some great books you can look forward to when the new year rolls around.
“Sunrise on the Reaping” (March 18, 2025)
Fans of “The Hunger Games” series can finally read about one of the series’ most popular characters, Haymitch Abernathy. Scheduled to be released March 18, 2025, “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins will tell the story of the 50th Hunger Games. Taking place 24 years before the events of Collins’ first book, everything changes for 16-year-old Haymitch when he’s chosen as one of four tributes instead of two to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games. This is the deadly twist for the second quarter quell which represents the 50-year mark since the start of the games. With the odds stacked against him, Haymitch must figure a way to win the games and get back home.
If you’ve read “The Hunger Games” before you know that Haymitch’s character is not a happy one. Though his games are never really discussed in the original books, it’s implied that what happened in them led Haymitch to become the drunken man we see throughout the series. While I’m almost certain this story will be a sad one, it’s a story fans have been waiting for and I’m sure it will be a great read.
“Great Big Beautiful Life” (April 22, 2025)
Emily Henry might be one of the great romance writers of our time and next year fans of her work will be treated to a new love story in “Great Big Beautiful Life.” Alice Scott is two things: an aspiring writer and massive optimist. While Hayden Anderson is a renowned writer, he is no optimist. What the two do have in common is that they're both hoping to write about Margaret Ives, a known recluse and the daughter of one of the 20th century's most scandalous families. But Margaret won’t let them both write this story, and two facts are becoming clear to Alice. One, she’s got to work a lot harder if she’s going to win over Margaret. And two, she won’t get anywhere in beating Hayden if she feels a spark every time they’re in a room together. If Henry’s earlier work is any evidence of how great this next book will be, me and plenty of other romance fans are sure to be anxiously waiting for April 22 to arrive.
“Atmosphere” (June 3, 2025)
A thrilling love story set in outer space is what readers will find in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s upcoming book “Atmosphere,” set to come out June 3, 2025. The book follows Joan Goodwin, a space obsessed professor of physics and astronomy who gets the chance of a lifetime when she’s accepted into NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. In the program, Joan meets an array of characters as she starts training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Joan gets a lot more than space training, she finds love too. Fans of Reid’s past work and new fans will be taken on a journey both through space and Joan’s heart.
“Departure 37” (Aug. 5, 2025)
Two timelines. Two characters. One horrifying story. Scott Carson’s upcoming novel “Departure 37,” set to be released Aug. 5, 2025, is a horror mystery starting on a clear day in October when every pilot in the United States refuses to fly. While the government is searching for answers to this sudden grounding, 16-year-old Charlie notices a strange, silver balloon drifting across the water and towards her family’s house on the coast of Maine. Charlie is miserable in her new home, but little does she know that the home happens to be ground zero for the strange events that started at a remote naval base back in Indiana. Starting in 1962 when Martin Hazelton, a physicist, uncovered something incredibly deadly. Switching back and forth between the two separate timelines, readers of mystery and horror will get sucked into the world of Carson’s new book. Carson also happens to be a pen name for Michael Koryta who did an interview with WFIU ealier this month, so fans of his books can go learn more about Koryta until “Departure 37” is released.
“Circle of Days” (Sept. 23, 2025)
Ken Follett creates an enthralling story around one of the world's most famous (and most mysterious) man-made wonders. Set during the Neolithic era “Circle of Days,” which is scheduled to be released Sept. 23, 2025, tells the story of Stonehenge and its creation. Seft, a flint miner, is on his way to the Midsummer Fair to trade his stone and find the woman he loves, Neen. Joia, Neen’s sister and a priestess, has a vision of a great circular monument made of stone, one that will unite the divided tribes of the Great Plain. Together Joia and Seft will make this monument their life's work, but little do they know mistrust is growing in the Great Plains and that might lead to all out warfare. While I am not as familiar with Follett’s work, I know that for fans of historical fiction, his books are a must read, and “Circle of Days” is no different. If you’ve ever been curious about the mystery of Stonehenge, Follett’s upcoming book is one to look out for.
