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Our chief book critic Martin Chilton picks his 15 top reads of 2025, with captivating novels and frank memoirs to the fore

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Narrowing down the best books of 2025 to a list of 15 inevitably means leaving out fine works, including Shadow Ticket, the first novel by Thomas Pynchon in 12 years, and We Do Not Part by Nobel Prize in Literature winner Han Kang.

The year marked what would have been Jane Austen’s 250th birthday, and following the example of her Pride and Prejudice character Caroline Bingley, who said, “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading”, I have selected books that were, in the main, simply a joy to read.

The final pick includes a captivating novel by Sarah Hall, David Szalay’s Booker Prizewinner, sparkling debut fiction by Charlotte Runcie and Florence Knapp, powerful literary memoirs of Muriel Spark and Gertrude Stein and surprising, engaging memoirs from women as diverse as Kathy Burke and Arundhati Roy.

15. Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle by Chris Fitch (William Collins)

It has been another excellent year for nature and environmental nonfiction books - including Harriet Rix’s The Genius of Trees, a profoundly inventive exploration of the science of trees - and the one I single out is Chris Fitch’s study of what pioneering cities around the world are doing to fight a seemingly losing battle against vanishing nature. Wild Cities: Discovering New Ways of Living in the Modern Urban Jungle does not sugarcoat the problems but explains in illuminating detail, through investigation and personal anecdotes, the undeniable benefits of nature. A truly uplifting read.

14. Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who by John Higgs (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)