Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, and it is now being hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads. For details of all of the latest prompts for January to March, see Meeghan’s post here.
Today the topic is Top 5 anticipated reads for Q2 2025. It’s time to talk about all the shiny new books coming out in April, May and June in 2025. What are the books you can’t wait to hold in your hands the most?
I’ve listed these books in date of publication order – four books by authors whose books I’ve read before and one by a new-to-me author.
The House of Lost Whispers by Jenni Keer – 27 April, because I loved her book, The Hopes and Dreams of Lucy Baker.
On 15th April 1912, RMS Titanic sank and Olivia’s life changed forever… but what if a world existed where it hadn’t?
When the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic leaves thirteen-year-old Olivia Davenport orphaned, she’s sent to live with her guardians, the Fairchilds, in their huge Jacobean mansion – Merriford Manor. But the Fairchilds have more to worry about than a grieving young girl – with war in Europe imminent and four sons to protect.
Olivia feels alone and friendless. That is, until she hears a voice from behind the wall in her tower bedroom. A voice from a man called Seth. Convinced he’s merely a product of her grieving imagination, she learns to live with him but it’s not until after the heartbreak of the war that Olivia, now a young woman of twenty, discovers that he exists in an overlapping world that is just a shudder in time away from her own. A world where the Titanic never sank… And everything since has been just slightly… different.
All Olivia wants is to find a way into his reality. And not just to see the faces of her beloved parents once again. But also to meet Seth. Who might just be the love of her life…
The Elopement by Gill Hornby – 22 May, because I loved her earlier books, Miss Austen and Godmersham Park.
1820. Mary Dorothea Knatchbull is living under the sole charge of her widowed father, Sir Edward – a man of strict principles and high Christian values.
But when her father marries Miss Fanny Knight of Godmersham Park, Mary’s life is suddenly changed.
Her new stepmother comes from a large, happy and sociable family and Fanny’s sisters become Mary’s first friends. Her aunt, Miss Cassandra Austen of Chawton, is especially kind. Her brothers are not only amusing, but handsome and charming.
And as Mary Dorothea starts to bloom into a beautiful young woman, she forms an especial bond with one Mr Knight in particular.
Soon, they are deeply in love and determined to marry. They expect no opposition. After all, each is from a good family and has known the other for some years.
It promises to be the most perfect match. Who would want to stand in their way?
Fire on the Fells by Cath Staincliffe – 8 May, because I loved The Silence Between Breaths.
Summer can be murder, out on the sun-scorched Yorkshire Fells.
No one loves the Fells like Tyler Prasad. An eighteen-year-old dreamer who came here to join an eco-protest. But Tyler’s past followed hot on his heels. Now Tyler lies dead in a ditch. His handsome face shot to pieces in a brutal attack that baffles Detective Leo Donovan.
There’s no shortage of gunmen roving the land in search of grouse — most of them staying at luxury country-house retreat, Patefield Grange. The shooting party guests tell Detective Leo the victim’s name means nothing to them. But Leo knows a lie when he hears one.
The Grange is a hotbed of smouldering secrets. Which was worth killing for? Detective Leo and his partner Shan must solve the case before it all goes up in smoke . . .
By Your Side by Ruth Jones – 22 May, because although I haven’t read anything by her before I love the TV series Gavin and Stacey that she co-wrote with James Cordon.
Linda and Levi will never meet. But they’re going to change each other’s lives.
In her role at the council’s Unclaimed Heirs Unit, Linda Standish investigates the lives of those who’ve died alone and tracks down any living relatives. She’s been a friend to the friendless for the past thirty-three years. And now she’s looking forward to an early retirement.
But before she hangs up her lanyard, Linda takes on one last case – that of Levi Norman – a Welshman who made his home on a remote Scottish island for the past five years.
What brought Levi here? And who did he leave behind? Obliged to travel (by hearse) with her arch nemesis Fergus Murray, and helped (and hindered) by local residents, Linda searches for clues to a life now lost. And in the process unexpectedly makes new friends, and discovers things about herself she never knew.
Bursting with all the heart and humour that has made Ruth’s name as a screenwriter and author, By Your Side is about finding joy in the most unlikely connections, and the importance of holding onto friendship, love and community – especially when life gets messy.
Between the Waves by Hilary Tailor – 29 May, because I loved two of her earlier books, The Vanishing Tide and Where Water Lies.
Twenty years ago, during a family holiday on the savage and remote island of Little Auger, eleven-year-old Hazel left her bed and was never seen again. The unanswered questions surrounding Hazel’s disappearance tore three families apart and the girls left behind all experience their own terrible guilt. Roz, because she broke a promise; Catrin, because it was her idea; and Nina, who slept through it all. Their friendship never recovers and all three women go on to lead vastly different lives.
Twenty years later, they each receive a phone call from Stella Cox, a true-crime podcaster, who has unearthed new evidence about Hazel’s disappearance. There is no doubt Stella has found something important but the question is, how can the women—once best friends, now strangers—trust her, or each other?
Will their return to the island finally reveal the truth, and if it does, is it something any of them are prepared to learn?
Are you interested in reading any of these? What books are you anticipating?
BooksPlease 