1 The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Michael Joseph, $38)

This epistolary novel smothered in puff quotes from the likes of Ann Patchett sounds the perfect way to ease into a year of good reading. Here’s the publisher’s blurb: “Every morning at around half past ten, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters – to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books.

Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her correspondence – full of sharp humour and hard-earned wisdom – to make sense of the world. But beyond the page, she has spent the last thirty years keeping the people who love her at arms’ length. Until letters from someone she had put out of her mind land on her doorstep, forcing her to reckon with her past mistakes.

For as Sybil is about to learn, it’s never too late to write a few post-scripts.”

2 Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press, $28) 

No doubt Chloé Zhao’s superb film adaptation of this devastating novel about love, grief and Shakespeare is giving book sales a boost. If Jessie Buckley doesn’t nab the Oscar for her turn as Agnes then we’ll be mixing up some mugwort and hexing the academy.

3 Flesh by David Szalay (Jonathan Cape, $38)

Last year’s Booker Prize winner still going strong.

4 The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Phoenix, $28) 

Sad stranger ruins wedding: lots of lols.

5 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $35)

The indomitable bestselling crime novel based on the true story of a foodie with murderous inclinations.

6 The Mushroom Tapes by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein (Text Publishing, $40)

A somewhat rushed but nevertheless fascinating account of the true crime story of the year in 2025.

7 Strange Houses by Uketsu (Pushkin Press, $37)

Compelling and peculiar crime novel perfect for the beach (if it’s not raining near you like it is near me).

8 A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin, $60)

Unless you’ve been doing summer right and staying offline, it would have been hard to miss the news that Jacinda Ardern, along with at least 180 other writers, withdrew from the now-cancelled Adelaide Writers Week after the festival’s board made the shocking decision to un-invite Palestinian writer Dr Randah Abdel-Fattah. Read the resignation article from the festival’s now former director, the brilliant Louise Adler, here.

9 Lessons on Living: Finding Your Way Through Life’s Ups and Downs by Nigel Latta (Harper Collins, $40)

An ever-green guide to navigating the human condition.

10 House of Wolf by Tony Robinson (Sphere, $38)

“George RR Martin meets Terry Pratchett,” says The Observer.

WELLINGTON

1 Flesh by David Szalay (Jonathan Cape, $38)

2 Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street by Elizabeth Cox (Massey University Press, $90)

A portal into Wellington’s past. This meticulously researched book is a time capsule with every chapter unearthing a fascinating series of stories about our beloved capital. Take a peek at an excerpt from Cox’s masterpiece, right here on The Spinoff.

3 Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press, $28) 

4 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 

2025 was a huge year for The Chidge as her latest novel topped The Spinoff’s reader survey for best books of the year.

5 Heart the Lover by Lily King (Canongate, $37)

Bookstagram is going bananas for this weepy romance-drama.

6 What We Can Know by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape, $38)

McEwan’s magnificent cli-fi.

7 Kia Mau: Resisting Colonial Fictions by Tina Ngata (Rebel Press, $18)

First published in 2019, this short, terrific series of essays is now an essential tool for anyone interested in Aotearoa’s past and future. Looks like Wellingtonians are studying up early ahead of what promises to be a busy year in politics.

8 My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Europe Editions, $28)

One of the best essays about Ferrante is by Patricia Lockwood for the LRB in which she says: “Ferrante is yours not when you love all of her books without exception, but when you hate a few of them irrationally, almost as enemies of your happiness.”

9 Wedding People by Alison Espach (Pheonix House, $28)

10 I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Vintage, $33)

The 90s dystopia republished and sadly resonant with right now.