9 Must-Read Fiction And Nonfiction Books To Relax And Unwind In 2025
Sometimes you just need to escape into a good book and forget about the world for a while.
Love getting lost in make-believe stories or learning about real events; reading helps the mind relax and recharge.
A collection of captivating novels and fascinating true stories promises page-turning moments that support winding down after a long day.
1. Lessons In Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
Meet Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist in the 1960s who refuses to accept the limitations society places on women.
Her journey from lab scientist to unexpected cooking show host will make you laugh and cheer.
Garmus crafts a story that balances wit with warmth, creating characters you’ll think about long after finishing.
Elizabeth’s sharp intelligence and determination shine through every page, making her impossible not to root for.
Perfect for anyone who loves underdogs and historical fiction with a modern twist.
2. Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
Two childhood friends reconnect in college and decide to create video games together, launching a partnership that spans decades.
Sam and Sadie’s relationship evolves through triumphs, betrayals, and creative breakthroughs that feel incredibly real.
Zevin explores friendship in all its messy complexity without relying on romance as the main driver.
The novel captures how creativity can both unite and divide people who care deeply about each other.
3. The Wager – David Grann
Imagine surviving a shipwreck only to face accusations of mutiny when you finally make it home.
Grann uncovers the true story of a British naval vessel that wrecked off the coast of South America in the 1740s, leaving survivors stranded.
What follows is a gripping tale of survival, conflicting testimonies, and the question of who really deserves to be called a hero.
Grann’s meticulous research brings history to life in unexpected ways.
4. Sea Of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel
Time travel meets pandemic fiction in a novel that jumps between 1912, 2020, and centuries into the future.
Mandel weaves together seemingly unrelated moments across time, creating a mystery that slowly reveals itself through beautiful prose.
An investigator from a moon colony travels back through time to solve a puzzle involving a strange glitch in reality.
The connections between past and future feel both surprising and inevitable once they click into place.
5. Horse – Geraldine Brooks
A famous racehorse from the 1850s connects three different timelines in Brooks’ masterful storytelling.
Lexington was a real champion whose skeleton ended up in a museum, but his story encompasses much more than racing records.
Brooks explores race, art, and history through characters separated by centuries but linked by their connection to this remarkable animal.
The novel moves between past and present with grace, revealing how history echoes through time.
6. Chain-Gang All-Stars – Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Picture a reality show where prisoners fight each other for entertainment and a chance at freedom.
Adjei-Brenyah creates a brutal dystopian world that feels uncomfortably close to our own obsession with violent entertainment.
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara Hurricane Stacker are the stars, but the system they’re trapped in is the real villain.
Sharp social commentary cuts through every page, forcing readers to examine their own consumption of violence.
7. The Covenant Of Water – Abraham Verghese
Spanning seven decades in Southern India, Verghese follows one family cursed by a strange condition where at least one member of each generation dies by drowning.
The mystery unfolds slowly across generations, blending medical intrigue with family drama.
Verghese, a physician himself, brings authenticity to the medical aspects while never losing sight of the human stories at the heart of the novel.
The lush setting of Kerala becomes almost a character itself.
Patient readers who enjoy epic family sagas will be rewarded.
8. Yellowface – R.F. Kuang
When a successful author dies suddenly, her friend steals her unpublished manuscript and passes it off as her own work.
Kuang skewers the publishing industry with razor-sharp satire, exploring cultural appropriation, social media pile-ons, and authorial ambition.
June Hayward makes terrible decisions that keep escalating, creating a train wreck you can’t look away from.
The novel moves at breakneck speed while raising serious questions about who gets to tell which stories.
9. I Have Some Questions For You – Rebecca Makkai
Bodie Kane returns to her elite boarding school as a teacher, only to confront the unsolved murder of a classmate from decades earlier.
What she thought she knew about that night begins to unravel as she digs deeper into the past.
Makkai crafts a smart mystery that questions memory, privilege, and how institutions protect certain people while sacrificing others.
The novel works both as a page-turning thriller and a thoughtful examination of justice.
