If your ideal holiday involves laying horizontally by the pool with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, then read on. From romance to thriller, crime and Sci-Fi, we’ve taken the hard work out of it and sourced the best breezy reads for your summer 2025 reading guide. Sit back, slap on a bit of SPF and prepare to knock a few pages over with these moreish manuals.
The best romantic summe reads
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
If you’ve ever read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, this New York Times best-seller is right up your alley. It blends romance and time travel with a hint of spy thriller. The novel sees ‘bridge’, a civil servant working for a mysterious government agency in London. Her role involves testing the limits of time travel when she unexpectedly finds love with Commander Gore, an arctic explorer from a by-gone era.
Funny Story by Emily Henry
The perfect easy read for when you just want to switch off your brain, Funny Story is your classic ’opposites attract’ and ‘friends (in this case, roommates) to lovers’ story. Daphne and Miles find themselves as roomies when their respective partners leave them for each other. We’ll let you fill in the blanks.
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
An accidental viral Reddit thread exposes Justin’s curse—every woman he’s ever dated magically finds their soulmate as soon as they break up. Well, Emma has that same problem. So they hatch a plan to date each and break up so they find their forever person. But when new characters take things for a loop it exposes some real feelings.
Best thriller and crime summer reads
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Another New York Times best-seller, First Lie Wins is a riveting read that you’ll have trouble putting down. This cat and mouse novel centres around Evie Porter—except her real name isn’t Evie and her perfect boyfriend is actually an assignment given to her by the mysterious Mr. Smith. There’s plenty of twists and turns to keep you turning the page.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Author of the devilishly funny The Thursday Murder Club novels, Richard Osman is back with a new crime solving mystery. We Solve Murders follows retiree Steve and his daughter-in-law Amy, an unlikely duo who are swept around the world in an attempt to catch a killer. It has the same familiar dry humour you’ll love from Osman’s earlier works with some great new characters to boot.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Translated from Japanese and inspired by a true story, Butter follows the story of journalist Rika who is determined to crack the case of a serial killer who is said to have seduced her victims with her irresistible home cooking. Set in Tokyo, it’s also an interesting insight into Japanese culture including the impossible beauty standards women are held to.
Best fantasy and Sci-Fi summer reads
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
TBH, we were tossing up whether this should fall under the ‘romance’ category (IYKYK…) The third installment of Rebecca Yarro’s wildly popular Empyrean series is coming out in January and we could not be more excited. Often described as a mix of The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, dragon rider Violet Sorrengail is on the search for allies to save what she loves.
The Book of Love by Kelly Link
Blending magic with romance, Laura, Daniel and Mo are three teenagers who died a year ago. They’re resurrected by their music teacher only to find they must learn magic or they’ll be sent back to limbo. It’s an easy read leaning into themes of fantasy, grief, love and loss told in alternating points of view.
In Universes by Emet North
This mind-bending novel is perfect for fans of the multiverse. It centres around Raphaela, or Raffi as she prefers. The book jumps to different timelines of her life where she’s a Nasa intern in one, living in a post-apocalyptic world in another… At its heart, it’s really about Raffi’s journey of finding where she truly belongs across time and space.
Best contemporary fiction summer reads
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
The Normal People author is back with her fourth novel. This time, Intermezzo is about two brothers, Peter, a barrister In Dublin, and Ivan who is 10 years his junior. The book explores themes of loss as they mourn the death of their father plus love and family in true Rooney fashion.
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The story follows the emotional fallout after the wildly rich and successful Carl Fletcher is kidnapped outside his home in 1980s New York. After his hysterical wife, Ruth, drops off the $250,000 ransom money into an airport bin, Carl is returned home traumatised. The family is never the same again.
The Echoes by Evie Wyld
Written by Australian author Evie Wyld, The Echoes tells the story of Max and Hannah. Now a ghost, Max haunts the home they once shared, where he can truly uncover who Hannah is—and was after his death. The story is told through a twisted timeline and jumps between Max’s perspective, Hannah’s perspective and the third person which makes for an interesting read.
James by Percival Everett
An imaginative retelling of Mark Twain’s classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, James centres around Jim, a runaway slave who is joined by local kid Huck. Told from Jim’s perspective, the two escape and set sail down the Mississippi River. Hot tip: you definitely don’t need to have read Twain’s original work before embarking on James.
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