The Best February 2025 Releases To Pick For Your Book Club

February. It's the month of Valentine's Day: the time for chocolates, roses, and grand romantic gestures. But this year has another treat in store, especially for bookworms. A slate of new books is set to be released in February 2025, and the month will be positively brimming with scintillating works of fiction and nonfiction, giving readers plenty to love. And what better way to make the most of this overflowing abundance than by discussing some of the very best new releases with your book club?

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We know each book club has its own eclectic tastes, so each novel on this list brings something distinct to the mix. But differ though they may, they are all guaranteed to ignite great discussions. Does your group want a panoramic historical story? Or maybe a modern-day narrative, a translated work, or perhaps even a spin on a classic? Whichever direction your club wants to take, these selections are sure to steal your heart this Valentine's Day season.

People of Means, by Nancy Johnson

Freda Gilroy and her daughter Tulip face two different Americas in this much-anticipated new novel: Nashville in 1959 and Chicago in 1992. In the former, the drumbeat of a rising movement reverberates through Music City, as the students of Fisk University prepare to challenge Jim Crow laws. In the latter, ambition hits a high note in the corporate skyline, but the streets pulse with a heavier bassline of outrage after the Rodney King verdict. Distinct but no less entwined, the stories of mother and daughter carry the generational rhythms of resistance forward in a moving tale of love, family, and the enduring fight for racial justice.

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Family dynamics are author Nancy Johnson's speciality. "People of Means" builds on the success of her acclaimed fiction debut, "The Kindest Lie." Johnson's first novel followed a woman revisiting the buried truths of her past in Indiana, and the sacrifice she made for the privileges of her current middle-class existence in Chicago — all framed by the hopeful atmosphere of Barack Obama's ascent to presidency in 2008. With her vivid imagination and illustrative approach to storytelling, Nancy Johnson is one writer you won't want to forgo.

Mornings Without Mii, by Mayumi Inaba

Put simply, "Mornings Without Mii" is an utterly adorable piece of literature. In this delicate new translation of a modern Japanese classic, author Mayumi Inabi recounts her rescue of an abandoned kitten she finds clinging to life on a fence by Tokyo's Tamagawa River. She names the tiny creature Mii, and together they share two decades of tender friendship. The enigmatic cat becomes a muse, a confidante, and a silent witness to a life of creativity. Turning ordinary days in solitude into moving and intimate stories — that is the power of pets.

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This is a work written with love. In Japan, the original became a much-loved memoir during the author's lifetime. Now, thanks to a fresh translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori — who rose to prominence in the Western canon with her English translation of Sayaka Murata's best-selling "Convenience Store Woman" — this light, heartwarming tale is ready to bring a smile to new faces, and will surely be among the best memoirs published in 2025. It's sure to leave you purring, even if you're a dog person.

Stone Yard Devotional, by Charlotte Wood

From an author down under comes this arresting piece of original fiction, "Stone Yard Devotional." This introspective work traces the journey of a woman untethered by faith, but drawn to the cloistered world of a convent, as she becomes disillusioned with her life and work as a wildlife conservationist.

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Charlotte Wood uses pristine prose and transfixing detail to journal the essence of convent life, along with mysterious happenings: the sisterly seclusion, the austerity of quiet, the havoc of a mouse infestation, and the unearthing of an old sister's bones. There are no easy resolutions. Instead, readers are invited to linger in unsettling, elegiac depths. Those who embrace this book's reflective and unconventional narrative are very much rewarded.

But don't just take our word for it: Wood's work was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, with the judges declaring, "the novel thrilled and chilled [us] — it's a book we can't wait to put into the hands of readers."

Hungerstone, by Kat Dunn

If your book club has a taste for the classics, you'll want to sink your teeth into this new mystery-thriller. Over the last few years, publishing has seen a surge in the popularity of modern retellings of classic stories. See: Madeline Miller's "Circe" or "Frankissstein," by Jeanette Winterson. Now comes a fresh addition: "Hungerstone," by English author Kat Dunn. 

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Dunn breathes new life (or perhaps un-life) into Sheridan Le Fanu's seminal 1872 gothic achievement "Carmilla" — a chilling, homoerotic tale of a young woman haunted and hunted by a female vampire. The story served as the blood-rich inspiration for Bram Stoker's magnum opus "Dracula." With the original's sapphic undertones and macabre conventions, Le Fanu gave Dunn the license to chill, and she reimagines this classic with a bite of her own.

In "Hungerstone," Lenore and her husband Henry swap the smog of Industrial Revolution-era London for a dilapidated manor in the shadowy English countryside. A seemingly chance encounter — the result of a carriage accident — brings forward the unnerving Carmilla, who stirs something inexplicable in Lenore. A mysterious affliction then begins to spread among young women in the nearby villages, leaving them consumed by an insatiable hunger. Unsettling questions loom in the air like a restless specter. Whatever mysteries Carmilla may be harboring, this book promises to be a bloody good time.

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Mutual Interest, by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith

What does it cost to build an empire, really? In "Mutual Interest," Olivia Wolfgang-Smith unveils the secrets and sacrifices behind success. As the world braces itself for the dawn of the 20th century — a time of great promise and metamorphosis — Vivan Lesperance knows she must break free from the stifles of her small-town life in Utica, New York. She finds an unlikely ally in Oscar Schmidt, a man whose ambitions align with hers, and whose personal (but forbidden) desires allow her the freedom to explore her own. 

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To fund their vision, they join forces with Squire Clancey, an heir with the wealth to bring their plans to life. Oscar and Squire's romance allows Vivan to pursue her own romantic relationships with women. Together, the trio builds a flourishing personal care enterprise — but what must they do to protect their love and their legacy? We're sure your book club will find a mutual interest in this riveting new release.

Methodology

We've curated this list of standout new fiction hitting U.S. shelves in February 2025 with book clubs in mind. January 2025 brought its fair share of new releases, but we know some reading groups want to stay ahead of the publishing curve. 

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With this list, we hope to highlight books that suit a variety of tastes, and will spark discussion among diverse groups of readers. These selections represent a wide range of voices, stories, and genres, and offer exciting talking points to get into with friends. Each novel has garnered critical acclaim, commercial buzz, or both.

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