Top 5 books I want to buy in 2025

Again, this book is in the middle, or rather at the end, of a series. It is the third Empire of the Vampire book by Jay Kristoff.

I have books 1 and 2 by Illumicrate (and also Waterstones), and I am hoping against hope and keeping my fingers crossed, that I can puy book 3 to complete my set. I daresay this will be far more difficult as this book will be in high demand. And unfortunately for me, despite Jay being an Aussie author, Illumicrate tend to sell their books in the middle of the night for me.

Fingers crossed I can get this one!!

AT THE AVALLON, REAL POWER COMES TO THOSE WHO WATCH AND LISTEN…

High in the Appalachian mountains is a place quite unlike any other. The Avallon Hotel and its enigmatic General Manager, June Hudson, are famed for offering unrivalled luxury, season after season, to those who come from far and wide to indulge in its beautiful hot springs and take the healing waters. Everything is perfect. Perhaps too perfect.

So when the Avallon is called upon to help the war effort — to oust its guests and host three hundred diplomats and Nazi sympathisers —June’s priority is business as usual. But as dark alliances and unexpected attractions crack the polished veneer of the hotel, she is forced to reckon with the true price of luxury.

After all, only June knows the sacrifice required to keep everyone happy — her staff, the FBI and, above all, the tumultuous sweetwater running through the heart of the hotel.

Not only is Thief of Night, the sequel to Book of Night, by Holly Black on my 25 in 25 list, it’s also on my TO BUY list.

Annoyingly, Book of Night was one of those books that every subscription box did the month it came out. I seem to have three copies. A FairyLoot, an Illumicrate, and a signed US fancy looking one that’s likely either OwlCrate or LitJoy but I can’t find anything about who made it in the book.

If all the book companies do an edition of the sequel, I don’t know which one I’ll get as they’re all pretty in their own way. I doubt I’ll get all three again though. Even though I absolutely loved the first book.

OK, so, The Broken Binding actually haven’t announced that they will do a special edition of this book yet (the third book in the Legends and Lattes series, if you could the prequel as a book — which you should).

However, as soon as they announce that sucker, I will be lined up on their website to get me a matching copy for my bookshelves.

I also love that this is more of a sequel to the prequel, than the first book. Because while the majority of the prequel is set at the start of the story, it does end after the first book. And I promise it’s not some weird time thing. It all makes sense once you read it.

And you absolutely should read it if you love fantasy, or you want to try fantasy. This is like super low stakes fantasy. If it were a video game, I would liken it to Coffee Talk. Which probably only makes sense when you’ve read the books and played Coffee Talk. I’m going to go shut up now.