which Books to absolutely read this year?

Winter has set in, rather frosty in Caen (Calvados), for a few days, the opportunity to warm up at home with a good book. There literary start of January 2025 also welcomed a greatest number of publications than last year507 against 459 in January 2024.

To find out a little more, Corentin Huet from the Le Brouillon de Culture bookstore and Gregor Diakite from the Librairie Guillaume, tell us unmissable highlights of the year and current trends.

The literary return to school and its share of phenomena

Fans of Pierre Lemaitre, Leïla Slimani and Jean Echenoz get ready, this literary return will delight them. For some, the long-awaited book is already in their hands.

• A bright future, Pierre Lemaitre

Gregor and Corentin are unanimous, A bright future by Pierre Lemaitre will get people talking about him: “It’s a story that readers have been waiting for the sequel to for two years. For this third volume, of the “The Glorious Years” saga, the reader will find the Pelletier family in Praguebut also in Paris. »

For Gregor, Pierre Lemaitre’s novels are novels with multiple themes, which are aimed at everyone with a strong social dimension. You will have to wait until January 21, 2025 to find it in bookstores.

• I will take away the fire, Leïla Slimani

For this fall, Leïla Slimani offers the reader her latest novel I will take away the fire. Il closes his family trilogyof autobiographical inspiration, which takes place in Morocco. The release is scheduled for January 23, 2025.

Among those that the public has been waiting for for a long time, Jean Echenoz is one of them, and has made his comeback after six years without publication. The author, whose writing, according to Gregor, is so singular that she is recognizable without having to mention her name, returns with a new novel called Bristol.

This new fiction should appeal to early fans and certainly convert others. This time, the reader follows a filmmaker named Robert Bristol who wants to make an adventure film in Africa. It is already available in bookstores.

• The City of Uncertain Walls, Haruki Murakami

The Japanese author of 1Q84, Haruki Murakami returns with his novel The city with uncertain walls. Extremely anticipated, this is the story of a youthful love. A 17-year-old girl talks to her lover about a mysterious city. Then, she disappears… Corentin, from Brouillon de Culture, explains that fans have been waiting for a new novel from the author for more than six years and that since January 2, 2025it’s a hit.

Books that will continue to shine

What would the trends of the new year be without the nostalgia of 2024. Certain books are absolutely to be discovered or rediscovered and booksellers are sure of it, they will continue to be successful This year.

• The Ritz bartender, Philippe Collin

This historical fiction was very successful. Moreover, at Christmas, Caen readers kept asking for it. Philippe Collin, who is also a radio producer at Radio France, did well. The Ritz bartenderthis is the story of the legendary Parisian hotel during theGerman occupationwhere the curfew does not exist.

• The little maid, Bérénice Pichat

This unique novel is a closed session, between a young servant and her master, which takes place in post-war France in the 1930s. The author Le HavreBérénice Pichat, is a history professor and chooses a particular style of writing, mixing prose and free verse.

For Corentin, it’s a real favorite “It’s a powerful closed session with bold writing. »

The success of feminist essays

For several years, the tests are increasingly read by the younger generation, this is what Gregor explains at the Librairie Guillaume, where a section has been developed: “We are seeing a growing interest in essays, particularly feminist ones. Before, it wasn’t a genre that was widely read or popular. »

We think, for example, of the Feminist Points collection: “It’s often young women who buy them, but not only that, there are also men. But it’s more the new generation. »

Graphic novels, these new comics

Sometimes known as “graphic novels”, comic strips are also in full expansion. What is new are the themes covered: “We are moving away a little from adventure comics, to explore other subjects such as current events, historical or societal facts” explains Gregor, a new way of tellingto show and approach the book. We think, for example, of Riad Sattouf’s latest book, Me, Fadi, The Stolen Brother, has Battlefields by Inès Leraud or atYawning Eternity by Etienne Klein, Christian Durieux and Laurent-Frédéric Bollée.

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