Best English Fiction and Non-Fiction Books You Should Read

Ask ten regular readers what they’re currently working through and you’ll get two very different answers, roughly split down the middle. Half will name a novel. The other half will mention something they’re “trying to finish” — usually non-fiction, usually a little guiltily, because it’s been sitting on the nightstand for three weeks.

Here’s the thing though. You don’t actually have to choose a side. Fiction and non-fiction aren’t competing for the same job. One teaches you what something feels like. The other tells you why it happened, or how it works, or what to do about it. Good readers usually end up wanting both, even if they won’t admit it out loud.

So instead of another generic “must-read” list, we put together fifteen picks — some fiction, some not — that are genuinely worth your money and your time. No filler, no books we haven’t actually thought about.

Quick note before the list

A few of these are broad categories rather than single titles on purpose. Book recommendations go stale fast — what’s “the best thriller of the year” changes every few months — so instead we’re pointing you toward the kind of book worth grabbing, and you can ask us in-store (or browse the shelf yourself) for whatever’s freshest right now.

The Fiction Side

1. A slow classic you keep meaning to read Everyone has one. That novel people quote constantly that you’ve somehow never actually opened. Pick it up. Classics earned their reputation the hard way — by still being readable a hundred years later, when 90% of what got published alongside them is completely forgotten.

2. Whatever’s topping the fiction bestseller list right now Not because “bestseller” automatically means good — plenty of forgettable books sell well — but because these are the novels everyone around you will have opinions about. Handy at dinner parties, if nothing else.

3. A mystery or thriller you can’t put down This is the genre that ruins your sleep schedule in the best way. If a book manages to make you read “just one more chapter” past midnight three nights in a row, that’s the whole point of fiction, honestly.

4. Something coming-of-age There’s a reason this genre refuses to die out. Watching a character fumble their way toward adulthood — badly, awkwardly, sometimes painfully — hits differently no matter how old you actually are when you read it.

5. A fantasy series you can disappear into for weeks People roll their eyes at fantasy sometimes, which is a little unfair. Strip away the dragons and the maps in the front cover, and most good fantasy is really just political drama or grief or loyalty wearing a costume.

6. A short story collection Underrated, mostly because it doesn’t photograph as well for a “currently reading” post. But if your attention span has been wrecked by phones (whose hasn’t), short stories are a genuinely kind format — a complete world, done in twenty minutes.

7. Something translated into English This one’s easy to skip because it requires slightly more effort to find. Worth it anyway — a huge amount of the best fiction being written right now isn’t originally in English, and translated work opens doors that the usual bestseller tables don’t.

The Non-Fiction Side

8. A memoir Not a celebrity memoir written by a ghostwriter in six weeks — a real one. Something where you can tell the person actually sat with their own life before writing about it. These tend to stay with you longer than most advice books ever do.

9. A popular science book The good ones make you feel smarter without making you feel small, which is a harder trick than it sounds. If you finish one and immediately want to explain it to whoever’s nearby, that’s a sign the author did their job.

10. Something on personal finance Unglamorous, sure. But most people learn how money actually works through expensive mistakes instead of a book, and a decent finance book is a lot cheaper than the mistakes.

11. History that reads like a story, not a textbook The best history writers understand pacing the same way novelists do. If a 400-page history book somehow feels shorter than it is, that’s usually the sign you picked a good one.

12. Self-help that’s actually backed by something There’s a lot of noise in this category — books that are just “believe in yourself” stretched across 200 pages. Look for ones grounded in actual research or lived experience, not just quotable one-liners.

13. A business or leadership book that isn’t just buzzwords If you’re managing people, starting something, or just trying to think more clearly at work, the right book here can save you a genuinely painful amount of trial and error.

14. An essay collection Good for people who read in short bursts — on a commute, before bed, during a lunch break. A strong essay can say more in fifteen pages than some full-length books manage in three hundred.

15. Something completely outside your usual interests Food history. The science of sleep. How cities get built. Doesn’t matter what — the point is picking something you’d normally walk straight past. Some of the best reading experiences come from books you didn’t know you wanted.

Building a list that actually gets read

A pile of “recommended” titles isn’t the same as a reading list you’ll actually get through. A few things that help:

• Switch genres between books. Heavy novel, then something lighter. Non-fiction, then fiction, so your brain isn’t stuck in “study mode” the whole time.
• Give yourself permission to abandon a book. Fifty pages in and it’s not working? Put it down. There are too many good books out there to force your way through one that isn’t clicking.
• Mix up length and format on purpose — a thick novel some weeks, a short story collection or a slim essay book on others.
• Ask actual humans for recommendations. A bookseller who’s read widely will usually point you somewhere better than an algorithm will.

Where to start

If a story that pulls you in from the first page sounds more like what you need right now, our fiction section covers everything from the classics to whatever’s newest on the shelf.

Want to learn something instead? The non-fiction section has memoirs, science, history, and finance titles worth your time.

And if you’re honestly not sure which one you’re in the mood for — that’s fair, most people aren’t — come by the store or take a look at the full collection. We’re always around to help you figure it out.