Best fiction of 2025

Solvej Balle, On the Calculation of Volume I, Volume II.  Volume III is due out in English late this year I have read it already in German.  A very strong series, reading ahead in German is a good demonstration of how much I like them.

Suat Dervis, The Prisoner of Ankara.  A Turkish novel from mid-century, in English for the first time.

Emmanuel Carrere, V13: Chronicle of a Trial.  Non-fiction but it is more likely reading fiction, it just happens to be true (supposedly).

Alain Mabanckou, Dealing with the Dead.  Most African fiction does not connect with me, and there is a tendency for the reviews to be untrustworthy.  This “cemetery memoir,” from the Congo (via UCLA), held my interest throughout.

Kiran Desai, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.

Eça de Queiros, Adam and Eve in Paradise.  Originally from the 19th century, but translated into English only this year. A 60 pp. novella about exactly what the title indicates, noting that matters are not as simple as the first telling of that story might have suggested.

The Poems of Seamus Heaney.  Not yet received, but obviously this is a winner.

Overall, the Balle, Desai, and Heaney make for very strong entries, so this was a good year for fiction.