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A new year means new books to look forward to, and 2025 already promises a bounty — from the first volume of Bill Gates’s memoirs to a new novel by the reigning Nobel laureate, Han Kang, to a biography of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, the wife and psychedelic collaborator of the counterculture pioneer Timothy Leary.

On this week’s episode, Gilbert Cruz and Joumana Khatib talk about some of the upcoming books they’re most anticipating over the next several months.

Books discussed:

“Stone Yard Devotional,” by Charlotte Wood

“Silence,” by Pico Iyer

“Onyx Storm,” by Rebecca Yarros

“Gliff,” by Ali Smith

“The Dream Hotel,” by Laila Lalami

“The Colony,” by Annika Norlin

“We Do Not Part,” by Han Kang

“Playworld,” by Adam Ross

“Death of the Author,” by Nnedi Okorafor

“The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary,” by Susannah Cahalan

“Tilt,” by Emma Pattee

“Dream Count,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

“Hope: The Autobiography,” by Pope Francis

“Jesus Wept: Seven Popes and the Battle for the Soul of the Catholic Church,” by Philip Shenon

“The Antidote,” by Karen Russell

“Source Code,” by Bill Gates

“Great Big Beautiful Life,” by Emily Henry

“Sunrise on the Reaping,” by Suzanne Collins

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review’s podcast in general. You can send them to books@nytimes.com.