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Ring in the year with the best books about New Year’s Eve and Day. My favorite fiction novels for adults on the topic span genres from romance to mystery, historical fiction, and beyond, so you can get cozy with the type of book that suits your mood this holiday reading season. You’ll unravel my favorite tales of nostalgia and change as the clock strikes midnight. Let’s get literary!

this time next year with coffee mug.

List of the Best Books About New Year’s Eve For Adults

TOP 3 PICKS

top 3 books about new year's eve.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (historical fiction)

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (historical fiction)

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (contemporary romance)

  1. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
  2. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
  3. A Castle in the Clouds by Kirsten Gier
  4. A Doll’s House by Hekrik Isben
  5. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
  6. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
  7. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
  8. A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes
  9. Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimor
  10. The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch
  11. Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
  12. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
  13. The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner
  14. This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens

Reviews of the Best New Year’s Eve Fiction Novels: Mystery, Romance, and Beyond

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

  • Instant #1 New York Times bestseller
  • Recommended For: fans of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
  • My Rating: ★★★★☆

Plot: Anxious People is a quirky book about an open house just before New Year’s. It goes awry when a failed bank robber runs in and takes everyone hostage.

They’re “a bunch of idiots” — a retired couple who fix up houses but can’t fix their marriage, a wealthy bank director, a conflicted young couple about to have their first child, an elderly woman unafraid of a gun but still afraid of the real estate deal, and a mysterious man who has locked himself in the bathroom.

These hostages set an unexpected chain of events in motion and reveal truths about themselves. This is how people experience anxiety differently.

My Review: This book is a uniquely nuanced glimpse into human nature, and it will make you both laugh and cry. It’s great for exploring human psychology in life-changing situations.


Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

  • #1 bestseller
  • Recommended For: fans of 1990s romantic comedies
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: The famous story of Bridget Jones’s Diary begins on the New Year holiday, catapulting the reader directly into the laugh-out-loud life (and loves) of the notorious singleton. She compulsively tracks her New Year’s resolutions throughout the year while balancing two love interests.

My Review: This wildly popular book (and movie adaptation) is worth reading for its icon status. However, be forewarned that some plot aspects don’t stand the test of time (such as Bridget’s obsessive calorie and weight counting). That being said, it’s still a quick and quirky read!


A Castle in the Clouds by Kerstin Gier

  • Recommended For: Young Adults
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: A Castle in the Clouds is a Christmas mystery book that takes place at a grand old hotel in the Swiss mountains during the week leading up to the New Year’s Eve ball. Hotel intern Sophie is hard at work when she finds herself in the middle of a thrilling winter story that risks her job and her heart.

My Review: Not everyone is who they seem, making for a suspenseful, atmospheric tale of laundering, kidnapping, jewelry theft, and even a love triangle. It’s geared toward young adults, but readers of all ages can indulge in it.


A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben

  • One of the world’s most performed plays
  • Recommended For: fans of theater
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: A Doll’s House is a classic pre-1900 play in which Nora Helmer, a seemingly carefree wife and mother, secretly borrowed money years ago to save her husband Torvald’s life. When the exposure of the truth is threatened, she faces Torvald’s selfish reaction and her realization of being treated as a mere “doll.” Nora is destined to change her life come New Year’s Day.

My Review: It’s a short, thought-provoking, and easy-to-read piece about changing societal conventions poignantly set on a holiday about ringing in new life.

Reading Tip: You can listen to the full audiobook or watch the full play on YouTube for free.


The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

  • New York Times bestseller
  • Recommended For: a murder mystery
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: The Hunting Party is an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery set in the Scottish Highlands, where a group of snowed-in thirtysomething friends from school reunite for their annual holiday celebration.

This year, the burden of secretkeeping becomes too much to bear. As they ring in the New Year, one of them is dead, and another is to blame.

My Review: The remote setting, hunting activities, and points of view (of both insiders and outsiders) give this book a creepy and ominous feel. Note also that while there are a lot of characters, they aren’t hard to track.


Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney

  • National bestseller
  • My Rating: ★★★★☆

Plot: Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk takes place on New Year’s Eve in 1984, when eighty-five-year-old Lillian Boxfish is on her way to a party. She worked her way up in 1930s New York to become the highest-paid advertising woman in the country.

Walking along a grittier Manhattan, she meets everyone from bartenders to bodega clerks, security guards, and even criminals. She reminisces about the highs and lows of her life and how New York has progressed through the Jazz Age, the AIDS epidemic, and the Great Depression.

My Review: This character-driven novel beautifully draws upon the bittersweet nostalgia of the New Year. I think about it every December.


A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

  • A major motion picture adaptation stars Pierce Brosnan and Toni Collette
  • My Rating: ★★★★☆

Plot: A Long Way Down brings together four unlikely people on New Year’s Eve: a scandalous former TV talk show host, a struggling musician, an emotionally unstable teenage girl, and a single mother of a child with disabilities.

They meet on a London rooftop known for suicides, and indeed, they each intend to do so. The remainder of the novel follows the ninety days afterward.

My Review: This is one of the more memorable books I’ve read, yet I can’t tell you too much about it, or I’ll spoil the plot! Suffice it to say it’s a provocative and sad, yet oddly funny, slice of life.


A Magical New York Christmas by Anita Hughes

  • Recommended For: lovers of New York at Christmastime
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: A Magical New York Christmas occurs during the week leading to a New Year’s Eve gala. Sabrina arrives at the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City to ghostwrite the memoir of a famous art dealer who recounts his past as a butler for the author of the classic children’s book series Eloise at the Plaza.

Meanwhile, Sabrina also meets Ian. He thinks she’s a wealthy guest, so he pretends to be British aristocracy. The question is whether they will uncover the truth about each other.

My Review: If you love any or all of the details mentioned, this book will melt your heart. It’s a light Christmas romance novel with a New York twist.


Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimor

  • Recommended For: thought-provoking magical realism
  • My Rating: ★★★★☆

Plot: Oona Out of Order begins on New Year’s Eve 1982– the day before Oona’s 19th birthday. She struggles with committing to either her band and her boyfriend or her education and best friend. When she wakes up, though, it’s New Year’s Day 2014.

Each New Year, she time travels to a completely different year, causing chaos while teaching her about life simultaneously.

My Review: This popular book takes the reader on an emotional ride about the question of fate versus free will. It’s easy to connect with Oona as she tries to gain control of her very uncontrolled life.


The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch

  • Recommended For: fans of Friends and the love/hate romance trope
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: In The Rewind, Frankie and Ezra are former college sweethearts who haven’t spoken in ten years. They reunite at a New Year’s Eve wedding on their campus. After a night of lost memories and a mysterious situation in which they wake up together with wedding bands on their fingers, they must confront unresolved emotions and question whether they made a mistake ending their relationship.

My Review: The timing and plot of this book reminded me of the Friends episode in which Ross and Rachel get married in Las Vegas. But things are a bit more complicated here, as Frankie and Ezra have some serious baggage to unpack. It’s about resolving your past to move forward in the future.


Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

  • Recommended For: diversity of age and race of protagonists
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: In Royal Holiday, Vivian accompanies her daughter on a work trip to style a royal duchess in England, where she meets the handsome private secretary of the Queen.

As Christmas approaches, their flirty friendship becomes a mistletoe kiss and a fling to ring in the New Year. As the clock ticks away on the year and the “holiday,” will this fling turn into something even more after midnight?

My Review: This book is a pure delight and a longtime favorite. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the holiday season like a royal with a handsome suitor?! The Black middle-aged protagonists also offer the reader different perspectives in this genre.


Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

  • Recommended For: literary historical fiction
  • My Rating: ★★★★★

Plot: Rules of Civility begins on New Year’s Eve 1937 when twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is celebrating in a Greenwich Village jazz bar. A handsome banker named Tinker Grey sits next to her, and this chance encounter has lasting consequences.

Katey is thrust into a year-long adventure into the upper echelons of New York society—for better and for worse.

My Review: This novel is beloved by readers because, simply put, it’s exquisite. Literary fiction fans should not miss it.


The Second Chance Year by Melissa Wiesner

  • Recommended For: light and escapist magical realism
  • My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Plot: In The Second Chance Year, Sadie had a very bad year, losing her job, her apartment, and her boyfriend.

She wishes for the chance to re-do the year, then wakes up on January 1st of last year. This time, she sees the red flags of her past in a new light.

My Review: This winter romance fiction book is a light and escapist palate cleanser about self-discovery and second chances. It makes for an easy, breezy post-Christmas read.


This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens

  • Instant New York Times bestseller
  • A Good Morning America Book Club pick
  • Recommended For: contemporary romance
  • My Rating: ★★★★☆

Plot: In This Time Next Year, Minnie believes her New Year’s Day birthday is unlucky all because of Quinn Hamilton– a man she’s never met. Their mothers gave birth to them at the same hospital, but Quinn was awarded for being the first baby born in London that year.

When Minnie unexpectedly runs into Quinn at a New Year’s celebration on their thirtieth birthday, she deems him a gorgeous, charming business owner whose streak of luck has continued. At the same time, Minnie is about to lose both her pie-making company and her home.

But they keep bumping into each other, and each encounter leaves them wanting more.

My Review: It’s a unique and engaging story about fate around the New Year. It’s been popular with readers this time of year for several years now.

Recap

TOP 3 PICKS

Start with the best books about New Year’s Eve to ring in this year.

book with coffee mug on top of it.

remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules

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