22 August Releases We're Excited About

And what you can read in the meantime

Reading ahead

Our TBR shelves are already overflowing, but, as always, there are new books coming out that we want to find space for. From poignant dramas to high-stakes thrillers to deluxe collector's editions, August’s most anticipated list is especially packed with must-reads! Here are 22 upcoming releases across a mix of genres. These titles are available for preorder, but in the meantime, we have recs for similar reads that you can enjoy now.

Contemporary fiction 

And So I Roar by Abi Daré (Aug. 6)
In this sequel, Tia is a Nigerian woman on a desperate quest to uncover a secret her terminally ill mother has been hiding for nearly two decades. Adunni is a plucky fourteen-year-old runaway taken in by Tia, who is helping the girl get the education she has long dreamed of. But a harrowing ordeal stands in their way.   

What to read while you wait: The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang (Aug. 6)
This poignant novel follows the adventures of a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app where users can hire a pretend fiancé, a wingman, or an extra mourner for a funeral. When a nosy patron threatens to upend his long-term gig as father to a young girl, Stranger begins to reckon with his own fraught past.

What to read while you wait: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (Aug. 20)
This enchanting tale entwines together the stories of three disparate outsiders living in different time periods and bound together by one epic poem and two rivers. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers transcend history, transcend fate: "Water remembers. It is humans who forget."

What to read while you wait: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult (Aug. 20)
Melina Green writes a play based on the life of her ancestor, Emilia Bassano. But as a woman on an uneven playing field, she doubts it will see the stage. In 1581, Emilia Bassano is a young woman with a gift for storytelling, but no way to share it—until she pays an actor named William Shakespeare to front her plays. 

What to read while you wait: The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Mystery, thriller, and suspense

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen (Aug. 6)
A young nanny plunges to her death. Was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

What to read while you wait: The Push by Ashley Audrain

Angel of Vengeance by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston (Aug. 13)
FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast and his ward, Constance Greene, travel back to the 1800s to take a final stand against New York's deadliest serial killer—and Pendergast's own ancestor—before it's too late. For Constance, this is personal. She will stop at nothing to make sure her family is safe.

What to read while you wait: Relic by Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger (Aug. 20)
When the disappearance of a local politician's teenaged daughter launches a huge manhunt, Cork O'Connor's grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman, a discovery that nobody, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police seems that interested in investigating.

What to read while you wait: Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

This is Why We Lied by Karin Slaughter (Aug. 20)
For GBI investigator Will Trent and medical examiner Sara Linton, the remote McAlpine Lodge seems like the ideal getaway to celebrate their honeymoon. That is, until manager Mercy McAlpine is murdered in the night. As Will and Sara investigate the family and other guests, they realize everyone here is lying.

What to read while you wait: Triptych by Karin Slaughter

Sci-fi and fantasy

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher (Aug. 6)
Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Other mothers aren't evil sorcerers. This dark reimagining of the Brothers Grimm's The Goose Girl is rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic. Get in on the special first edition hardcover with a foil stamp on the casing and custom endpapers illustrated by the author.

What to read while you wait: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer (Aug. 6)
Evie's never been happier. Who would have thought working for an evil overlord would be so rewarding? But now Rennedawn is in trouble and Evie must take on new responsibilities: protecting the Villain's lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe even the entire kingdom. Pre-order now for a special limited first edition. 

What to read while you wait: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Born of Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Aug. 6)
In the thrilling conclusion to the Flesh and Fire series, A battle between the gods is brewing, and heartbreaking losses are imminent. With a family of the heart willing to battle by their side, can Sera and Nyktos stop Kolis before he destroys the realms, or will it all disappear in a fiery inferno of blood and ash?

What to read while you wait: A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore (Aug. 20)
Ezra Friedman sees ghosts, making him eager to escape the funeral home he grew up in. But when his mother leaves his father for the rabbi's wife, Ezra agrees to come home and help out. This means long days surrounded by ghosts—including the gone-too-soon husband of his downstairs neighbor (and crush), Jonathan.

What to read while you wait: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Historical fiction

The Last Light Over Oslo by Alix Rickloff (Aug. 6)
When the man she loved went missing, Cleo turned to the only person who might be able to help—her aunt Daisy. Based on true events, this gripping historical novel set in 1940, follows one of the first female US Ministers, Daisy Harriman, and her niece as they are caught up in the German invasion of Norway.

What to read while you wait: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Aug. 6)
1950s Hollywood: When Vera Larios, a Mexican ingenue, lands a star-making role as legendary heroine Salome, she draws the envy of Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled. This novel tells the story of two actresses determined to make their mark in Golden Age Hollywood, along with that of Salome herself.

What to read while you wait: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Scandalous Women: A Novel of Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann by Gill Paul (Aug. 13)
Mad Men meets the world of publishing in this scrumptious novel about Jackie Collins and Jacqueline Susann, two groundbreaking authors who blazed a trail in the 1960s by being women who dared to write about sex. When a young editorial assistant introduces the two women, their friendship is transformative.

What to read while you wait: Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann and The World is Full of Married Men by Jackie Collins

The Paris Gown by Christine Wells (Aug. 20)
Paris, 1955: Claire, Gina, and Margot became friends as very young women with their whole lives ahead of them. When they reunite in Paris years later, each looking for a fresh start, a dazzling Christian Dior gown becomes a point of connection with the power to change their lives.

What to read while you wait: The Last Dress from Paris by Jade Beer

Romance 

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston (Aug. 6)
After a disastrous breakup, Theo and Kit have both moved on with their lives. When they accidentally book the same European food and wine tour, they challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they're over each other—except they're definitely not.

What to read while you wait: People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava (Aug. 6)
After her résumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, Ember Lee Cardinal gets creative about her qualifications and only half answers the question about her mixed ethnicity to finally land her dream accounting job. But her little white lies snowball when a scheming colleague discovers her budding office romance.

What to read while you wait: Heartbeat Braves by Pamela Sanderson

Joy by Danielle Steel (Aug. 13)
Amidst a childhood marked by abandonment, Allegra finds solace in books. Her life takes a turn when she meets Shep, a dashing West Point cadet. After college, Allegra becomes a book editor and Shep is rising through the ranks of the military. But when he's sent to Afghanistan, it takes its toll on them both.

What to read while you wait: Only the Brave by Danielle Steel

Betrayal Road by Christine Feehan (Aug. 20)
Andrii "Maestro" Federoff is in San Francisco on club business. Torpedo Ink needs information to break up a human trafficking ring. After weeks of observation, Maestro isn't sure if Azelie is involved directly, or if she's just working for bad people. So he makes it his job to get close to her—and soon he can't get enough.

What to read while you wait: Judgment Road by Christine Feehan

Daydream by Hannah Grace (Aug. 27)
The newest Maple Hills installment follows fan-favorite Henry who's struggling to survive a difficult class with his least favorite professor. As the reluctant captain of the hockey team, Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle, a bookish fellow junior who offers to help Henry after he accidentally crashes her book club.

What to read while you wait: Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

Graphic Novel

Scott Pilgrim 20th-Anniversary Box Set by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Aug. 20)
Fans of the surreal, irreverent world of Scott Pilgrim will delight in this masterfully designed, first-of-its-kind box set tribute, featuring the complete series in six newly designed color hardcover volumes in a deluxe collector's box that comes loaded with new art and limited-edition bonuses.

What to read while you wait: Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran

We hope you find some titles here that you want to add to your TBR list! Let us know which new books you’re most excited about this month.

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Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon