10 books to read in August, including a new Will Trent mystery and a primer for aspiring movie critics
Late summer days call for books that transport you to other places and times
Clockwise from top left: Lady Macbeth (Del Rey), Hera (Flatiron Books), Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book Of Death (Plume), The Madness (Harper Collins)), Hey Kids, Watch This! (A24), The Pairing (St. Martin's Griffin))
August has to be the laziest month of the year. We have no idea if there have been any scientific studies to prove that’s true, but as we wrap up a very busy and exhausting July, it certainly feels true. All those summer revelries have come and gone, but the heat still lingers, sapping our energy and the will to get anything done. Anything except reading, of course. If you’re a book lover, that may be the one area where you can still feel productive this month. In that spirit, we have a few recommended new releases bound to take you to new and interesting places without ever leaving home.
The Pairing – Casey McQuiston
St. Martin’s Griffin
Release date: August 6
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
The latest book from the author of Red, White, & Royal Blue and One Last Stop takes you on a whirlwind trip through Europe with a pair of bisexual exes who accidentally book the same food and wine tour. Stuck with each other for the whole trip, Theo and Kit turn the vacation into a game of romantic conquests through France, Spain, and Italy, but every hookup only reminds them of what they really want (you can probably guess what that is). Casey McQuiston approaches queer romance with a joyous and lighthearted touch that’s earned them legions of devoted fans. This one promises more of the same, with the added pleasures of fine dining and beautiful scenery to sweep you away on a European odyssey.
The Seventh Veil Of Salome – Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Del Rey
Release date: August 6
Publisher: Del Rey
This historical epic takes you back to the Golden Age of Hollywood to tell the story of three women fighting to assert themselves in impossible circumstances. There’s Vera Larios, a Mexican actress plucked from obscurity to play the lead role of Salome in an epic motion picture. And there’s her rival, Nancy Hartley, an ambitious bit player passed over for the role. As Vera becomes the talk of the town, Nancy focuses her frustration and envy on the fledgling actress with murderous intent. Their stories unfold in parallel with the biblical story of Salome herself, a woman torn between love and duty. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is best known as an author of gothic horror and fantasy, but she’s just as capable of building immersive worlds based in reality as she is at inventing them from scratch, so readers can expect to be thoroughly pulled into not one but two captivating backdrops.
Lady Macbeth – Ava Reid
Del Rey
Release date: August 13
Publisher: Del Rey
Young adult author Ava Reid delivers a feminist take on Shakespeare’s cursed Scottish play, retelling the story from Lady Macbeth’s point of view. The book sets out to give one of the Bard’s most famous schemers a voice, a name (Roscille), and a complicated backstory. Sent away from her home as a teen and forced to marry a brutish nobleman she’s never met, the lady uses charm, cunning, and wits to claw her way to power through her husband, all the while making him think he’s the one in control. Reid weaves in elements of gothic horror and folklore, including witches, sorcery, and dragons. You may think you know the story already, but it’s never been told quite like this before.
Hera – Jennifer Saint
Flatiron Books
Release date: August 13
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Seems like feminist retellings of classic stories are a big theme this month. The latest in Jennifer Saint’s series of books centering misunderstood female figures in mythology—including Ariadne, Elektra, and Atalanta—Hera centers on the queen of the Greek pantheon, goddess of marriage, daughter of the Titan Cronos, and wife (and sister) of Zeus. Famous for her jealous rages and vengeful curses, she makes an excellent subject for literary rehabilitation. Zeus was a perpetual philanderer, yet Hera’s anger at his infidelities is characterized as more spiteful than righteous (to be fair, she tended to direct her ire at his lovers and offspring rather than her sex pest of a husband). Saint’s novel doesn’t set out to humanize the goddess or make her any less complicated, it merely illustrates her motivations and makes them a little more understandable.
By Any Other Name – Jodi Picoult
Ballantine Books
Release date: August 20
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Told in intertwining narratives, this sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire asks what price each woman is willing to pay to see their work live on—even if it means they will be forgotten. In 1581, Emilia Bassano is a brilliant playwright who has to pay a man named William Shakespeare for the use of his name in order to get her work seen on the stage. In the present, Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of Emilia, her Elizabethan ancestor. Although the challenges are different four hundred years later, the playing field is still not level for women in theater. Melina is forced into the same dilemma as Emilia, faced with forfeiting her credit as an author if she wants to see her play performed. Picoult, the prolific author of nearly 30 novels and short stories, creates a well-observed tapestry that connects these two women across time, through art and circumstance.
Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book Of Death – Madison Reyes and Spencer Henry
Plume
Release date: August 20
Publisher: Plume
Based on the popular podcast, Obitchuary: The Big Hot Book Of Death is a smart, funny look at the American culture of death and how we’re remembered. It’s safe to say everyone thinks about death—whether they want to or not. But have you ever wondered about what sort of keepsakes you can make with your remains, or given any thought to the most scandalous deathbed confessions throughout history? Madison Reyes and Spencer Henry have, and they’ve spent countless hours scouring the darkest corners of the internet, digging through newspaper archives, devouring documents, and picking the brains of death industry experts. The result is Obitchuary, a darkly funny and deeply poignant exploration of all things death.
There Are Rivers In The Sky – Elif Shafak
Viking
Release date: August 20
Publisher: Viking
Parallel narratives told across time is another major theme this month. From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island Of Missing Trees, There Are Rivers In The Sky tells the story of three different characters, each living along a river in different eras—Victorian London, 2014 Turkey, and 2018 London. The stories are linked through the ancient city of Nineveh and the famous poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells of the king’s travels through Mesopotamia. They span centuries, continents, and cultures, entwined by two rivers—the Tigris and the Thames. Shafak, whose books are always smart, scrupulously researched, and detailed, uses water as a recurring motif to represent life, death, and fate, taking the reader on a journey through dangerous lands, both past and present.
This Is Why We Lied – Karin Slaughter
William Morrow
Release date: August 20
Publisher: William Morrow
If you’re a fan of ABC’s detective series Will Trent and are craving more, go back to the source with this new installment from the author whose books inspired the show. This Is Why We Lied is the twelfth book in Karin Slaughter’s Will Trent series. It follows the GBI investigator and medical examiner Sara Linton to a secluded cabin retreat to solve the murder of a resort manager. With a vicious storm raging and the one access road to the property washed out, the murderer must be someone on the mountain. Trapped at the resort, Will and Sara must untangle a decades-old web of secrets to discover what happened, and with the killer poised to strike again, the trip of a lifetime becomes a race against the clock.
The Madness – Dawn Kurtagich
Harper Collins
Release date: August 27
Publisher: Harper Collins
The first adult fiction release by award-winning YA author Dawn Kurtagich weaves a modern-day tale of suspense and horror inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula. After receiving an email from her estranged best friend, Lucy, psychiatrist Dr. Mina Murray returns to the windswept shores of Wales to help her fight the mysterious illness that plagues her. She soon discovers that Lucy’s symptoms mirror those of her mysterious amnesiac patient hundreds of miles away. With nothing but an untreatable sickness connecting the two women and with Lucy’s life on the line, Mina finds herself asking questions and being drawn ever-deeper into a web of secrets, missing girls, and the powerful, nameless force at its center—one that has been haunting her for years.
Hey Kids, Watch This! – A24
A24
Release date: August 28
Publisher: A24
For aspiring young film critics and adults alike, Hey Kids, Watch This! collects more than a hundred recommendations for family movie night from discerning critics, animators, and directors. Many of the films are obscure deep cuts that will entice aspiring cinephiles and delight adults bored blind by “Baby Shark.” The book recommends movies suitable for kids of all ages, spanning decades, genres, moods, plotlines, nations and languages. There are games, activities, and trivia on every page. It even has a section at the back of the book that can be used as a critic’s notebook for making notes, rating films, and writing critiques. It makes a great gift for parents, but we won’t judge you if you secretly want to pick up a copy just for yourself.