13 Books Coming Out in August That Will Keep You Up Past Your Bedtime
Ah, back to school season!
As we turn the calendar page from July to August, many kids lament the fact that they’ll soon have to trade their days of frolicking in the field for hours upon hours of burying their noses in books.
Well, if you know me at all by now, you’ll know that my emotions were always quite the contrary.
I didn’t want to be in the fucking field anyways. There’re bees in the field, don’t you know.
No, I always welcomed the arrival of back to school season.
Even now, when I see the seasonal aisle of school supplies crop up, I can’t help but to meander down them, appreciating the vivid yellow of the #2 pencils, the pristine perfection of the yet-untouched boxes of Crayolas® and the awe-inducing variety of pens from which to select.
*Disclaimer* - If I bring another new pen into my home, my husband will divorce me. Much to my chagrin, it’s look-but-not-touch for me in the pen aisle.
But, this August, there’s more than just the impeding chime of the school bell to which I’m looking forward.
There’s also the promise of some new books into which I can’t wait to bury my nose.
Check out the 13 I’m most excited about, below.
An Unwanted Guest
by Shari Lapena
Release Date - August 7, 2018
Genre - Thriller / Mystery
A gaggle of unconnected individuals venture high into the Poconos mountains for a weekend at a luxurious B&B. Though the foreboding sky and the already falling snow perhaps should have caused them to rethink their travel plans, none of the travelers did.
But they barely have time to warm their hands by the roaring fire before they start to rethink their decision, as one of the guests is found dead.
Unfortunately for the seclusion-seekers, the body isn’t discovered until the worsening storm has made the roads impassable. With help unreachable and the tension mounting, the guests have little choice but to investigate the death themselves — and hope beyond hope that whoever killed this guest isn’t laying in wait, ready to kill again.
Fans of weekend getaways, snowy nights and Agatha Christie novels will completely devour this satisfying mystery.
The Good Luck Charm
by Helena Hunting
Release Date - August 7, 2018
Genre - Romance
Lilah thought everything was going wonderfully with her hockey-playing-beau, Ethan. But then, like a player who didn’t see the opponent in her periphery (or something similarly sporty #NotMyStrongSuit) she’s smashed against the glass — figuratively of course. Ethan dumps Lilah, telling her that he needs to focus on his game.
Whatever.
He sounds like an asshole anyway.
You’re better off without him, girl.
But then, eight years later, Ethan has a change of heart. He shows up and begs Lilah to give him a second chance.
Though she’s hesitant at first — as well she should be… remember… he’s an asshole — Lilah starts to come around to the idea of taking a second shot at love with Ethan. That all changes when she finds out that Ethan’s return may have less to do with his lingering feelings about her and more to do with his desire to improve his game.
With hockey inexplicably threatening to come between these lovers once again, will their love survive, or will this body slam damage their relationship beyond repair?
#Murdertrending
by Gretchen McNeil
Release Date - August 7, 2018
Genre - Young Adult
Dee Guerrera is in jail for a crime she didn’t commit — the murder of her stepsister.
As if that isn’t bad enough, it’s now the near future and prisons have evolved in a terrifying way.
In Alcatraz 2.0, the jail in which Dee finds herself, spectators can watch, real-time, as inmates fight to survive and, ultimately, are executed.
With a world of viewers rooting for her demise, proving her innocence and escaping with her life seems to be tantamount to impossible.
Will Dee be able to get out of this predicament, or will she become just another supposed criminal who viewers delight in watching meeting her end?
Nine
by Zach Hines
Release Date - August 7, 2018
Genre - Young Adult Dystopian
In Julian’s world, people aren’t scared to die. In fact, they look forward to it — as they’ll have to do it nine times.
Though similar in many ways to the world in which we live, the society in this novel is different in one important way — all humans have nine lives. And they are incentivized to burn through them as quickly as possible by a government that is, understandably, concerned about population control.
Though many of Julian’s friends have burned through several lives already, he is on his first — and he really wants to keep it that way.
Having witnessed his mother’s struggles, caused by burning through too many lives too quickly, Julian is hesitant to give in to peer pressure and eager to avoid the plight himself.
But when the suicide club at his high school turns their attention towards him, the pressure for him to lose his first life mounts.
Joining with a group of similarly minded dissenters, Julian learns that there may be some things about the rebirth process that the government doesn’t want people to know - things that, if true, would rock the entire foundation on which this society is built.
Bad Man
by Dathan Auerbach
Release Date - August 7, 2018
Genre - Thriller / Horror
Most people try to avoid the site of a personal trauma.
I, for instance, spent three years of college navigating my way around campus without walking back down the side street on which I had tripped off a curb and landed on my face freshman year.
But 20-year-old Ben simply can’t avoid the place where he experienced his trauma — one that is decidedly more world-changing than a characteristically clumsy tumble off a curb. He’s desperate for work so, despite the fact that his entire life was ruined in his local grocery store, he takes an offered position.
It was in this store five years prior that, when Ben looked away for just a moment, his little brother, Eric, disappeared, never to be seen again.
Though he tries to overcome the understandable concerns he has about this store, as he starts his new job, they only seem to grow. Something seems… off… about this place. Is it possible, he wonders, that there is more to it than meets the eye? And could this job yield what he’s so-long desired — an answer to the question, “What happened to Eric?”?
After Nightfall
by A.J. Banner
Release Date - August 7, 2018
Genre - Thriller
When Marissa Parlette becomes engaged, she decides to use her engagement party as a way to reconnect with her closest friend — a woman who betrayed her years before. Maybe, she thinks, they can finally put the past behind them.
As pretty much anyone who knows anything about girls and the potential tenacity of their grudge holding could predict, things don’t go as Marissa had planned.
In fact, they go even worse than anyone could have imagined.
The morning following her party, this friend is found dead on the beach.
Desperate to figure out what happened — and hopefully clear the shadow that the event has cast over her impending nuptials — Marissa reflects on the events of the night prior.
As she does, she realizes that much of what happened in the dark of night looks astoundingly suspicious in the light of day.
The further she digs, the more Marissa wonders, is there anyone she can trust?
Our Stories, Our Voices
by Amy Reed (Editor)
Release Date - August 14, 2018
Genre - Young Adult Essay Anthology
If you’re not already pissed off about the state of society, you will be once you finish this powerful anthology of essays. Although, you’ll also probably feel a bit empowered, too, so that should temper your rage a bit.
In this modern masterwork, 21 young adult authors* join together to produce an opus of essays capturing what it means to be female in America.
Packing the perfect punch for young feminists, this compilation of essays captures the universality of the struggle to be female and reminds young women and men alike that they have the power to effect change.
Though it’s starkly different from many of the works that teens pick up when perusing the young adults' section, it will certainly resonate with — and empower — youth.
Particularly right now, when so many teens have taken to the forefront in advocating for the world they want to see, this book will surely have readers everywhere slipping on their pink pussy hats and settling in for a long — and, TBH, a bit infuriating — read.
*Featuring work by Julie Murphy, Sandhya Menon, Ellen Hopkins, Amber Smith, Nina LaCour, Stephanie Kuehnert, Sona Charaipotra, Anna-Marie McLemore, Brandy Colbert, Martha Brockenbrough, Jaye Robin Brown, Maurene Goo, Aisha Saeed, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Hannah Moskowitz, Ilene (I.W.) Gregorio, Tracy Deonn Walker, Somaiya Daud, Christine Day, Alexandra Duncan
The Other Woman
by Sandie Jones
Release Date - August 21, 2018
Genre - Thriller
When Emily meets Adam, it all seems too good to be true. Adam is the Mr. Perfect that most modern women have pretty much given up on finding.
But nothing is as perfect as it seems.
Though Adam is just as in love with Emily as she is with him, there is someone who is far from smitten with his new lady-love — his mother, Pammie.
Pammie knows that Emily isn’t right for her son.
And she’s not the typical mother — one who will just nag you until she gets her way and, eventually, stop if you never acquiesce.
No, Pammie always gets what she wants.
What she wants is Emily out of Adam’s life.
And she’ll do anything to make sure that she gets her way.
Pieces of Her
by Karin Slaughter
Release Date - August 21, 2018
Genre - Thriller
Most daughters think they know their mothers.
I, for example, know that mine likes post-WWII dramas set in Britain and that she was once terrified that a drug dog who had been called in to search the building in which she worked would happen upon her embarrassingly large stash of Tums®.
Like me, Andrea Cooper has always thought that she knew who her mother, Laura, was.
Laura was a mild, polite, speech therapist who, while being unlucky in love, was consistent and dependable.
But when an innocent visit to a diner turns alarmingly violent, Andrea sees a side of her mother that she didn’t know existed.
Complicating matters, there is no time for her to meditate on how — or why — her mother kept such a big secret as Andrea quickly learns that her mother is in serious danger. And it’s only by digging up the past and finding out who Laura really is that Andrea can possibly save her.
Not Her Daughter
by Rea Frey
Release Date - August 21, 2018
Genre - Women’s Fiction
Emma Townsend is a magnetic child. She’s one of those little ones that you simply can’t stop staring at, no matter how much it makes you seem like a creeper.
But as creepy as your staring may make you seem, you’re still doing better than Sarah Walker, who was so captivated by Emma that she simply had to take her.
Is it so wrong, though? Emma’s own parents aren’t worthy of her. They are cruel, uncaring and unkind.
Though the world thinks that Emma’s been kidnapped, is that really want happened? Or did Sarah actually rescue the little girl from a prison of her parents’ making?
And with the days ticking by and the bond between Sarah and Emma growing stronger by the second, will Emma want to return, or is Sarah her real mother now?
Vox
by Christina Dalcher
Release Date - August 21, 2018
Genre - Dystopian Fiction
I have this theory about curse words.
I feel like everyone has a certain number of curse words they need to say each day — a set amount of shits and fucks and damns that they just have to utter.
So, if someone works in a field where he or she can’t openly curse — say, in education — he or she will have to have a much higher curse word to non-curse word ratio when not at work.
This is why it’s hard for me not to curse like a sailor when I get home from my day job.
It’s just science.
In this dystopian novel, it’s not just curse words that count, but all words. In fact, women are allowed only 100 words per day — and, considering the average person speaks 16,000 words, this is certainly a reduction in their allotment.
They must use these 100 words judiciously… purposefully… carefully.
Dr. Jean McClellan isn’t going to take this decree lying down, though. This is, after all, America. She’s determined to regain not only her voice but also the voice of every other woman who has been silenced. But how far is she willing to go — what is she willing to lose — to be heard?
The Waiting Room
by Emily Bleeker
Release Date - August 28, 2018
Genre - Thriller
For Veronica Shelton, the birth of her first child wasn’t the euphoric moment she had always expected. Understandably dampening her delight is the fact that, with this new arrival also came a loss — the death of her husband.
With her emotions raw and postpartum depression taking hold, Veronica’s certain that she’s doing a horrible job parenting this baby who, along with being her daughter, is the only part of her husband she has left.
But as bad as things look, they can always get worse.
And that happens for Veronica when her daughter goes missing.
Suspicion quickly lands on Veronica, the new mother who friends and family acknowledge has struggled to step into the role of caregiver.
With no one to turn to and everyone against her, will Veronica be able to find her daughter, or is the truth of what happened to this delicate little baby even darker than the darkest events in Veronica’s already bleak recent past?
The Swing of Things
by Linda Keir
Release Date - August 28, 2018
Genre - Women’s Fiction
From the outside looking in, attorney Jayne and her stay-at-home husband Eric are Instagram perfect. But, on the inside, things aren’t quite as rosy. Their relationship has gotten stale — their interactions, predictable.
So when they meet the unexplainably cool Theo and Mia, they snuggle close, wanting to bask in the rays of awesome they emit.
As luck would have it, Theo and Mia are more than willing to share their secret to success.
But when Jayne and Eric leave behind the comfortable continuity of their current relationship and explore a modern marriage, they are left wondering — Are we risking it all? And, if we are, is it worth it?
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