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Must-Read Books August 2025 |
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Nowhere : a novel
by Allison Gunn
Virginia Police Chief Rachel Kennan investigates a religious community after a disturbing crime, but when an ominous forest force starts calling to the children, fear spawns hate among the townspeople, placing Rachel, her husband Finn, and their daughters in the line of fire.
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Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
by Grady Hendrix
At a home for unwed mothers in 1970 Florida, 15-year-old Fern is given a spellbook by a mysterious librarian, which she and her friends initially use to enact petty revenge on their keepers -- until they question whether they should use their newfound powers for darker purposes. This "pulpy throwback" (Kirkus Reviews) from bestselling author Grady Hendrix (How to Sell a Haunted House) offers a violent homage to Rosemary's Baby.
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Eat the ones you love
by Sarah Maria Griffin
"A twisted, tangled story about workplace love-affairs, and plants with a taste for human flesh. During a grocery run to her local shopping center, Shell Pine sees a 'HELP NEEDED' sign in a flower shop window. She's just left her fiancâe, lost her job, and moved home to her parents' house. She has to make a change and bring some good into her life, so she goes inside and takes a chance. Shell realizes right away that flowers are just the good thing she's been looking for, as is Neve, the beautiful florist who wrote the sign asking for help. The thing is, Neve needs help more than Shell could possibly imagine. An orchid growing out of sight in the heart of the mall is watching them closely. His name is Baby, and the beautiful florist belongs to him. He's young, he's hungry, and he'll do just about anything to make sure he can keep growing big and strong. Nothing he eats - nobody he eats - can satisfy him, except the thing he most desires. Neve. He adores her and wants to consume her, and will stop at nothing to eat the one he loves. This is a story about possession, and monstrosity, and working retail. It is about hunger and desire, and other terrible things that grow"
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| How to Dodge A Cannonball by Dennard DayleVolunteering for the Union Army to escape his abusive mother, wily 15-year-old flag bearer Anders changes sides when he's captured. But after surviving the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, the white teen passes as biracial and joins an all-Black Union regiment. Satirical and offbeat, this debut novel is "an American Candide...[and] channels the absurdity of Catch-22" (Publishers Weekly). For fans of: The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. |
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The night birds
by Christopher Golden
An atmospheric horror novel by a New York Times best-selling author is set in a deteriorated, half-sunken freighter ship off the coast of Galveston, Texas.
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What will people think? : a novel
by Sara Hamdan
Mia's Almas' secret comedy career, forbidden office crush and a long-guarded family secret take center stage, threatening her newfound confidence and her one shot at fame.
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| These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLeanAfter their patriarch's death, the Storm family gather at their New England island. There, they are introduced to Jack, their father's right-hand man and daughter Alice's recent one-night-stand, who says they must all complete individual tasks or no one inherits anything. Bestselling historical romance author Sarah MacLean delivers a fun contemporary family novel that'll please fans of HBO's Succession. |
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| The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCauslandWhen influencer Paige White is found dead in a lake near her idyllic Australian home, her childhood friend Jane, now a Sydney journalist, returns to investigate. As Jane digs into Paige’s polished online life, long-buried secrets and past tragedies resurface in this haunting, slow-burn mystery about image, memory, and betrayal. |
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| The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-GarciaA graduate student researching a mysterious horror author uncovers dark family secrets and a haunting past linked to witchcraft and disappearances spanning decades in this multi-timeline gothic novel rich with folklore, suspense, and power struggles, delivering a chilling tale of legacy, survival, and supernatural terror. For fans of: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. |
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| The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila MottleyIn the Florida Panhandle, young mothers support each other amid upheavals while others judge and put obstacles in their paths. Three of them narrate: de facto leader Simone, a 20-year-old mother of twins who's pregnant again; newcomer Adela, a champion teen swimmer in Indiana who's been sent to live with her grandmother; and determined Emory, who brings her infant to high school with her. Read-alikes: Sarai Johnson's Grown Women; Brit Bennett's The Mothers. |
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| A Murder for Miss Hortense by Mel PennantIn the suburbs of 1960s Birmingham, England, Jamaican immigrant Miss Hortense co-founded a cooperative group to lend money and solve crimes for people who were ignored by officials. Pushed out of the group in the 1970s, she's roped back in when a old member is murdered as a new millennium dawns. This debut novel from a British playwright introduces an appealing older sleuth and includes recipes. For fans of: Uzma Jalaluddin's Detective Aunty. |
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Rules for ruin
by Mimi Matthews
"No one betrays the Academy. But now Euphemia must decide: break the rules for her enemy, or let the rules break her heart. On the outskirts of London sits a seemingly innocuous institution with a secretive aim - train young women to distract, disrupt, and discredit the patriarchy. Outraged by a powerful politician's systematic attack on women's rights, the Academy summons its brightest - and most bitter - pupil to infiltrate the odious man's inner circle. A deal is struck: bring down the viscount and Miss Euphemia Flite will finally earn her freedom. But betting shop owner Gabriel Royce has other plans. The viscount is the perfect pawn to insulate Gabriel's underworld empire from government interference. He's not about to let some crinoline-clad miss destroy his carefully constructed enterprise - no matter how captivating he finds her threats. From the rookeries of St. Giles to the corridors of Westminster, Euphemia and Gabriel engage in a battle of wits and wills, complicated by a blossoming desire. Soon Euphemia realizes it's not the broken promises to her Academy sisters she should fear, it's the danger to her heart"
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Worth fighting for
by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Pretending to be her ailing father, Fa Mulan steps in for a critical whiskey company acquisition, but while navigating masculine traditions and wrangling cattle, she must also resist her growing attraction to Shang, the skeptical heir, all while proving she belongs in the business world.
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| Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings by Honorée Fanonne JeffersNational Book Award-nominated poet and novelist Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois) makes her genre-defying nonfiction debut with this unflinching and insightful essay collection exploring various crossroads Black women have faced throughout history. For fans of: In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker; Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry. |
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| Their Accomplices Wore Robes: How the Supreme Court Chained Black America to the... by Brando Simeo StarkeyLegal scholar Brando Simeo Starkey's (In Defense of Uncle Tom) richly detailed history explores the role the United States Supreme Court has played in the systemic oppression of Black people. Try this next: The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution by Keith Richotte, Jr. |
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| It Rhymes with Takei by George Takei, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger; illustrated by Harmony BeckerIn his moving and uplifting graphic memoir, iconic Star Trek actor and activist George Takei offers candid reflections on his early childhood spent in Japanese American internment camps, discovering a love of acting after initially studying to become an architect, coming out publicly at age 68, and more. For fans of: the 2014 documentary To Be Takei. |
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| JFK: Public, Private, Secret by J. Randy TaraborrelliKennedy family biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli follows up his bestselling Jackie: Public, Private, Secret with a nuanced and well-researched portrait of America's 35th president, drawing upon interviews and previously unpublished materials to focus on his personal relationships. For more on John F. Kennedy's political life, check out the works of Robert Dallek. |
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| The Tournament by Rebecca BarrowUnlike most boarding schools, Gardner-Bahnsen School for Girls teaches survival classes and hosts a wilderness competition for seniors. To win, scholarship student Max, her ex-best friend Nora, and new student Teddy will provoke each other and spill dangerous secrets. This intensifying thriller will draw in fans of dark academia. |
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Jazzy the witch in broom doom. : In Broom Doom 1
by Jessixa Bagley
Jazzy, a young witch not interested in magic or flying, discovers her passion for cycling, but her newfound interest may cause trouble with her best friend and her struggle to fit in
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| Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. JacksonSharp-minded 12-year-old Brooklynite Kaylani is stuck spending the summer with wealthy family friends in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. It’s okay at first, but after a local teenager is found dead, Kaylani’s instincts push her to investigate. The dangerous results will keep you turning pages in this gripping thriller. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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