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Must-Read Books August 2026 |
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Devil Inside
by Clay McLeod Chapman
After a traumatic accident that almost cost Jordan his life, he's finally starting to feel normal again. Well, maybe not normal. Everything tastes like ash, and when he looks at the people around him, their faces start to melt. At least he's not dead, right? His friends are doing their best to get him back on his feet, maybe find someone to talk to, perhaps even find someone to take his mind off his last failed relationship. Then he meets Lilith. The two share an instant connection but after a wild and passionate night together, she ghosts him. Jordan searches the city for Lilith, desperate to see her again. But when a woman claiming to be Lilith shows up, wearing a different face but knowing intimate details about Jordan, he worries he's losing his grip on reality. As he grows closer to this mysterious woman, he discovers that happily ever afters sometimes come at a cost. How far will Lilith take him, and how much darkness will he embrace to find love? More like this: Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver.
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| Hunger and Thirst by Claire FullerIn 1987 England, 16-year-old foster kid and aspiring artist Ursula Major's coworkers Vince and Sue invite her to squat with them in the Underwood, a creepy abandoned mansion whose previous owners were murdered -- and then Sue mysteriously disappears. Decades later, Ursula, now a sculptor, finds herself hounded by a true crime documentarian who wants to make a film about Sue. But some things in the past should stay buried. For fans of: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai. |
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Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt
by Ben Reeves
Travis is Death in the modern world. He wears jeans and a T-shirt and lives in a small, grey town. His job is to offer people comfort in their final hours of life. He's stoic, gentle, and a little naive, despite everything he knows. He's young and handsome, despite who he is. Each death he witnesses is meaningful to him; he listens, never judges, and most importantly, never tries to change anyone's fate. He knows that every life must eventually end to maintain the balance of the universe and he respects the cycle. Then he meets Dalia, a midwife, and her boisterous eight-year-old daughter Layla, who live across the hall. More like this: Daisy Cooper's Rules for Living by Tamsin Keily; Boy from the North Country by Sam Sussman.
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Vera Stein Is Fine
by Julie Murphy
Vera Stein, age 40, knows she's missed her chance at a life worthy of the silver screen, just like she missed her chance at finding true love. Abruptly houseless and jobless, she lands at the Starlight Palms Senior Living Center, where Elias Buckley is the on-site doctor, Vera's former college fling, and - for reasons that will stay in Vegas - legally her ex-husband according to the state of Nevada. Soon Vera falls into a job as the activities coordinator and under the spell of a certain smart-mouthed doctor. With a fresh start at her fingertips, Vera begins to see that even with all the detours she's taken, there's still a Hollywood ending (and maybe even a happily ever after) in sight. More like this: And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens; Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows.
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Fabulous Bodies
by Chuck Tingle
Poppy Stringer was born to be a star. An aspiring fashion influencer by day, Poppy moonlights as a grave robber to make ends meet, wheeling and dealing dead bodies across Palm Springs. When her hero, the flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar Eddie Michaels, unexpectedly dies, Poppy gets a call to retrieve his body from the medical examiner's office for a lucrative sum. It could be the last job she'll ever need--if everything goes to plan. But the night's delivery quickly veers off course when Eddie wakes up. Now Poppy must fight for her life if she hopes to survive this blood-soaked joyride of carnage and extravagant entertainment. Try this next: Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer, We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix.
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The Eye of Leviathan
by M. A. Carrick
From the author of The Mask of Mirrors comes a sweeping adventure set in a world where fae secretly walk amongst those who seek to persecute them. An intricately developed alternate history. Offer Carrick's excellent duology starter to fans of Leigh Bardugo's The Familiar or anyone looking for a new historical fantasy series. -Library Journal (Starred Review) In an alternate Spanish Golden Age, the Council of the Sea Beyond has risen to unrivaled power, exploiting the Otherworld's most precious resources for their own gain. Estevan seeks to uncover their secrets, but he risks the exposure of his own: that he is a faerie, masquerading as a mortal. The Hungry Girl is the human whose place he took. Lost among the fae and desperate to find some purpose for her existence, she leaps at the chance to help a group of Spanish explorers in the Sea Beyond ... only to be horrified at the atrocities they commit. A faerie pact has separated them--but only together can they bring down Spain's worlds-spanning empire and save the homes they have both come to love. Read-alikes: Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen; A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde.
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Cloudthief
by Nathaniel Rich
Forget banks, casinos, museums--society's most valuable treasure sits in the giant, anonymous data centers that power modern life. There, in endless rows of hard drives, lies the sum of our civilization's knowledge, all of the world's personal and private truths, uploaded and saved. They wait unseen, unexploited, and, most critically, unguarded. Tim is a climate journalist disillusioned with chronicling the end of the world. Virginia is an evasive, paranoid, and technologically savvy con artist who has found an ingenious way to live off the grid in the heart of Manhattan. Joined by desire and desperation, they hatch a plan to steal secrets. But they have secrets of their own. Try this next: Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow, The Siberia Job by Josh Haven.
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| Dearly Departed by Chip PonsStuck working in a small-town funeral home after his retirement, former god of the underworld Hayden Harlow is desperate to return to his life of immortality -- until he meets happy-go-lucky florist Levi Wilder, who helps him realize the mortal world isn't so bad after all. This grumpy/sunshine paranormal romance is equal parts steamy and heartfelt. Try this next: The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur. |
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Bookmarked for Love
by Sarah Monzon
Desperate to save the children's programs at her library, Martha Aldridge strikes a deal with her now wealthy childhood crush, Julien King, who needs her expertise to resurrect his family's children's imprint to prove himself to his father. As they're forced to work together, attraction ignites, and they realize their jobs are not the only thing on the line. More like this: Find Me in the Lyrics by Christina Miller.
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| Moss'd in Space by Rebecca ThorneCargo handler Torian Razner gets more than she bargained for when she discovers that the dilapidated spaceship she just bought is covered in sentient moss. Running afoul of Moss' previous owner (who has also accused Torian of stealing the ship), the unlikely pair enlist the help of Amelia Perrosk, Torian's former captain and would-be lover. This action-packed 1st in a new series is perfect for fans of Julie Leong. |
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| Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul TremblayAgreeing to remotely pilot a comatose man (whom she nicknames "Bernie") to Rhode Island, where assisted suicide is legal, disaffected Californian pro-gamer Julia begins to question the intentions of the tech corporation who hired her for the gig. Meanwhile, "Bernie" struggles to fight back against his programming and remember who he was. Fans of Philip K. Dick (whose Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? inspired this novel's title) and the theatrical dialogue of Coen Brothers films will want to check this out. |
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Backtrack
by Marc Cameron
1977. D Wayne Cutter is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, part-time horseshoer, and a full-time Texas deputy sheriff with a second grandchild on the way when a quiet Sunday morning ends in murder and a manhunt. The theft of five million dollars in diamonds from an armored truck leaves two guards dead, one outlaw tracked down and taken out by Cutter, and another, Ricky Lee Pink--two-hundred-forty pounds of teenage rage--sentenced to life. The diamonds were never recovered. And Pinky never forgot that heist gone violently wrong. 2026. Following in the righteous footsteps of his late grandfather, Deputy U.S. Marshal Arliss Cutter gets word that Pinky has been granted release. Nursing a grudge for decades, Pinky vows to avenge the murder of his criminal mentor and find the whereabouts of the stolen gems that he believes is a buried Cutter family secret. Boarding an Alaskan cruise ship, and joined by two miscreant cellmates and his penpal girlfriend, Pinky aims for Anchorge--home to his ultimate target: everyone Arliss holds near and dear. Arliss must move fast because Pinky has the edge. And he has the mind to make the last living Cutter pay. For fans of: The Dry by Jane Harper; Nash Falls by David Baldacci.
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| Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli WeidenThough he's hoping to escape his past as a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, Virgil Wounded Horse gets pulled back in when a legendary figure from the reservation is murdered. Complicating things, a street gang from a neighboring reservation wants to expand into Rosebud in this gritty follow-up to the award-winning Winter Counts. For fans of: S.A. Cosby; Craig Johnson. |
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| Cool Machine by Colson WhiteheadTaking place in the 1980s, Cool Machine focuses on successful businessman and sometime criminal Ray Carney. First, Ray agrees to a heist in order to finance his wife's business. Five years later, he risks everything to help his dead cousin's son, who's mixed up with the wrong people. In 1983, Ray's friend Pepper finds himself looking for an expensive African mask in the East Village's gritty art and club scene. This lyrical, atmospheric 3rd in Colson Whitehead's acclaimed Harlem trilogy will please fans of Walter Mosley. |
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| Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun; translated by Sung RyuSeeking revenge on those responsible for the mass-poisoning event that killed her mother, orphaned 17-year-old Hwayoung enlists the help of Doha, a teenage boy who's trying to return to his own body after his soul was placed into a stuffed teddy bear. This twisty and action-packed slasher will appeal to fans of Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw and Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton. |
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Lost in Curiosity: Field Notes from Scientists' Adventures Into the Unknown
by Roberta Kwok
The real story of science isn't a triumphant breakthrough. It's messy, mysterious, and deeply human.In Lost in Curiosity, award-winning journalist Roberta Kwok pulls back the curtain on what scientific discovery actually looks like... Not a Eureka moment, but a fraught, often chaotic pursuit of truth.Chronicling researchers' struggles and hopes in the field and lab, Kwok documents it all: fending off relentless snowfall on a remote Greenland glacier, desperately searching for an elusive frog in the rainforests of Borneo, and scrambling to capture fleeting signals of a faraway moon outside our solar system. These are the untold stories of devoted young scientists and restless minds who are chasing nature's riddles, without knowing what they'll uncover.Through vivid reporting and moments of unexpected emotion, Kwok reveals the inner lives of researchers who care profoundly about understanding our world and saving what's left of it. From enigmatic fossils and mind-bending physics to the puzzling behavior of wild animals, Lost in Curiosity is a journey through the questions that keep scientists up at night--and the sometimes strange, always illuminating paths they take to answer them.
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Sisters of the Midnight Sun: A Murder in Arctic Alaska
by Rebecca Wright Stevens
Rebecca Wright is a defense attorney living in the Lower 48 when she suddenly finds herself a widow and an empty nester. In need of a radical change, she accepts a public defender position in Utqiagvik on Alaska’s North Slope, an oil-rich area the size of Wyoming where the Iñupiat community holds great cultural, political, and economic power. Though she’ll always be a tanik—an outsider—she works hard to gain the trust and friendship of the folks who call this singular place home. When two well-known sisters, Bernice and Wanda Ipalook, are found murdered, Wright is tasked with representing Amos Lane, a drifter on the short-list of murder suspects. Criminal charges are looming. But this is summer in northern Alaska, the season of the midnight sun, when twenty-four-hour sunlight makes it difficult for witnesses to confirm the time—or even the day—they last saw the sisters, Amos, or anyone else. Wright must navigate an unreliable client, a prosecution willing to entrap her to get a conviction, a budding romance, and a community that believes Amos might deserve a different form of justice from what the tanik legal system can provide. Weaving a detailed portrait of Utqiagvik alongside Wright’s complex self-portrait of an outsider in an isolated community, Sisters of the Midnight Sun is a riveting true account that brings to vivid life a land at the edge of the habitable world.
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Biological War: A Scenario
by Annie Jacobsen
A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential new book, based on dozens of new interviews with experts with high-level political, governmental, medical, and military responsibility, Annie Jacobsen examines this very scenario. It would be only a matter of days from such a global infection before the infrastructure built to handle this gravest of situations would be in a battle for human existence. This is what could happen; a ticking-clock roadmap to the hours, days, and weeks following the release of a biological agent, that serves as the most essential, forward-looking journalism in preparation for urgent societal upheaval.
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| Story Rug by Sophie Blackall; illustrated by Phoebe WahlWhen a "braiding CRAZE" takes hold of classroom 203, the whole class begins contributing fabric scraps to plait and sew while Ms. Morena reads out loud. But what can they do with the epic braid they create? Find out in this gentle story about the joy and comfort of community crafting. |
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We Became Wild
by H. D. Carver
Navigates the untamed wilderness of teenage girlhood with fierce honesty. --Joy McCullough, New York Times best-selling author of Blood Water PaintExplores the wild--in our hearts and in nature, deftly excavating joy hidden beneath the rubble of grief. --Rebekah Faubion, author of Lost Girls of Hollow LakeReeling from the death of their best friend, two girls hike the Pacific Crest Trail in her honor in this fierce young adult debut.
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Roar
by Varsha Bajaj
Rohan loves animals--especially tigers--so he's beyond thrilled when he gets to fly to India and stay near the tiger sanctuary where his grandfather works. At last, a chance to observe tigers in real life--especially Arya and her twin cubs--and when Ro finally sees them, the experience is even more breathtaking than he'd imagined. When signs of poachers are discovered, he's distraught, and unfortunately that's not the only threat the tigers face--protesters have assembled to support a mining company that would encroach upon the tigers' space. Rohan knows there are always two sides to an argument, and the mines might provide jobs, but it's clear to him that he must be on the tigers' side. Then a horrible crime occurs, filling him with determination to do all he can to make sure people know how important it is to protect the tigers.
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The Endless Game
by J. D. Amato
When Fred Townsend and his family move to Lakeside, Illinois, Fred is inducted into a game of capture the flag that has split the entire town in two. But this isn't a normal game. It's been going on for decades and has been passed down from generation to generation. It has its own history, laws, and institutions, with elaborate castle-like bases, dreary prisons, kid-run saloons, and even a council of home-schooled kids that preside over the rules of the game. But for Fred, and all of Lakeside's kids, this unending war is not just about winning--it's also about learning how you want to fit into the world, the power of friendship, and making sure this summer is one they will never forget.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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