Here Are the 11 New Books You Should Read in August

A crop of fresh books arriving in August offers something for every reader, from tennis legend Billie Jean King’s autobiography to Helen Hoang’s latest swoony love story. August welcomes the return of veterans like Deborah Levy and Hilma Wolitzer and ushers in fiction debuts from Anthony Veasna So and poet Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. There’s an innovative thriller, heartbreaking short story collections, a comprehensive account of the history of white feminism and more. Here, the 11 new books to read this month.

Radiant Fugitives, Nawaaz Ahmed (August 3)

Three generations’ worth of family secrets come to an astounding head in Nawaaz Ahmed’s debut novel Radiant Fugitives. Set in the early days of the Obama administration, the story centers on Seema, a Muslim Indian political activist, whose pregnancy with her first child leads her to reconnect with her estranged family amid a swiftly changing cultural landscape. In the span of just a week, Seema, her mother, and her sister confront a lifetime of tensions and unspoken desires before they welcome a new life into their brood.

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All’s Well, Mona Awad (August 3)

College theater director Miranda Fitch is losing her grip on just about everything in her life. She’s consumed by chronic back pain following an acting accident that ruined her marriage, her career and left her dependent on painkillers. And now her current job is on the line, and Miranda decides to stage a production of the same Shakespeare play that put her in this precarious position, All’s Well That Ends Well. The appearance of three strangers that are far too familiar with Miranda’s past—and offer her a dangerously appealing deal to secure a better future—complicate Miranda’s mission. What ensues in the latest novel from the author of Bunny is a darkly hilarious journey into the psyche of a woman approaching her breaking point.

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The Husbands, Chandler Baker (August 3)

Can women ever really have it all? The question propels Chandler Baker’s latest page-turner, which follows an attorney named Nora Sprangler who is struggling to balance her successful career and the needs of her growing family. Everything changes when the Spranglers move to Dynasty Ranch, an exclusive suburban enclave where ambitious women are married to men who happily share the domestic duties. There, Nora is asked to help with a neighbor’s wrongful death case, setting in motion a series of startling revelations about her new community. The Husbands, set to be adapted into a film starring Kristen Wiig, is an unsettling portrait of marriage, motherhood and love.

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Holdout, Jeffrey Kluger (August 3)

In TIME editor-at-large Jeffrey Kluger’s Holdout, astronaut Walli Beckwith has devoted her entire career to excelling at space travel, but she soon finds that her most pressing concern is an urgent and time-sensitive issue on earth. After a freak accident necessitates that Walli and her colleagues leave the International Space Station where they work, she sees a golden—if risky—opportunity to make a case for the kind of change she’d like to see earthside in this action-packed thriller of a novel.

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Afterparties: Stories, Anthony Veasna So (August 3)

In his posthumous debut collection of short stories, Afterparties: Stories, Anthony Veasna So captures the challenges and triumphs of a close-knit community of Cambodian Americans living in Southern California in the shadow of genocide. Marked by sharp wit and overwhelming in the scope of emotions they portray, So’s vignettes offer a nuanced and compassionate view of the rich and complex experiences of a group of immigrants who dared to build new lives in an often unforgiving country. The collection is a true testament to So’s strength as a writer—and its publication is bittersweet in light of his untimely death last winter at the age of 28, a taste of a singular talent gone far too soon.

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Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption, Rafia Zakaria (August 17)

The history of feminism has long been dominated by a white and Western narrative, presenting a liberatory movement for white women, at the expense of women around the world who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. In Against White Feminism, attorney and political philosopher Rafia Zakaria presents a clear-eyed analysis of the harrowing true impact of white feminism when it comes to upholding colonial, patriarchal, capitalist and white supremacist structures. Delving into issues that run the gamut from the often problematic nature of foreign aid to the complicated politics of sexual liberation, Zakaria offers an expansive and intersectional critique of white feminism while envisioning a more inclusive future for all.

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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (August 24)

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, National Book Award long-listed poet, makes her fiction debut with The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, a vibrant and tender coming-of-age novel. Ailey Pearl Garfield is a young girl reckoning with what it means to be a Black woman in America as she teeters on the precipice of adulthood. While she negotiates her place in the world, Ailey travels through time and space to explore her family’s history, from their enslavement in the Georgia town of Chicasetta to their lingering generational trauma in the present day. Ailey’s time-traveling journey features complex and intimate narratives of love and heartbreak from her family’s two centuries in the American South, giving her not only insight into her family’s complicated past, but also the tools to imagine her own future.

Buy Now: The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois on Bookshop | Amazon

All In: An Autobiography, Billie Jean King (August 17)

Tennis champion Billie Jean King reflects on her life and trailblazing career in her new autobiography. All In traces everything from King’s experiences with sexism in sports to her work in the LGBTQ rights movement to her iconic win in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs. Throughout, King describes the challenges she faced and the issues she continues to fight for in urgent and vivid terms, coalescing into a powerful self-portrait of an inspiring athlete and activist.

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Real Estate: A Living Autobiography, Deborah Levy (August 24)

The spaces we occupy can speak volumes about the lives we seek to live and the people we are—and hope to become. At least, that’s the case that Deborah Levy makes in Real Estate, the third and final installation in her lauded Living Autobiography memoir series. In Levy’s trademark incisive prose, she meditates on both the literal and conceptual facets of home, property and living. Sparkling with humor and Levy’s zest for life, it’s a read for everyone who understands that home, though always familiar, can be found in the most unexpected of places.

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The Heart Principle, Helen Hoang (August 31)

Anna Sun is a burnt-out violinist who falls for the most unexpected suitor in Helen Hoang’s dazzling new romance. After Anna’s longterm boyfriend suggests they open their relationship, she decides to pursue a one-night stand with a motorcycle-riding man who couldn’t be less her type. But the heroine’s determination to keep it casual begins to dissolve as their fling turns into something much more. Sensitive and sweet, The Heart Principle—a worthy follow-up to Hoang’s 2019 novel The Bride Test—explores a burgeoning romance built on undeniable chemistry.

Buy Now: The Heart Principle on Bookshop | Amazon

Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket: Stories, Hilma Wolitzer (August 31)

In her latest collection of short stories, Hilma Wolitzer, the 91-year-old fiction writer and mother of novelist Meg Wolitzer, explores the quiet and sometimes devastating moments that accompany marriage. Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket, which includes many stories that were first published in the 1960s and 70s, features narratives like the evolving relationship between Paulie and Howard as they navigate parenthood, growing up and growing old. The result is a timeless examination of the bonds that connect us and the staying power of love.

Buy Now: Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket on Bookshop | Amazon