All the August 2025 Prepub Alerts in one place, plus a downloadable spreadsheet of all titles from every post.

Fiction

Pop Fiction

Citchens, Addie E. Dominion. Farrar. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780374609337. 240p. $27. FICTION

Citchens debuts with a Black Southern family story set in Dominion, MS, which is run by Reverend Sabre Winfrey. Rev. Winfrey has five sons, including Emanuel, known as Wonderboy. But all is not wonderful, and the son’s actions rock the town.

Frank, Victoria Benton. The Violet Hour: A Lowcountry Tale. Gallery. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668067796. 368p. $28.99. FICTION

Frank (My Magnolia Summer) sets this story of surviving after tragedy in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Best friends Violet and Aly are living on Sullivan’s Island. Each is struggling with their own issues, but they find strength together.

Grodstein, Lauren. A Dog in Georgia. Algonquin. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781643752358. 304p. $29. FICTION

The bestselling author of the Read with Jenna pick We Must Not Think of Ourselves sets her newest in the country of Georgia, where chef Amy Webb travels in search of a YouTube-famous dog who has disappeared. Along the way she meets more dogs, a rebellious teenager, some post-Soviet grandmothers, and an interesting man from Russia.

Li, Winnie M. What We Left Unsaid. Atria/Emily Bestler. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781982190880. 368p. $28.99. FICTION

Li, an Edgar Award nominee for Dark Chapter, writes a Route 66 road-trip novel with three estranged siblings who have not seen each other for years but are planning to visit their mother before she goes into surgery. Mrs. Chu tells them to go to the Grand Canyon first—and the trip reveals family secrets and much more.

London, Julia. Everything Is Probably Fine. Harper Muse. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781400245765. pbk. 384p. $18.99. FICTION

In bestselling London’s (Nice Work, Nora November) newest, Lorna Lott, hoping for a big promotion, is instead mandated to attend a wellness program and begins to change the course of her own life with the help of her eight-year-old neighbor and his charming father.

Mott, Jason. People Like Us. Dutton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9798217047116. 288p. $30. FICTION

National Book Award winner Mott (Hell of a Book) tells the story of two Black writers whose paths connect. One is on a buzzy book tour after winning a major prize; the other is speaking at a school after a shooting.

Muharrar, Aisha. Loved One. Viking. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593655849. 336p. $30. FICTION

Muharrar, an Emmy Award–winning writer who has worked on The Good Place and Parks and Recreation, debuts with the story of two women, both exes of Gabe, who meet at his funeral. One is asked to retrieve his sentimental possessions—from the house he shared with the other.

Natera, Cleyvis. The Grand Paloma Resort. Ballantine. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593873267. 320p. $30. FICTION

Natera returns after her buzzy debut, Neruda on the Park, with a family saga/mystery. Set over the course of seven days, it recounts the lives of staff at the Grand Paloma Resort hotel in the Dominican Republic, its guests, and an accident involving a child—all the while exploring sibling connections and issues of exploitation and privilege.

Rossi, Amy. The Cover Girl. MIRA. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780778368267. 336p. $28.99. FICTION

Rossi debuts with a dual-timeline novel that was preempted for six figures and an accompanying two-book deal. The timely story follows a teen model as she is discovered, her relationship with her legendary agent, and a rock star she meets at 15. Decades later she is invited to her ex-manager’s life-achievement party.

Serritella, Francesca. Full Bloom. Ballantine. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780525510390. 416p. $30. FICTION

Serritella, author of Ghosts of Harvard and coauthor with her mother, Lisa Scottoline, of the “Chick Wit” column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, offers the story of a mysterious perfume that makes lighting designer Iris Sunnegren endlessly desirable to very rich men, upending her life and opening a Pandora’s box of questions.

Skye, Evelyn. The Incredible Kindness of Paper. Atria/Emily Bestler. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668081907. 256p. $27.99. FICTION

Skye, bestselling author of The Hundred Loves of Juliet, centers her latest on a woman who can whisper words onto paper that others can hear. First it was to her pen pal Oliver, whom she lost contact with, now it is to residents of NYC via origami roses, which Oliver discovers.

Smale, Holly. I Know How This Ends. MIRA. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780778368632. 416p. $30. FICTION

Smale, bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick Cassandra in Reverse, returns with the story of Margot Weyward, 35 years old who’s on track for the future she dreams of, until she meets Henry and starts seeing visions of her real future.

Steel, Danielle. For Richer for Poorer. Delacorte. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593498798. 272p. $29. FICTION

Steel’s (Never Say Never) newest standalone follows a fashion designer who is the mother to five adult children and divorced from an Italian prince. While managing her daughter’s wedding, she meets a simply lovely real estate developer.

Literary Fiction

Castillo, Elaine. Moderation. Viking. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593489666. 320p. $29. LITERARY FICTION

Girlie Delmundo’s digital work as a virtual reality moderator collides with her personal life when she falls for a coworker in Castillo’s second novel, following America Is Not the Heart, named a best book by NPR, LitHub, NYPL, and more.

Cummins, Megan. Atomic Hearts. Ballantine. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593875353. 352p. $29. LITERARY FICTION

Cummins (whose If the Body Allows It: Stories won the Prairie Schooner Prize for Fiction) makes her novel debut with this coming-of-age story about friendship, family, and addiction.

Dorey-Stein, Beck. Spectacular Things. Dial. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593446287. 368p. $28. LITERARY FICTION

Dorey-Stein, a former White House stenographer and author of the bestselling memoir From the Corner of the Oval, turns to fiction with this novel of love and ambition in which two sisters pursue their dreams.

Jones, Nalini. The Unbroken Coast. Knopf. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781400042777. 480p. $30. LITERARY FICTION

Jones (What You Call Winter: Stories) is a recipient of an NEA fellowship, Pushcart Prize, and O. Henry Prize. Her first novel, set in and around Mumbai, follows the unexpected friendship between a young girl and a retired professor.

Mamet, David. Some Recollections of St. Ives. Arcade. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781648211409. 264p. $27.99. LITERARY FICTION

Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and screenwriter Mamet pens the fictional memoir of Charles Hollis, who recounts his 40-year career at St. Ives School.

Ma, Yiming. These Memories Do Not Belong to Us: A Constellation Novel. Mariner. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063413481. 224p. $28. LITERARY FICTION

Ma’s debut is set in a future run by an authoritarian state in which citizens can record and transfer memories between minds, but those memories can also be manipulated. With a 75K-copy first printing.

Schlesser, Thomas. Mona’s Eyes. tr. from French by Hildegarde Serle. Europa. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9798889661115. 432p. $30. LITERARY FICTION

Schlesser makes his U.S. debut with this novel that was a bestseller in France. It explores five centuries of art as 10-year-old Mona and her grandfather make weekly visits to view masterpieces before Mona loses her sight.

Sloley, Emma. The Island of Last Things. Flatiron. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250329240. 272p. $28.99. LITERARY FICTION

Sloley (Disaster’s Children), a MacDowell fellow and Bread Loaf scholar, tells a tale of the last zoo in the world on Alcatraz Island, where two zookeepers dream of better lives and consider smuggling an animal off the island to freedom.

Wachman, Sam. The Sunflower Boys. Harper. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063418226. 352p. $30. LITERARY FICTION

In his debut, Wachman tells a queer coming-of-age story set in modern-day Ukraine. Artem’s life, working at his grandfather’s sunflower farm and wrestling with his feelings for his best friend, is devastated when war arrives at his doorstep, sending him and his brother fleeing.

Yu, An. Sunbirth. Grove. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780802164278. 256p. $27. LITERARY FICTION

Yu (author of Ghost Music, a Time must-read book of 2023) explores grief, responsibility, and freedom in this novel that follows two sisters who live in a village where the sun is mysteriously shrinking, at the same time as Beacons, people with blinding light for heads, begin to appear.

Zhang Yueran. Women, Seated. tr. from Chinese by Jeremy Tiang. Riverhead. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593851920. 208p. $29. LITERARY FICTION

Zhang’s (Cocoon) latest charts the downfall of a wealthy Chinese family as they become subject to a government investigation and lose their fortune. Meanwhile, their son’s nanny knows all of their secrets—and has some of her own.

Mystery

Brett, Simon. Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse. (A Major Bricket Mystery, bk. 1). Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781408721308. 240p. $28. MYSTERY

Major Bricket’s clandestine career serves him well when he finds a dead body on his lawn in award–winning Brett’s (“Fethering” books) new cozy series starring a sleuth from an English village that has an unusually high crime rate.

Chapman, Amanda. Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593818817. 320p. $29. MYSTERY

Chapman debuts with a biblio-mystery in which an old-money book conservator meets a woman claiming to be Agatha Christie, who asks for help solving a murder that has yet to happen. Soon, a found family of sleuths is created, and an investigation is afoot.

Gentill, Sulari. Five Found Dead. Poisoned Pen. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781464219719. pbk. 320p. $18.99. MYSTERY

Bestselling and award-winning Gentill (The Woman in the Library) sets her newest on the Orient Express, where a collection of characters, including police officers and true-crime podcasters, encounter both murder and a virus that forces the train into quarantine.

Meyer, Nicholas. Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing. The Mysterious Pr. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781613166567. 256p. $26.95. MYSTERY

Meyer (Sherlock Holmes and the Seven Per-Cent Solution) returns with another Holmes case, this one involving art, forgeries of many kinds, snow, and several dead bodies.

Nichols, Jo. The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective. Minotaur. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250356543. 352p. $28. MYSTERY

A collection of residents who live in a tiny bungalow community in Southern California get caught up in a cozy double murder mystery. Nichols is the pen name of married authors who write across genres, including an animated series for Netflix.

Schaumberg, Amie. Murder by the Book. MIRA. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780778387503. 352p. $30. MYSTERY

Schaumberg debuts with an academic-set mystery involving a murderer who poses victims’ bodies to mimic famous death scenes. Professor Emma Reilly and detective Ian Carter must look to literature to find clues and stop the killer.

Schillace, Brandy. The Dead Come to Stay. Hanover Square. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781335121875. 336p. $30. MYSTERY

Schillace, whose cozy mystery series starter The Framed Women of Ardemore House was an Amazon Best Book of 2024, returns with a new offering starring an autistic amateur sleuth who goes home to her family’s North Yorkshire estate, only to be caught in the past and in murder.

Sullivan, Archer. The Witch’s Orchard. Minotaur. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250338686. 320p. $28. MYSTERY

Sullivan debuts with a 75K-copy first printing for this small-town Appalachia-set case featuring private investigator Annie Gore, a woman in need of money who is drawing on the skills she learned as a former Air Force special investigator.

Taylor, Sarah Stewart. Hunter’s Heart Ridge. (A Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery, bk. 2). Minotaur. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250370730. 320p. $29. MYSTERY

In this sequel to the historical mystery Agony Hill, detective Frank Warren and his neighbor Alice Bellows find themselves coping with a huge snowstorm, the body of a murdered federal judge, a CIA handler, and a lot of questions.

Forthcoming Series Titles

Andrews, Donna. For Duck’s Sake. (Meg Langslow, bk. 37). Minotaur. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250894380. 320p. $28. MYSTERY

Lansdale, Joe R. Hatchet Girls. (Hap and Leonard, bk. 14). Mulholland. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780316514019. 288p. $30. MYSTERY

Maxwell, Alyssa. Murder at Arleigh. (A Gilded Newport Mystery, bk. 13). Kensington. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781496753250. 304p. $27. MYSTERY

Miller, Philip. The Diary of Lies. (Shona Sandison, bk. 3). Soho Crime. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781641296991. 304p. $29.95. MYSTERY

Schaffhausen, Joanna. Gone in the Night. (Detective Annalisa Vega, bk. 5). Minotaur. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250904171. 320p. $30. MYSTERY

Thrillers

Ackerman, Elliot. Sheepdogs. Knopf. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593803851. 304p. $29. THRILLER

Bestselling Ackerman (coauthor of 2034) returns with a comic spy thriller about former CIA paramilitary operator Skwerl and down-on-his-luck pilot Cheese, who pair up on a mission to repossess a private jet. Nothing goes as planned during their globe-trotting adventure.

Bishop, Katie. High Season. St. Martin’s. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250283931. 384p. $29. THRILLER

Twenty years after the death of her teenage sister at their family’s mansion in the south of France, Nina questions what really happened that night. Bishop’s (The Girls of Summer) sophomore novel receives a 100K-copy first printing.

Collom, Katie. Peter Miles Has To Die. Bantam. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593974612. 320p. $30. THRILLER

After a two-book deal bought at auction, Collom debuts with this psychological thriller set in small-town 1990s Texas where three friends kill a local cop who got away with murdering their best friend. But will they get away with it?

Cranor, Eli. Mississippi Blue 42. (Rae Johnson, bk. 1). Soho Crime. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781641296977. 384p. $29.95. THRILLER

Award-winning and bestselling Cranor (Broiler) writes a Southern sports noir with this series launch featuring special agent Rae Johnson. She’s investigating illicit money flowing into a college football program, but the case gets more complicated when the star quarterback ends up dead.

Downing, Samantha. Too Old for This. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593101032. 400p. $30. THRILLER

In the latest from bestselling Downing (A Twisted Love Story), who has multiple books optioned for TV and film, retired serial killer Lottie Jones finds herself plotting another murder when an investigative journalist starts asking questions.

Faulkner, Katherine. The Break-In. Scout. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668024812. 384p. $28.99. THRILLER

Faulkner (The Other Mothers) pens a twisty thriller about London mom Alice, who kills an intruder to protect her child. Although it’s ruled an act of self-defense, she can’t get over the incident, and as she digs into who the intruder really was, she finds herself uncovering disturbing secrets.

Fielding, Joy. Jenny Cooper Has a Secret. Ballantine. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593873175. 352p. $30. THRILLER

In bestselling Fielding’s (The Housekeeper) latest suspense novel, widowed 76-year-old Linda Davidson visits her friend at a memory care facility and meets another dementia patient who claims she kills people. Linda dismisses it—until a man at the facility dies.

Gowani, Amran. Leverage. Atria. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668076422. 320p. $28.99. THRILLER

Former Wall Street analyst Gowani debuts with a thriller about a hedge fund employee whose $300 million loss leads to an ultimatum to recover the money in three months or take the fall for an insider-trading investigation into the firm.

Michaels, Fern. Smuggler’s Cove. (Madison & Lincoln Taylor, bk. 1). Kensington. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781496747877. pbk. 368p. $18.95. THRILLER

Bestselling Michaels (Proof) launches a new series introducing siblings Madison and Lincoln Taylor, who inherit a rundown marina at the Jersey Shore and find themselves in the middle of a crime scene when a dead body is found under their dock.

Patterson, James & Emily Raymond. Emma on Fire. Little, Brown. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781538758700. pbk. 256p. $19.99. THRILLER

Following their successful collaboration on Raised by Wolves, Patterson and Raymond write a thriller featuring Emma Blake, a high school senior who dares to take a radical stand. With a 210K-copy first printing.

Pekkanen, Sarah. The Locked Ward. St. Martin’s. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250349514. 320p. $29. THRILLER

Adoptee Georgia Cartwright is accused of killing her younger sister (the Cartwrights’ biological daughter), but she says she didn’t do it. The latest psychological thriller from bestselling Pekkanen (House of Glass) receives a 200K-copy first printing.

Scott, Tanya. Stillwater. Atlantic Monthly. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780802164605. 288p. $27. THRILLER

In Scott’s debut, a ruthless crime boss has raised Jack Quinn since childhood to be a weapon. Jack eventually attempts to leave his life of crime with a new identity, but his past catches up with him.

Slaughter, Karin. We Are All Guilty Here. Morrow. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063336773. 448p. $32. THRILLER

When two teenage girls vanish from a small town, Officer Emmy Clifton investigates and finds that the town and the teenagers both have secrets. From bestselling Slaughter (This Is Why We Lied), with a 250K-copy first printing.

Willingham, Stacy. Forget Me Not. Minotaur. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250887979. 368p. $29. THRILLER

Bestselling Willingham (Only If You’re Lucky) pens another Southern thriller. After being suspended from her job, journalist Claire Campbell takes a posting at a vineyard in South Carolina, where she finds evidence that may be related to the murder of her sister 22 years ago. With a 250K-copy first printing.

Forthcoming Series Title

Gardner, Lisa. Kiss Her Goodbye. (Frankie Elkin, bk. 4). Grand Central. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781538765104. 416p. $28. THRILLER

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Anders, Charlie Jane. Lessons in Magic and Disaster. Tor. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250867322. 320p. $29.99. FANTASY

Award-winning Anders (The City in the Middle of the Night) returns with the story of academic and witch Jamie, who is teaching magic to her mother and delving into the secrets behind a centuries-old enchanted book. With a 100K-copy first printing.

Brown, Gareth. The Society of Unknowable Objects. Morrow. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063324039. 352p. $30. FANTASY

Bestselling Brown writes a stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Book of Doors. Magda, a member of a secret society tasked with finding and protecting hidden magical objects, heads to Hong Kong to investigate an artifact. With a 150K-copy first printing.

Caruso, Melissa. The Last Soul Among Wolves. (The Echo Archives, bk. 2). Orbit. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780316303941. pbk. 400p. $19.99. FANTASY

A sequel to Caruso’s LJ-starred The Last Hour Between Worlds. Kembral Thorne and her rival-turned-girlfriend, Rika Nonesuch, find themselves at a mansion on an isolated island where they try to save their friends in this fantasy novel featuring a locked-room murder mystery.

Cho, Elaine U. Teo’s Durumi. (The Alliance, bk. 2). Hillman Grad Bks.: Zando. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781638932291. 352p. $29. SCIENCE FICTION

Following Ocean’s Godori (an Indie Next pick and Shelf Awareness Best Book), Cho’s space opera duology concludes as fugitive Teo Anand crashes on the moon and seeks help from his best friend, space pilot Ocean Yoon. With a 75K-copy first printing.

Kingfisher, T. Hemlock & Silver. Tor. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250342034. 368p. $28.99. FANTASY

When healer Anja tries to track down the source of the poison that’s killing Princess Snow, she finds an alternate world in a magic mirror. Bestselling Hugo Award winner Kingfisher (A Sorceress Comes To Call) reimagines the story of Snow White, with a 200K-copy first printing.

Kuang, R. F. Katabasis (Standard Edition). Harper Voyager. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063446243. 560p. $32. FANTASY

When Cambridge professor and magician Jacob Grimes dies in an accident, his grad students Alice and Peter descend into Hell after him. Bestselling and award-winning Kuang’s (Babel) latest dark-academia fantasy is available in this standard edition and a deluxe limited edition, with a 500K-copy first printing.

Lares, Mariely. Dawn of Fate and Fire. (Godslayer, bk. 2). Harper Voyager. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063254367. 512p. $32. FANTASY

Lares concludes her Zorro-retelling “Godslayer” duology with this sequel to the bestselling Sun of Blood and Ruin, a historical fantasy set in an alternate 16th-century Mexico, where Leonora tries to prevent a war and fights a looming supernatural threat.

Newitz, Annalee. Automatic Noodle. Tor.com. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250357465. 176p. $21.99. SCIENCE FICTION

Bestselling Newitz (The Terraformers, an LJ Best Book) writes a cozy near-future novella in which some deactivated robots come back online and decide to run a noodle restaurant in San Francisco. With a 125K-copy first printing.

Sachar, Louis. The Magician of Tiger Castle. Ace. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593952306. 320p. $30. FANTASY

The floundering king’s magician must choose between protecting the kingdom and betraying the princess when he’s asked to brew a potion to ensure she weds the right person. Sachar (Holes, winner of the National Book Award and Newbery Medal) makes his adult debut.

Song, K. X. The Dragon Wakes with Thunder. (The Dragon Spirit Duology, bk. 2). Ace. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593641552. 448p. $30. FANTASY

“The Dragon Spirit Duology,” which reimagines the Chinese legend of Mulan, comes to a close in this sequel to The Night Ends with Fire. While the war is over, Meilin is paying the price for wielding a sword as a woman and is being pulled in many directions by conflicting forces.

Forthcoming Series Titles

Maehrer, Hannah Nicole. Accomplice to the Villain. (Assistant and the Villain, bk. 3). Entangled: Red Tower. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781649378545. pbk. 368p. $19.99. FANTASY

Modesitt Jr., L. E. Sub-Majer’s Challenge. (Saga of Recluce, bk. 25). Tor. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250326829. 448p. $30.99. FANTASY

Historical Fiction

Anderson, Michelle Collins. The Moonshine Women. John Scognamiglio Bks. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781496748300. pbk. 352p. $18.95. HISTORICAL FICTION

Bestselling Anderson (The Flower Sisters) returns with her second novel, set in the Ozarks during Prohibition and the Great Depression, about three sisters who take over the family moonshine business and keep their family together.

Berman, Ella. L.A. Women. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593639153. 416p. $30. HISTORICAL FICTION

Berman’s debut, The Comeback, was a Read with Jenna pick and her next novel, Before We Were Innocent, was a Reese’s Book Club pick. Here she offers a new story about the frenemy friendship between two authors who live in 1960s Los Angeles and their quest to make it big.

Byrne, Paula. Six Weeks by the Sea. Pegasus. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781639369256. 256p. $28.95. HISTORICAL FICTION

Biographer Byrne (The Real Jane Austen) writes a historical novel that asks, did Jane Austen ever fall in love? Byrne presents three aspirants, in a courtship novel set in Bath. Will it be Captain Parker, Reverend Swete, or lawyer Samuel Rose? Or none of the above?

Fay, Juliette. The Harvey Girls. Gallery. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668095065. pbk. 384p. $18.99. HISTORICAL FICTION

Bestselling Fay (The Half of It) follows a young woman trying to help her family and a rich woman who’s on the run from her brutal husband. Both women become Harvey Girls, learn the hospitality trade, and work at the magnificent El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon.

Gelfuso, Hayley. The Book of Lost Hours. Atria. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668076347. 416p. $29.99. HISTORICAL FICTION

Gelfuso debuts with a story that spans pre-WWII Germany to Cold War America, involving a mysterious location called time space that shapes and controls history. Two characters are set on a mission inside its halls: Lisavet Levy, who was placed there on Kristallnacht, and Amelia Duquesne, recruited by the CIA’s Temporal Reconnaissance Program.

Kane, Jessica Francis. Fonseca. Penguin Pr. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593298855. 272p. $28. HISTORICAL FICTION

Kane (Rules for Visiting), often on award shortlists, writes a fictional account of author Penelope Fitzgerald’s real-life trip to Mexico, where she hopes to inherit a silver mine—as do others. For three months, Penelope, pregnant again and with one child with her and another left with relatives, surveys the aspirants.

Kurtzman, Sharon. The Lost Baker of Vienna. Viking: Pamela Dorman. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593830864. 432p. $30. HISTORICAL FICTION

Kurtzman debuts with a novel based on her own family’s experiences. The novel centers on Chana Rosenzweig, who survived World War II and is living in Vienna where she works as a dishwasher. She finds herself in a love triangle between an apprentice baker and a black-market dealer.

Mann, Peter. World Pacific. Harper. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063375345. 384p. $27.99. HISTORICAL FICTION

Mann (The Torqued Man, a New Yorker Best Book and CrimeReads Best Historical Fiction choice) bases his second novel on the real-life figure of Richard Halliburton, who vanished in 1939 while attempting to sail from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

Perry, Princess Joy L. This Here Is Love. Norton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781324105978. 352p. $29.99. HISTORICAL FICTION

Hurston-Wright Award winner Perry debuts with a novel set in 1690s Virginia. It’s about three people: the enslaved Bless, who must face her own mother’s fury; David, enslaved but dreaming of the liberty granted to his father; and Jack, a Scots-Irish indentured servant. All three live alongside one another, hoping they might find a way to more.

Robuck, Erika. The Last Assignment: A Novel of Dickey Chapelle. Sourcebooks Landmark. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781728299860. pbk. 448p. $17.99. HISTORICAL FICTION

Robuck, bestselling author of The Last Twelve Miles, returns with a story set in the late 1950s about combat photojournalist Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle, a woman who grieves her own losses and commits herself to show people in the United States the cost of far-off wars and displacement.

Shepherd-Robinson, Laura. The Art of a Lie. Atria. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668083093. 448p. $29.99. HISTORICAL FICTION

Shepherd-Robinson (The Square of Sevens) sets her newest in the 18th century, where widow Hannah Cole runs a confectionary shop, matches wits against author-turned-magistrate Henry Fielding, and develops a new friendship.

Romance

Blackburn, Lizzie Damilola. The Re-Write. Penguin Bks. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593299050. pbk. 288p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Blackburn returns after her debut, Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?, with this biblio rom-com that traces a lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers plot where author Temi agrees to ghostwrite old flame Wade’s celebrity memoir.

Carter, Ally. The Blonde Who Came In from the Cold. (Blonde Identity, bk. 2). Avon. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063386976. 336p. $24.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Carter (The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year) follows two rival CIA agents as they fall in love and share missions across 10 chemistry-filled years of first, second, third chances, encounters, arguments, and romance. With a 100K-copy first printing.

Dade, Olivia. Zomromcom. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593818206. pbk. 416p. $19. PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Bestselling Dade (Ship Wrecked) offers a zombie-attack romance. Edie Brandstrup thinks she will save her grumpy neighbor, only to discover he is a vampire. Bought in a five-way auction and the first of a trilogy.

Deaver, Mason. The Build-a-Boyfriend Project. Avon. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063394308. pbk. 384p. $18.99. LGBTQIA+ ROMANCE

Bestselling and award-winning YA author Deaver (Okay, Cupid) makes their adult romance debut with this story of a journalist who agrees to teach his very bad blind date how to be a good boyfriend. With a 75K-copy first printing.

Eddings, Mazey. Well, Actually. St. Martin’s Griffin. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250333315. pbk. 384p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Eddings (Late Bloomer) gets a 100K-copy first printing for this second-chance romance in which a journalist who interviews celebrities calls out a social media star for ghosting her years ago. A series of make-up dates ensues.

Fairbanks, Ivy. Heart Strings. (A Love in Galway, bk. 2). Putnam. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593851883. pbk. 352p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

The second in the “A Love in Galway” series, following Fairbanks’s BookTok sensation Morbidly Yours, is set in the backdrop of that novel as Cielo “Lo” Valdez encounters the man who broke her heart, musician Aidan O’Toole.

Golden, Kate. If Not for My Baby. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593953419. pbk. 448p. $19. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

The author of the bestselling “The Sacred Stones” romantasy trilogy moves to contemporary rock star romance featuring Irish megastar Halloran and his new backup singer Clementine Clark. They have eight weeks on tour—will that be enough?

Marr, Melissa. Toni and Addie Go Viral. Bramble. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250364890. pbk. 384p. $19.99. LGBTQIA+ ROMANCE

Bestselling Marr gets a 100K-copy first printing for this lesbian romance. Toni hits it big when her historical mystery sells in a massive deal, including a TV adaptation. Then Addie, a one-night stand and current pen pal, auditions for a key role.

Miller, Sav R. Endless Anger. (Monsters Within, bk. 1). Sourcebooks Casablanca. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781464238017. pbk. 432p. $18.99. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Bestselling Miller, a hit on BookTok, offers a standalone spin-off to her “Monsters & Muses” series. Inspired by the Greek Furies, it is an academia-set story in which Asher Anderson (cousin to a rock star) and Lucy Wolfe (social outcast) find themselves in love and trouble.

Forthcoming Series Titles

De la Rosa, Liana. Gabriela and His Grace. (The Luna Sisters, bk. 3). Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593440926. pbk. 384p. $19. HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Rath, Emily. Pucking Strong. (Jacksonville Rays Hockey, bk. 4). Kensington. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781496752437. pbk. 704p. $19.95. LGBTQIA+ ROMANCE

Ridley, Erica. A Waltz on the Wild Side. (The Wild Wynchesters, bk. 6). Forever. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781538726136. pbk. 368p. $17.99. HISTORICAL ROMANCE

Romantasy

Hall, Rachel Howzell. The Cruel Dawn. Entangled: Red Tower. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781649379160. 512p. $32.99. ROMANTASY

Hamm, Emma. The Deathless One. (Gravesinger, bk. 1). Gallery. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668063125. pbk. 336p. $19.99. ROMANTASY

Jacobs, Cait. The Princess Knight. Harper Voyager. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063321151. pbk. 512p. $19.99. ROMANTASY

Kemmerer, Brigid. Warrior Princess Assassin (Deluxe Limited Edition). (Braided Fate, bk. 1). Avon. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063391666. 408p. $32. ROMANTASY

Leigh, Eva. The Sea Witch. (Salt & Sorcery, bk. 1). Canary Street. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781335143761. pbk. 304p. $18.99. ROMANTASY

MacLean, S. A. Voidwalker. (Beasts of the Void, bk. 1). Orbit. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780316573115. pbk. 400p. $19.99. ROMANTASY

Rameera, Alysha. Her Soul for a Crown (Deluxe Edition). Sourcebooks Casablanca. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781464231797. pbk. 464p. $18.99. ROMANTASY

Showalter, Gena. Kingdom of Tomorrow. (Book of Arden, bk. 1). Montlake. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781662530524. pbk. 363p. $16.99. ROMANTASY

Vale, Kristen. A Tale of Mirth & Magic. Forever. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781538771822. pbk. 288p. $17.99. ROMANTASY

Wong, Michelle. House of the Beast. Harper Voyager. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063391345. 464p. $32. ROMANTASY

Forthcoming Series Titles

Broadbent, Carissa. The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk. (Crowns of Nyaxia, bk. 4). Bramble. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250367815. 576p. $29.99. ROMANTASY

Dramis, Kate. The Curse of Gods. (The Curse of Saints, bk. 3). Sourcebooks Casablanca. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781728289694. 320p. $17.99. ROMANTASY

Thorne, Rebecca. Alchemy and a Cup of Tea. (Tomes & Tea, bk. 4). Bramble. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250333278. pbk. 320p. $19.99. ROMANTASY

Horror

Ahlborn, Ania. The Unseen. Gallery. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668057667. 368p. $28.99. HORROR

Cañas, Isabel. The Possession of Alba Díaz. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593641071. 384p. $29. HORROR

The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand. ed. by Christopher Golden & Brian Keene. Gallery. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668057551. 800p. $35. HORROR

Fama, Daphne. House of Monstrous Women. Berkley. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593817582. 336p. $29. HORROR

Felker-Martin, Gretchen. Black Flame. Tor Nightfire. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250348012. pbk. 208p. $18.99. HORROR

Juliano, Jimmy. 13 Months Haunted. Dutton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593475898. 384p. $28. HORROR

King-Miller, Lindsay. This Is My Body. Quirk. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781683694649. pbk. 320p. $17.99. HORROR

Lebbon, Tim. Secret Lives of the Dead. Titan. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781835413555. pbk. 336p. $18.99. HORROR

Moulton, Rachel Eve. Tantrum. Putnam. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593854600. 192p. $28. HORROR

Onoh, Nuzo. The Fake Ghost. Dead Sky. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781639512072. pbk. 300p. $19.99. HORROR

Piper, Hailey. A Game in Yellow. Saga. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668077085. pbk. 288p. $17.99. HORROR

Steel, Hester. The Faceless Thing We Adore. Page Street Horror. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9798890032898. 416p. $27.99. HORROR

Tingle, Chuck. Lucky Day. Tor Nightfire. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250398659. 240p. $27.99. HORROR

Nonfiction

Biography & Memoir

Antrobus, Raymond. The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound: A Memoir. Hogarth. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593732106. 208p. $29. MEMOIR

Award-winning poet Antrobus (The Perseverance, an NYPL Best Book) writes a memoir about his deaf identity and his formation of and relationship with language—spoken, written, and signed.

Boggs, Nicholas. Baldwin: A Love Story. Farrar. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780374178710. 720p. $35. BIOGRAPHY

Boggs, a current National Humanities Center fellow, pens a biography of renowned writer James Baldwin, exploring how his personal relationships shaped his life and work. With a 75K-copy first printing.

Leon, Donna. Backstage: Stories of a Writing Life. Atlantic Monthly. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780802165374. 288p. $27. MEMOIR

Leon, author of the bestselling Commissario Brunetti mystery series, shared details about her world in 2023’s Wandering Through Life: A Memoir and now pens another memoir, this one offering a behind-the-scenes look at her writing.

Morris, Susana M. Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler. Amistad. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063212077. 240p. $29.99. BIOGRAPHY

Morris (literature, media, and communication, Georgia Inst. of Technology; Close Kinand Distant Relatives) writes a biography of renowned science-fiction author Octavia E. Butler, considering the cultural, social, and historical contexts that shaped her work.

Okeowo, Alexis. Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama. Holt. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250206220. 272p. $28.99. MEMOIR

Okeowo, a New Yorker staff writer and PEN Award winner who grew up the daughter of Nigerian immigrants in Montgomery, AL, blends memoir and history to tell the story of her family and her state.

Price, Kate. This Happened to Me: A Memoir. Gallery. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668036228. 336p. $29.99. MEMOIR

Price, an associate research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women and one of the people featured in Bessel van der Kolk’s bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score, shares her story of surviving and healing from being abused and trafficked as a child.

Selby, River. Hotshot: A Life on Fire. Atlantic Monthly. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780802149497. 304p. $27. MEMOIR

Selby, who now identifies as nonbinary, writes a memoir about their decade as a woman wildland firefighter in a field dominated by men. Their book also shares research into the science and history of fire policy.

Stoner, Alyson. Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything: A Memoir. St. Martin’s. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250353498. 320p. $30. MEMOIR

Stoner details their life as a Disney Channel child star, along with their family issues, an eating disorder, and religious trauma, and their subsequent path of self-discovery and advocacy. With a 150K-copy first printing.

Toews, Miriam. A Truce That Is Not Peace. Bloomsbury. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781639734740. 192p. $26.99. MEMOIR

Bestselling novelist Toews (Fight Night, an NPR Best Book) authors a personal narrative exploring why she writes. With a 125K-copy first printing.

Uhle, Amanda. Destroy This House: A Memoir. Summit. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781668083444. 352p. $29.99. MEMOIR

Uhle, publisher and executive director of McSweeney’s, writes a memoir about her life growing up with a scheming father and a mother with a hoarding disorder and her eventual escape into independence.

Watson, Graham. The Invention of Charlotte Brontë: A New Life. Pegasus. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781639369355. 288p. $29.95. BIOGRAPHY

Watson debuts with a revisionist biography of Charlotte Brontë, author of Jane Eyre, that examines archival material to provide a new narrative about the famous writer and her family.

Whitcomb, Christopher. Anonymous Male: A Life Among Spies. Random. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593597002. 320p. $32. MEMOIR

Five years after publishing the bestselling memoir Cold Zero about his time as an FBI Hostage Rescue Team sniper, Whitcomb left his world behind for clandestine work around the globe, until a brush with mortality brought him home to rebuild the life he’d abandoned.

Wright, Jennifer. Glitz, Glam, and a Damn Good Time: How Mamie Fish, Queen of the Gilded Age, Partied Her Way to Power. Grand Central. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780306834608. 288p. $30. BIOGRAPHY

In this biography, Wright (author of several pop history books, including Madame Restell) delves into the life of Gilded Age socialite Marion Graves Anthon Fish, also known as Mamie Fish or Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish, and shows how Fish used social gatherings to gain power and influence.

Yu, Kaila. Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty. Crown. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593728017. 256p. $30. MEMOIR

Yu, former pinup model and lead singer of Nylon Pink, writes a memoir-in-essays that explores the pervasive and destructive stereotypes about Asian women and their bodies that shaped her life; she also shares her journey to healing.

History

Al-Rashid, Moudhy. Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History. Norton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781324036425. 336p. $29.99. HISTORY

Historian Al-Rashid (Oxford Univ.) debuts with a consideration of Mesopotamian artifacts that illuminate the personal qualities of ancient people—for instance, a classroom tablet that reveals a centuries-long history of student anxiety.

Baron, David. The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze That Captured Turn-of-the-Century America. Liveright. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781324090663. 336p. $31.99. HISTORY

Award-winning Baron (The Beast in the Garden; American Eclipse), formerly a science journalist, writes about the early-1900s frenzy after the wealthy Percival Lowell convinced scientists that Martians existed.

Boin, Douglas. Clodia of Rome: Champion of the Republic. Norton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781324035671. 288p. $29.99. HISTORY

Boin (history, Saint Louis Univ.; Alaric the Goth) writes about a murder trial in the late Roman Republic that illustrates the role and power of women. He uses details of the court case to reveal how the men who later wrote the history of classical antiquity worked to erase important women figures such as Clodia.

Gayle, Caleb. Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State. Riverhead. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593543795. 304p. $33. HISTORY

Award-winning Gayle (journalism, Northeastern Univ.; We Refuse To Forget: A True Story of Black Creeks, American Identity, and Power) writes about Edward McCabe, a Black man who wanted to create a Black state within Oklahoma at the end of the Civil War.

Hutton, Paul Andrew. The Undiscovered Country: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West. Dutton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781524746131. 576p. $35. HISTORY

Hutton (history, Univ. of New Mexico; The Apache Wars) writes about westward expansion through the point of view of seven figures: Daniel Boone, Sitting Bull, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill Cody, Mangas Coloradas, Davy Crockett, and Red Eagle.

Queeney, Tim. Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization. St. Martin’s. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250346452. 336p. $27. HISTORY

Journalist Queeney offers a microhistory of the humble rope, tracing it across time and purpose, from the building of pyramids to Magellan’s ships to the creation of the Brooklyn Bridge. He even looks into the future of rope made with synthetic materials and its role in space exploration.

Science

Brannen, Peter. The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World. Ecco. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063036987. 512p. $32. SCIENCE

Science journalist Brannen (The Ends of the World, named one of Vox’s Most Important Books of the Decade) explains the critical role of CO2 on Earth, from prehistory to its potential effects on humanity’s future. With a 75K-copy first printing.

Marlow, Jeff. The Dark Frontier. Random. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780593230183. 400p. $32. SCIENCE

Marine microbiologist and deep-sea explorer Marlow (Boston Univ.) elucidates the ocean’s scientific marvels and considers its importance for life on Earth.

McKibben, Bill. Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization. Norton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781324106234. 224p. $29.99. SCIENCE

Environmentalist McKibben (The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon) explores the potential of solar energy to cut emissions and limit climate change’s damage.

Social Sciences

Bates, Laura. The New Age of Sexism: How Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny. Sourcebooks. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781464234361. 336p. $28.99. SOCIAL SCIENCE

Bates (Men Who Hate Women), founder of the Everyday Sexism project, looks at how AI and digital technologies are enabling new forms of sexism—and what to do about it.

Dahl, Lindsay. Cleaning House: The Fight To Rid Our Homes of Toxic Chemicals. Dey Street. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780063375598. 272p. $29.99. SOCIAL SCIENCE

Activist Dahl has spearheaded the passage of over 20 public health laws banning toxic ingredients in consumer products. Here she explains the dangers of the toxic chemicals in everyday household items and how to adopt clean-living habits and reduce exposure to microplastics.

Fine, Cordelia. Patriarchy Inc.: What We Get Wrong About Gender Equality and Why Men Still Win at Work. Norton. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781324064749. 320p. $29.99. SOCIAL SCIENCE

Fine (history and philosophy of science, Univ. of Melbourne; Testosterone Rex) considers theories from multiple disciplines to offer insight into the gender inequality in both paid and unpaid work, plus ideas for reform in the workplace.

Foster, Nick. Could Should Might Don’t: How We Think About the Future. MCD. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9780374619350. 352p. $30. SOCIAL SCIENCE

Foster is a designer and futurist who has worked with companies such as Google, Sony, Nokia, and Dyson. This guide shares how he thinks about the future and explains how readers might imagine, shape, and make the future better for themselves. With a 100K-copy first printing.

Ray, Ranita. Slow Violence: Confronting Dark Truths in the American Classroom. St. Martin’s. Aug. 2025. ISBN 9781250288301. 336p. $30. SOCIAL SCIENCE

Ray (sociology, Univ. of New Mexico; The Making of a Teenage Service Class) exposes the indifference, racism, verbal and emotional abuse, and harassment that marginalized students experience in the U.S. public education system and proposes a new perspective on education reform.