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Books in August - Book recommendations
- The Little Bookshop
- Aug 1
- 7 min read
We bet you can’t wait for some of these releases… we know we can’t! It looks like August is a promising month full of great new adventures. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Contemporary
The Storytellers by Sue Heath (14 August)
Because we love to add more books to our “About Books” section!
Everyone has a story… The local library is a place for community members to enjoy a cup of coffee, to read a book, to swap a book, to exchange ideas, and maybe even share a piece of themselves. It’s also a refuge for people like Hattie, looking to reconnect with her past, and Avril, trying to hide from the future, and Stuart, searching for a new purpose, and librarian Will, whose life has been spun in an unexpected direction. Apart, they could not be more different from one another, but when a flyer for a writing competition draws Hattie, Avril, Stuart and Will together, they come to discover that a good story doesn't just open your eyes, but also your world…
Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders (19 August)
Because this sounds intriguing!
Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training--she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she's also a powerful witch. Serena, Jamie's mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories. Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn't know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path. Now it's up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.
The Healing Hippo Of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama & translated by Takami Nieda (14 August)
Because everyone loved What You Are Looking For is in the Library.
Nestling at the bottom of a five-storey apartment block is the children's playground, Hinode Park. If you look to the side, standing on stubby legs, is a hippo. Its upturned eyes give it a teary look, yet for decades, its quiet power has sustained the hearts of one community. Meet the neighbours who will reach out to kabahiko : -Kanato presses his head to the hippo's cheek, hoping to recover the stellar marks he once scored; - Sawa, a lonely new mother, strokes its mouth, hopes to connect as she once did when she was an award-winning retail assistant; - Chiharu, a wedding-planner, hopes to be able to listen for the happiness of others; - Yuya avoids sports day with a fake injury, only to find he really is in pain; - despite Kazuhiko's fading eyes from too much editorial work, he will learn to see life's everyday wonders.
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (26 August)
Because… well this is the most anticipated book of the Summer?!
Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world. That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault. Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams…. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion. With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like. But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.
YA Books
Love on Sight by Asli Jensen (14 August)
Because Summer means romance - sometimes.
Sabrina has her life planned out – she’s going to pass her A levels and go to university. But then she meets Jalaal, a boy trapped on the wrong path, desperate for a way out. An English Jamaican girl and a Somali Muslim boy being together isn’t straightforward, with cultural expectations, disapproving family and religious differences to overcome. But is that the struggle you face when you fall in love on sight?
The Book of Heartbreak by Ova Ceren (26 August)
Because this changes a bit the romantasy genre.
Sare Silverbirch has already had her heart broken four times, and a fifth heartbreak will stop her heart forever. Such is the nature of the curse she was born under, which forces her to live a life without letting anyone get too close. Then her mother dies unexpectedly, and Sare begins to question the curse. Where did it come from? Why her? And rather than accept it, could there be a way to break it? Her questions lead her to Istanbul where she meets Leon, a seer who helps her track down the mysteries of her mother's past. But Sare's heart is a fragile thing and their blossoming romance poses a great risk to her survival. Especially when she discovers that her fate is in the hands of celestials beyond this earthly realm. And now the heavens are stirring, for they have a stake in Sare's destiny and they don't like their plans being overturned. Will Sare unravel the secrets of the past before the curse claims her forever?
A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson (28 August)
Because dragons!
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies, and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker—if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die. As Viv begins to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it.
The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith (28 August)
Because fae, sisters, and romance.
Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen. High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste. But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin… and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her. Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart, and at the centre of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything.
Children’s Books
The Moonlighters by Lee Newbery (7 August)
Because they say “Peter Pan meets Oliver Twist”.
When ten-year-old Theo runs off from a school trip to London's Natural History Museum and decides to pay his gran a surprise visit, he discovers the surprise is on him - his gran is on holiday and Theo finds himself alone in the big city with nowhere to turn. Enter Alistair Goodfellow, a mysterious, flamboyant young person with a charismatic twinkle in their eye. Alistair offers Theo a room at the Casablanca Lily - by day, a run-down and unloved hotel; by night, a palace of magical wonders. Each night, Alistair sends their found family of runaways and ne'er-do-wells, the Moonlighters, out into London in search of lost magical artefacts, gifting them their own magical powers as a reward. Theo is quickly enthralled, but there is more to Alistair than meets the eye, and soon Theo comes to realize that the items Alistair is hunting could be more dangerous than he'd ever imagined . . .
Brave Bears Don't Get Scared by Suzy Senior (7 August)
Because kids need to know that everyone gets scared every now and then.
Surely NOTHING can spook brave bears, fierce dragons or tough scorpions? Well, you'd be surprised! Fierce or tough - we ALL get scared - however big or small, but how we face our fears can be the BRAVEST thing of all!
By My Side by Hollie Hughes (14 August)
Because I loved The Girl and the Mermaid.
As a little girl and her mum discover some dinosaur footprints on the beach - one set small, one set large - they wonder who they could have belonged to. Come, Little Dino, the world is so wide. The safe place for you, is here by my side. Little Dino loves exploring the wide world with Mama, but when they get separated by a storm, can he be brave and find the way back to her side? Perhaps the kindness of others, and some clues in the sand, will help to lead Little Dino home…
The Fairy Tale Fixers: Cinderella by Deborah Underwood (28 August)
Because fairy tales… but different!
The Investigators meet The First Cat in Space in this hilarious graphic novel. Fairy and Mouse will forever change young readers’ perspectives on stepmothers, princes, and pumpkins as they help Cinderella set things right when her carriage veers off course. Every fairy tale needs a fairy. Because sometimes stories go off the rails, and this fairy knows just what to do to fix them. Actually, he doesn’t … He makes it up as he goes along. And sometimes he needs help. A lot of help. Which is where Mouse comes in. Together, she and Fairy will make sure this tale has a happily ever after—just maybe not the one you expect.
We hope you enjoyed our little list and that it gave you some book inspiration!
Looking to pre-order one of these books? Just follow the path! 👇
This blog post is written by The Little Bookshop, your bookshop for English books in Rennes.
