August Books on Deck

10 books coming out in August that should be on your TBR for the month including new books from two legends, an unpublished book from 1946, and a war dog book!

How is it almost August? I feel crazy thinking we’re already this deep into 2026, but we are. Time is the most disorienting thing humans have ever created. Anyway, let me come back to the task at hand before I spiral into some weird time rabbit hole.

So, new books anyone?

This month I’ve got 10 books for you. I’m not that excited about August books in general, if I’m being honest¹. But then ten books below feel like books I will actually read and enjoy. A few war books, a terrorist book, some pop culture books. Its a very me list even if it feels a little quiet.

And don’t forget everything I have my eyes on (aka made my spreadsheet) for August and beyond is on my #teampreorder list on Bookshop.org.

The books here are listed alphabetically by pub date, and anything I’ve read (or at least started) appears in bold.

• Etna by Paul Yoon (August 4)
  A novel narrated by a dog, I know very not me, but it’s a war dog who did war stuff and then tries to get home. The writing is sparse, which works in this barren landscape of post-war life.

• Hiroshima 8:15: The Lost Memoir by Kiyoshi Tanimoto (August 4)
  You all know I am a fan of Hiroshima by John Hersey; it is a true nonfiction classic. In that book, he interviews six people who survived the Hiroshima bombing. One of them, Kiyoshi Tanimoto, wrote his own memoir. Up until now, that book had never been released. Needless to say, I am excited for Hiroshima 8:15.

• Triage by Claudia Rankine (August 4)
  I mean, it’s new Claudia Rankine! This book sounds sorta theoretical. It’s about a friendship and the idea of collapse. I have no clue what any of this means, but as I said, it’s new Claudia Rankine.

• Whyteface by A. Igoni Barrett (August 4)
  This is a book about a Black Nigerian who wakes up white and then a few years later decides to go on vacation in Europe. It’s satire, which I love. It’s a book about racial dynamics, which I love. And it’s short, which I love.

• Capitalism is Sexism by Doortje Smithuijsen translated by Erica Moore (August 11)
  A very slim book that explores the ways capitalism exploits women. It also delves into motherhood, success, beauty, and the constant call to spend in order to get ahead.

• The Jackal: The Rise and Fall of Carlos, the World’s First Super-Terrorist by Joby Warrick (August 18)
  I think that subtitle is doing all the work it needs to do. Plus, Joby Warrick is a Pulitzer-winning author, which is just the icing on the cake. A Bad Guy Biography™ is very much my kink.

• A Very Special Episode by Camille Acker (August 18)
  Can I just say, first and foremost, that I really like this cover. I don’t know (or want to know) too much about this satire of a young Black woman trying to cement her elite family’s legacy by entering into some shady dealings. It sounds like it has the potential to be a book about a woman making very bad choices. Which is, of course, my favorite genre.

• The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State by Jill Lepore (August 25)
  Jill Lepore taking on AI, yeah sure, sign me up!

• Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America by Rozina Ali (August 25)
  I have a sense of the ways Islamophobia functions in the USA, but a book that deeply reports on that history and how the prejudices show up in policy and lived experience sounds like it will very much be my jam. Not to mention Patrick Radden Keefe gave it a glowing blurb².

• Tangled: Seven Iconic Moments in White Women’s Hair and What They Tell Us About Power, Pleasure, and Complicity by Sarah Mesle (August 25)
  A book about white women and the politics of their hair is a fantastic idea. I’m hopeful that the execution will live up to the subject matter.

See, August has a little something something going for it. What is on your August list? Anything I left off that you’re super jazzed about?

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1. And I am being honest, because we’re friends, right? RIGHT?

2. Blurbs don’t really matter to me, but PRK often blurbs really good narrative nonfiction, so like, I don’t ignore his name when I see it. Actually I never ignore his name.