We’ve made it to the end of July. The month that rules all months. Today I’ve got a quick recap of all The Stacks episodes from July, a list of the August titles I’m most excited about (and there are a lot1), and finally a ranking of the 11 books I read in July. The last part is a 15 minute mini-podcast and is for paid subs only. If you want my unfiltered, piping hot bookish takes, you’ve gotta join the fun — plus becoming a paid member gets your bonus episodes, my weekly hates in Show & Tell, access to my Nonfiction Reading Guide, and it makes it possible for me to share free stuff like The Nonfiction Files.
The Stacks July Recap
Dana A. Williams, professor of African American literature and author of the new biography of Toni Morrison, Toni at Random, was on the show to discuss her taste in books and Morrison’s impact.
The women of the Decisions, Decisions podcast2, Mandii B and WeezyWTF talked to me about vulnerability, sex writing, and shame and of course their new book No Holes Barred.
For the bonus episode this month, we flipped the script and the folks at the LA Review of Books Radio Hour interviewed me. I have heard from so many of you about how much you liked this one as an inside look into my thinking around books.
Thanks to Megan Greenwell and her book Bad Company I now have a healthy understanding and rage and obsession with private equity.
A Flower Traveled in My Blood is going to be one of the books of the year, it is an incredible work of narrative nonfiction and research. The author, Haley Cohen Gilliland, came on the podcast to talk about her process, this story, and the ethics of journalism.
Toni Morrison Month is always one of my favorites around these parts, and this month with Dana A. Williams is no exception. We read God Help the Child and that tiny book gave us so much to discuss.
August Books On Deck
I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news, August looks like a stacked month. Truly. I have 25 titles on my list this month. The bad news, I cannot morally include a list of 25 books for a single month. I am not that person. So, in an act of true bravery, I have whittled my list down to 18 books3. But look, if I’m being honest, you and I both know, 18 is still way too many. I’m sorry. I promise to be more cutthroat in September. Unfortunately, August cannot and will not be tamed.
The books are listed here in publishing order, and anything I’ve already read (or started) appears in bold.
Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama by Alexis Okeowo (August 5)
A sort of memoir meets history about Alabama and the author’s own family story.The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff (August 5)
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the US dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Garrett M. Graff is back with another of his signature oral histories to tell the story of the Manhattan Project and the bombings.King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson (August 5)
Scott Anderson is a legend of nonfiction whose work I have never read, so for that alone, I am excited about King of Kings, and add to that this is a book about Iran and US relations a history I know basically nothing about.Moderation by Elaine Castillo (August 5)
A novel about a content moderator at a major virtual reality company, by an author that is as smart as they come? Sign me up.Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by Susana M. Morris (August 5)
Am I crazy to think that 2025 feels like the year of the Black literary titan biography?4 I love to see it. I mean do I need to say more about why I am excited about this one? I feel like you know the vibes.Solitaria by Eliana Alvez Cruz translated by Benjamin Brooks (August 5)
This novel, from Brazil, is the story of a mother and daughter pair who are live-in-maids and are witnesses to the tragic death of a child.Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color edited by Denne Michele Norris (August 12)
Can I come clean? I am a Denne Michele fan, anything she touches, I want a piece of. So this collection feels like a no brainer. Also, the title is *chef’s kiss*.The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990 (August 12)
A book about NYC that is being called “A sweeping chronicle of four tumultuous years in 1980s New York that changed the city forever—and anticipated the forces that would soon divide the nation”, from the author of The Bronx Is Burning.The Grand Paloma Resort by Cleyvis Natera (August 12)
Family drama and rich people mess collide at a resort in the Dominican Republic. I’m told the novel is thriller-ish and being touted as a book for fans of White Lotus.Loved One by Aisha Muharrar (August 12)
A novel from an emmy-winning TV writer5 about two women who connect after the sudden death of a shared mutual ex.Rehab: An American Scandal by Shoshana Walter (August 12)
A new work of investigative journalism that digs into the rehab industrial complex from a Pulitzer finalist.Vulture by Phoebe Greenwood (August 12)
A satire on “the war news industry” set in Gaza in 2012 with a reporter who is using the war as a way to boost her own celebrity at home and maybe win back her lover.Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs (August 19)
A biography of the great James Baldwin that uses his most intimate romantic relationships as a lens to examine his life and work.Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City by Bench Ansfield (August 19)
A book investigating the wave of arsons throughout American cities that enriched landlords and destroyed communities of color across the country.Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (August 19)
tells me a book is legit, then I gotta be excited. Not to mention this one is on The Center for Fiction’s longlist for first novel prize. I started it and so far the writing is *chef’s kiss*. It is set in Mississippi and is a family drama story set around a reverend’s son.
You know I am not really a novel girlie, but whenThe Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound: A Memoir by Raymond Antrobus (August 19)
This memoir about deafness has been compared to one of my favorite books from a few years back, The Country of the Blind, which makes it a no-brainer.Where Are You Really From?: Stories by Elaine Hsieh Chou (August 19)
Chou’s debut novel, Disorientation, was a book I picked up for a panel I was moderating and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I look forward to this collection that, if it is anything like the novel, will be funny, a little dark and twisty, and critique racial and cultural norms that are absurd and hypocritical.Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs & the Police Killing That Galvanized New York City by LaShawn Harris (August 26)
In 1984 NYC, a Black grandmother, Eleanor Bumpurs, was shot and killed by an NYPD officer for being a few months behind on rent and facing eviction. This book explores this murder and its lasting impacts.
I am sure even with this mega-list I am missing some exciting August releases, so which books coming out this month are you most looking forward to?
I read 11 books in July. Mostly I liked everything I read and finished (but I did DNF quite a few). Sometimes you gotta crack a few eggs before you find your prince, or whatever the saying is. Also, weirdly, July ended up being my “white lady summer” reading month. I didn’t plan it that way, but I was deep in the demographic. I guess, sometimes patterns just emerge in our reading lives. Below I’ve ranked all 11 books for my paid subs, and if you want the tea on these titles now you gotta join the fun.
