20 late-summer must-reads coming in August

Don't write this summer off entirely just yet: Literature has been plotting a late-breaking boost for our reading lists. August's book lineup is the strongest of the season, with sought-after debut novels, eerie dystopias, and a few good-old-fashioned thrillers. 

One part Zadie Smith, one part Ottessa Moshfegh, and one part entirely its own thing, this debut novel (by a former student of Smith's, no less) is as electric as it is eye-opening. It's a coming-of-age tale in the most 2020 of ways: Edie, the young Black protagonist, struggles to succeed — or, rather, just survive — in New York (she's an aspiring artist with an assistant gig at a prominent children's book publisher) as the weight of the systems that set her up to fail bear down on her. Her narrations of everything from her office romances to daily microaggressions she suffers to a stint living with her married boyfriend's family make it a page-turner. (August 4)

A post-Me Too novel with a side of revenge, Berman's debut centers around the film industry. A former teen star, Grace Turner, emerges from her private life to present a lifetime achievement award to her former mentor (a famous director) and decides to finally come forward with a very big secret. (August 4) 

Fundamentally an unconventional family story, Persaud’s electrifying first novel is set in her native Trinidad and allows her nuanced, vibrant cast of characters to speak in its dialect and hum to its daily rhythms. That specificity — and personal touch — allows its affecting, universal themes of loneliness and romance to resonate all the more deeply. (August 4)

The year’s blockbuster teen thriller — from former EW staffer Jessica Goodman — takes on the sticky nuances of friendship and privilege. There’s murder! Prep school intrigue! Oh, and a major TV series already in development. (August 4)

If you've ever thought to yourself, I wish there were a beach read kind of like the movie Book Club, but more emotionally complex — look no further. Centered around three women in their 70s who gather at a beach house to honor their recently-passed fourth best friend, The Weekend explores the complexities of lifelong relationships and the roles we all inhabit to keep them. (August 4)

Migrations takes place in a near-future world where all but a few species of animals have died out, but it isn't a dystopian thriller. Instead, it's a character study of Franny Stone, an aspiring scientist with a tragic personal life who manages to convince a ship crew to help her follow the very last migration of arctic terns. (August 4)

The ever-acclaimed author and Princeton University professor elegantly unfurls the fates of two twin sisters each born on a rural Texas prairie, but bound for far different fates across continents, ranging from triumph to tragedy. Continuing White’s singular explorations of class and sexuality, this novel spans decades, and gets richer as it goes. (August 4)

Emezi is the name behind both one of the best debut novels (Freshwater) and one of the best YA novels (Pet) in the last few years. Now the author returns with a distinctive, fresh take on the murder mystery with echoes of Toni Morrison, that explores queer identity and what it means to lose a child. (August 4)

Meyer’s “Edward Cullen” perspective spin on her phenomenon breakout had been the stuff of unrealized legend for years, ever since its existence in early draft form leaked onto the internet. After that indefinite delay, Meyer has re-emerged with the finished book, mirroring the events of the original Twilight novel. (August 4)

Could this be the great climate change novel of our time? Buzz is building fast for the epic debut novel of Diane Cook, which, despite not being published yet, is already longlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize. (August 11)

Three teenagers struggle with the various existential issues of their individual lives: One while living in the shadows in Karachi's slums, one as a member of Karachi's one-percent due to his father's criminal enterprise, and another on the receiving end of anti-Islamic racism in England. They eventually cross paths in Mosul, Iraq after they each leave home to join up with Jihadi soldiers — and their lives instantly become intertwined by a haunting tragedy. (August 18)

Sara Seager is about as famous as famous astrophysicists get — she currently works at MIT discovering exoplanets. Her memoir explores the significance of her work and research while also offering up the raw nerve of her personal life: The tragic death of her husband and father of her two sons. (August 18)

Marcom’s wrenching border-crossing tale arrives as a sort of corrective to the ever-controversial American Dirt. The New American offers its own epic sweep, as Emilio, an undocumented Guatemalan-American college student, gets deported from his Bay Area neighborhood and tries to make the dangerous trek home without alerting his mother. (August 18)

How many things can go wrong at once? Protagonist Margo Dunlop is suffering a breakup, secretly pregnant, mourning the death of her adoptive mother, and discovers that her birth mother was actually murdered years ago. She could focus on the problems already on her plate, but naturally, she opts to get heavily involved in the decades-old crime. (August 18) 

A traditional beach read this is not — unless your idea of a beach read involves ugly sobbing for a few hundred pages. But this work of autofiction (the titular Betty is McDaniel's mother) is so beautiful you won't care about the tears. It tells of a half-Cherokee family growing up in Appalachian Ohio in the mid-1900s, suffering the effects of their town's blatant racism and personal tragedies while imbuing their lives with a sense of mysticism and tradition passed down from their larger-than-life father. (August 18)

It's the World War II-themed YA thriller you've been waiting for! A 17-year-old Soviet soldier commits treason in Poland and is rescued by a group of Ukrainian rebels, forcing him to decide whose side he's really on, and who to trust. (August 25)

YA powerhouse Shannon Hale has written a story about a high school acting prodigy who fails out of Broadway miserably and finds herself quite literally inside a book she picks up. (August 25)

The youngest-ever Booker Prize finalist (Everything Under) tracks two teen sisters less than a year apart in age, as they confront a shocking discovery. (August 25)

The author of the best-selling phenomenon H Is for Hawk takes flight again in this collection, a profound meditation on life and freedom as told in stories of swifts, vespers, and more. (August 25)

One of the quieter literary achievements of the past decade wraps with Summer, the final chapter in Smith’s seasonal quartet of novels. Fittingly for this moment, this portrait of family love and a world in meltdown considers the possibility of true change in us all. (August 25)