August can be a bittersweet month, the point at which summer begins to wind down even as the weather turns ever more dank. With that in mind, our August book recommendations cover a lot of potential reactions to the month at hand. Looking for a gripping thriller to page through at the beach? We can help you there. In search of the perfect read for a new European soccer season? There’s something for that as well. Throw in memoir, cultural history and a retrospective of a beloved television show, and you have a reading list that should keep you busy this month.
John Preston and Elton John, Watford Forever: How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other (Aug. 27)
Long before buying a soccer team became the go-to thing for celebrities to do, Elton John purchased the storied English club Watford F.C., then at a low point in the team’s history. In collaboration with John, journalist John Preston explored this period in soccer history — and where it intersected with of one of the biggest names in music.
Chris La Tray, Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian’s Journey Home (Aug. 20)
Musician, storyteller and Poet Laureate of the state of Montana — Chris La Tray is a busy man. (It’s also worth mentioning that he publishes one of the most eminently readable newsletters currently going.) In telling the story of how he became aware of his Indigenous identity, La Tray blends his personal story with larger questions of histories political and cultural.
Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service (Aug. 13)
We may no longer be in the era of Peak TV, but we are still in a golden age of books about Peak TV. And if there hasn’t been a retrospective look back at your favorite show yet, there’s probably one in the works. What makes What’s Next an especially intriguing inside look at the making of an acclaimed show (The West Wing, in this case) is the involvement of cast members from that show. In this case, both Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack bring an actor’s perspective to the series — and its legacy.
Evan Friss, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore (Aug. 6)
The best bookstores aren’t just places to buy works of fiction and nonfiction; instead, they’re hubs for culture and community. Odds are good that if you’re reading this, you probably have a bookstore of choice as well. Evan Friss’s new book provides a comprehensive look at how bookstores in the United States have evolved over the centuries — and what they’ve meant and continue to mean.
Rosie Schaap, The Slow Road North: How I Found Peace in an Improbable Country (Aug. 20)
Rosie Schaap knows memoir. Her first book, Drinking With Men, is one of the best works of nonfiction I’ve read on communities, full stop. Schaap’s new book looks at her life from a very different angle, taking her through both devastating grief and the discovery of a potential new home across the ocean in County Antrim, Ireland. Schaap is an incisive, candid writer, and The Slow Road North reveals an unexplored side of her literary life.
Snowden Wright, The Queen City Detective Agency (Aug. 13)
A city down on its luck, a powerful organized crime syndicate and a private detective looking for long-buried secrets. If you’re in the mood for thrills this August, Snowden Wright’s latest transports the reader to Meridian, Mississippi in 1985, where one detective’s investigation into a murder begins to reverberate in dangerous places.
Bill Schutt, Bite: An Incisive History of Teeth, from Hagfish to Humans (Aug. 13)
In recent years, it’s become more and more clear that there’s no real distinction between dental health and overall health. How else do teeth relate to the larger experience we have of making our way through the world? That’s a question zoologist Bill Schutt takes up in his new book, venturing back into prehistoric times to trace the ways teeth have helped fuel evolution over millions of years. And if you’ve ever wanted to rattle off tooth facts at parties with aplomb, this is a great starting point.
How a Now-Forgotten Mountain Man Helped Reshape the American West
Bob Drury and Tom Clavin on their book “Throne of Grace”
Laura Marris, The Age of Loneliness (Aug. 6)
Loneliness may have inspired countless sad songs, but it’s also a condition that can be dangerous for our long-term health. With her new essay collection The Age of Loneliness, Laura Marris explores another aspect of being alone: namely, what it says about the period in time we’re living in. Just how do loneliness, landscapes and ecology connect with one another? Reading this book may well answer that very question.
Tom Jeffreys (editor), Walking (Aug. 6)
What happens when art and physical action collide? If you’re familiar with Marina Abramović and Ulay’s 1976 walk over the Great Wall of China, you’re aware of one way that this can be done. In the new book Walking, editor Tom Jeffreys explores how a diverse group of artists have transformed a modest activity into the stuff of evocative creative work.
Steven Shaviro, Fluid Futures: Science Fiction and Potentiality (Aug. 13)
It isn’t hard to see how science fiction has influenced the world we live in, from the names of technology companies to the aesthetics of personal gear. In his latest book, Fluid Futures, Steven Shaviro brings his experience writing about the genre and its history to consider the ways science fiction may prepare its readers for changes in the world.
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