Welcome to August! This month’s noteworthy new-in-paperback selections range from popular fiction to indie press excellence to hard-hitting historical investigations — and because it’s an election year, we’ll even throw in a major political memoir for good measure. Don’t worry, though, there’s still plenty of escapist fun to keep you entertained and distracted on your summer vacation. “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama (Crown, $25).
Nearly four full years after its hardcover release, the first volume of Barack Obama’s presidential memoirs is finally out in a (slightly) more economical paperback edition. Though “A Promised Land” doesn’t reach the aspirational heights of our 44 th president’s first memoir, “Dreams from My Father,” it is vastly better-written and much more introspective than his 2006 campaign quickie, “The Audacity of Hope.” “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama” by Nathan Thrall (Metropolitan Books, $18.
99). Subtitled “Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy,” this acclaimed winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction begins with a traffic accident involving a school bus full of kids near Jerusalem. A Palestinian father tries to find out where his son has been taken after the crash, and The New York Times raves that Nathan Thrall uses his story to “shuttle nimbly between the viewpoints of frantic families and Palestinian leaders as well as Israeli officials and nearby settlers.
” “Nothing Special” by Nicole Flattery (Bloomsbury Publishing, $17.99). In the summer of 1966, a teenage girl lands a job in Andy Warhol’s typing pool in this coming-of-age story by a promising young Irish novelist.
“Nothing Special” evokes the same literary lost-girl vibes as recent bestsellers like Emma Cline’s “The Guest,” but the narrative is wrapped around an intriguing exploration of art, work and fame. “The Pairing” by Casey McQuiston (St. Martin’s Griffin, $20).
The author of the runaway LGBTQ+ romance sensation “Red, White & Royal Blue” returns with the story of a bisexual couple who, four years after breaking up in a spectacular fashion, accidentally find themselves both signed up for a glamorous tour of some of Europe’s finest dining experiences. Don’t you hate when that happens? “Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend” by MJ Wassmer (Sourcebooks Landmark, $16.99).
Disastrous-but-luxurious vacations are all the rage this month! MJ Wassmer’s apocalyptic satire centers on a schlubby dude who is trying to enjoy his first vacation in years. Unfortunately, the sun explodes and panicked locals try to take over his idyllic island resort by force. “The Story Collector” by Evie Woods (One More Chapter, $18.
99). But not every fictional vacation needs to be apocalyptic. While visiting Ireland, an American uncovers a 100-year-old mystery about a translator of fairy tales in this novel that deftly explores Irish folklore and history.
“Bright Young Women” by Jessica Knoll (S&S/Marysue Rucci Books, $18.99). Two survivors of a serial killer’s deadly attack on a sorority house in 1978 team up to help catch the killer in Jessica Knoll’s latest novel, which explores the complicated landscape of true crime storytelling and America’s bizarre fascination with serial killers.
“The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA” by Liza Mundy (Crown, $22). From its founding in the days after World War II, the CIA has always enlisted women to serve as spies, codebreakers and data analysts. Liza Mundy’s sweeping account, which was honored as one of the best books of 2023 by both Foreign Policy and Smithsonian magazines, spans eight decades and reveals some of the greatest untold stories in American spycraft.
“Wordhunter” by Stella Sands (Harper Paperbacks, $18.99). A sloppy but talented student of forensic linguistics is summoned to help solve the abduction of a Florida mayor in this thriller that will appeal to fans of mysteries and wordplay alike.
Think Wordle meets "CSI: Miami" and you’re on the right track. “Hangman” by Maya Binyam (Picador, $18). Maya Binyam’s debut novel centers on an immigrant who receives a strange phone call that sends him back to the sub-Saharan African nation where he was born.
Though after nearly three decades away nothing and no one in his home is familiar to him, he keeps getting pulled further and further into a surreal search for his dying brother. “The Unmothers” by Leslie J. Anderson (Quirk Books, $18.
99). A recently widowed journalist is asked to investigate the claims that a horse has given birth to a human baby in this folk horror novel set in a rural community that’s hiding generational secrets. “Worst in Show” by Anna E.
Collins (Forever, $17.99). Dueling pet shop owners pit their most handsome dogs against each other at a high-stakes dog show in Anna E.
Collins’ lighthearted romantic comedy. Library Journal praises “Worst in Show” for its “protagonists who have great chemistry” and its “good balance of humor and depth,” and hey — even if the enemies-to-lovers romance doesn’t win you over, the very good dogs certainly will..
