For Your Consideration: August 2025 LibraryReads Titles

Download, read, and vote for your favorite August titles for the August 2025 LibraryReads list!

VOTES DUE JULY 1ST!

AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz | 9781250357465 | 8/5/25
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“Perfect for fans both of Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot series and Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes (2022), this book is silly and poignant in turns, shifting from an octopuslike robot’s first hand-pulling attempts to an ex-military bot’s difficult past memories. Newitz (The Terraformers, 2023) has gifted sf readers with a hopeful, postapocalyptic found-family tale.”—Booklist, starred review

LESSONS IN MAGIC AND DISASTER by Charlie Jane Anders | 9781250867322 | 8/19/25
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“Can magic solve all your problems? Unlikely, says this thoughtful, impactful work of fantasy… Much to ponder, much to cry over and rage against, much to appreciate.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

THE MARIGOLD COTTAGES MURDER COLLECTIVE by Jo Nichols | 9781250356543 | 8/19/25
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“Crisp dialogue, well-clued twists, and robustly drawn characters conspire to make this a memorable new entry in the cozy field. Readers will hope a sequel is on the way.”—Publishers Weekly

LUCKY DAY by Chuck Tingle | 9781250398659 | 8/12/25
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“Tingle’s latest (after Bury Your Gays, 2024) is an absurd romp, but underneath the off-the-wall mayhem lies his most sophisticated work to date… For fans of satirical, tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek speculative works as wide ranging as Jasper Fforde’s Lost in a Good Book (2002), Percival Everett’s Dr. No (2022), and the novels of Jason Pargin.”—Booklist

THE ONCE AND FUTURE ME by Melissa Pace | 9781250358677 | 8/19/25
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“In her debut novel, Pace asks intriguing questions about the nature of reality. Mixing elements of dystopia with feminist historical fiction, Pace creates a winning psychological thriller that will have readers eagerly turning the pages.”—Booklist

THE HOUNDING by Xenobe Purvis | 9781250366382 | 8/5/25
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DOMINION by Addie E. Citchens | 9780374609337 | 8/19/25
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Reverend Sabre Winfrey, shepherd of the Seven Seals Baptist Church, believes in God, his own privilege, and enterprise. Besides the barbershop and radio station he owns, he has an iron hand on every aspect of Dominion, Mississippi, society. He and his wife, Priscilla, have five boys; the youngest, Emanuel, is called Wonderboy—no one sings prettier, runs as fast, or turns as many heads. After a surprising encounter with a stranger, Wonderboy finds himself confronted by questions he’d never imagined, and his response will send shockwaves through the entire community. Told from the point of view of the women who love these two men, DOMINION illustrates how we enable the everyday violence and casual sins of the patriarchy.

HIGH SEASON by Katie Bishop | 9781250283931 | 8/12/25
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On a beautiful summer’s night twenty years ago, troubled seventeen-year-old Tamara Drayton was found floating face-down in the pool of her family’s idyllic mansion in the south of France, leaving her twin brother, golden-boy Blake, to pick up the pieces of their shattered family. Also left behind was their sister Nina who, at six years old, became the youngest person ever to testify in a French murder trial. Because she’s the only one who saw what happened—who watched as her babysitter, Josie Jackson, pushed Tamara under the water, and held her there until she stopped breathing. Didn’t she? Twenty years later, Nina’s memories have faded, leaving her with no idea of what really transpired that night. When a new true crime documentary about her sister’s murder is announced, Nina thinks this might be her chance to finally find out. But the truth always comes at a cost. Who will pay the price?

THE WITCH’S ORCHARD by Archer Sullivan | 9781250338686 | 8/12/25
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Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up. Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past. In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been buried, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.

WELL, ACTUALLY by Mazey Eddings | 9781250333315 | 8/5/25
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FOR THE RECORD by Emma Lord | 9781250845320 | 8/12/25
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Once the most notorious rivals in the music scene, pop princess Mackenzie Waters and punk rockstar Sam Blaze electrified audiences as their bands clashed on stage. But behind the scenes, their simmering tension grew into something more—until suddenly both bands fell apart, and the idea of Mackenzie and Sam did, too. Two years later, Sam has traded the rockstar lifestyle for a quiet life raising the son he didn’t know about. Meanwhile, Mackenzie is dealing with a postoperative change in her voice by only singing under a pseudonym. The only way to revive their public careers? A joint comeback album. With fans over the moon and their futures on the line, Sam and Mackenzie face their biggest challenge yet: giving up the old rivalry and learning to work together. But as old sparks fly and new secrets emerge, they set off a chain reaction neither of them could have anticipated—one that proves that sometimes, the greatest hits are the ones yet to be written.

TONI AND ADDIE GO VIRAL by Melissa Marr | 9781250364890 | 8/12/25
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On a whim—and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind—Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show. Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart… and her historically accurate underthings.

HERE FOR A GOOD TIME by Pyae Moe Thet War | 9781250330550 | 8/26/25
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Poe Myat Sabei has the publishing career that any writer would kill for: her first novel sold at auction, became an international number one bestseller, and is being turned into a Netflix film. But now on deadline for her second book, Poe is facing a catastrophic case of writer’s block. The solution? Book a two-week getaway to an exclusive island resort for her and her best friend Zwe where she’ll undoubtedly be inspired to write her next bestseller. But the vacation of their dreams disintegrates in a flash when the resort is taken over by a group of masked women who are very armed and very angry. As they try to leave the island before the group can track them down, Poe and Zwe suddenly find themselves facing the kinds of conflicts that only come up when, well, you’re trapped in a life or death situation on a remote island with your (hot) best friend.