With no holidays planned until October, this month I am really looking forward to discovering new places through books, like California or Sri Lanka. Plus, some favorite authors of mine have novels out in the next few weeks, so August looks like is going to be a great reading month:
Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Siobhan Curham - August 2nd
An uplifting story of friendship, unity and hope that highlights the important and topical issues surrounding young carers and young refugees.
Fourteen-year-old Stevie lives in Lewes with her beloved vinyl collection, her mum ... and her mum's depression. When Stevie's mum's disability benefits are cut, Stevie and her mother are plunged into a life of poverty. But irrepressible Stevie is determined not to be beaten and she takes inspiration from the lyrics of her father's 1980s record collection and dreams of a life as a musician. Then she meets Hafiz, a talented footballer and a Syrian refugee. Hafiz's parents gave their life savings to buy Hafiz a safe passage to Europe; his journey has been anything but easy. Then he meets Stevie...
As Stevie and Hafiz's friendship grows, they encourage each other to believe in themselves and follow their dreams.
Why so excited: last year I read Siobhan Curham's The Moonlight Dreamers series and really loved those inspirational and heart-warming stories. Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow sounds just as special and I am already looking forward to meeting these new characters.
Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber - August 2nd
Reiko loves the endless sky and electric colours of the Californian desert. It is a refuge from an increasingly claustrophobic life of family pressures and her own secrets. Then she meets Seth, a boy who shares a love of the desert and her yearning for a different kind of life. But Reiko and Seth both want something the other can’t give them. As summer ends, things begin to fall apart. But the end of love can sometimes be the beginning of you...
From the author of the acclaimed Wing Jones comes a 'break-up' book about a Japanese-American teenager, set in the Palm Springs desert, California. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything and Sara Barnard's Beautiful Broken Things.
Why so excited: Katherine Webber is another author I discovered last year with the amazing Wing Jones and I've heard a lot about this story on Twitter, especially as Walker Books even organized a prom dance to celebrate it. I would have loved to attend it!
In Bloom (Sweetpea 2) by CJ Skuse - August 9th
Makes Hannibal Lecter look like Mary Poppins… this is going to give me a serious book hangover’ John Marrs, author of The One
If only they knew the real truth. It should be my face on those front pages. My headlines. I did those things, not him. I just want to stand on that doorstep and scream it: IT WAS ME. ME. ME. ME. ME!
Rhiannon Lewis has successfully fooled the world and framed her cheating fiancé Craig for the depraved and bloody killing spree she committed. She should be ecstatic that she’s free.
Except for one small problem. She’s pregnant with her ex lover’s child. The ex-lover she only recently chopped up and buried in her in-laws garden. And as much as Rhiannon wants to continue making her way through her kill lists, a small voice inside is trying to make her stop.
But can a killer’s urges ever really be curbed?
Why so excited: Rhianon is back. I read Sweetpea last year and she is probably the most shocking and the darkest character I have ever met. But her dark humor and brutal honesty turned out to be highly entertaining. I am really looking forward to discovering her new life, now that she is with baby.
The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Klaus - August 9th
**Could you find your perfect man by looking at his book shelf?**
'Frankie, think about it. Literature is your life. You've been trawling Tinder looking for well-read intellectuals, but it's not working. Let's shake things up! Just use your favourite books to find a man.'
Frankie Rose is desperate for love. Or a relationship. Or just a date with a semi-normal person. It’s not that she hasn’t tried – Frankie is the queen of online dating. But she has had enough.
With the help of her best friend and colleague Cat, Frankie decides to embark on the ultimate dating experiment. Inspired by her surroundings at The Little Brunswick Bookshop where she works, Frankie places her hope in her favourite books to find her the perfect man… Secretly planting copies on trains, trams and buses, Frankie hopes to find the man of her dreams through a mutual love of good books. The only flaw to the plan? That she may never get her books back!
But that turns out to be the least of her worries... In between crazy dates and writing them up on her blog, Frankie stumbles upon her perfect man. There's just one problem...Frankie is strictly a Jane Austen kind of woman and Sunny is really into Young Adult. Seriously, obsessively into it...
Can Frankie overcome her book snobbery for the man of her dreams? Or will she be left searching the trains for her modern-day Mr Darcy forever?
Why so excited: this sounds like a bookworm's perfect story: literary references aplenty and finding love through books. I am really curious to see how the concepts translates to the page.
Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? By Holly Hebpurn - August 9th
Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference.
A place offering a shot at 'normality' for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for her new friends, who are all dealing with their own battles.
But as Olive settles in, she starts to wonder - maybe it's this messed up world that needs fixing, and not them. And so she comes up with a plan. Because together, snowflakes can form avalanches...
A trailblazing and painfully honest novel about mental health, friendship and making this crazy world a kinder place.
Why so excited: I only discovered Holly Bourne's YA books earlier this year, but I absolutely love them. I wish I could have read her stories, full of feminism discussions and great friendships, when I was a teenager myself. But no matter what age you are, hers are very important and special stories and this one sounds just as good.
The House of Birds and Butterflies by Cressida McLaughlin - August 9th
Abby Field loves every inch of Meadowsweet Nature Reserve on the idyllic Suffolk coast where she lives and works. Especially Swallowtail House, the rambling but empty country house that seems to look out at her each time she passes it’s shut-up windows.
When a TV wildlife programme choses a rival location for their new series, Meadowsweet is under threat – unless Abby can whip up a plan to keep the visitors flocking. But she finds herself distracted by the arrival of a brooding – and annoyingly handsome new neighbour… bad-boy novelist, Jack Westcoat.
With the pressure on, Abby and her cute rescue huskie, Raffle, must pull something special out of the bag. But with Jack in need of a good friend – and Abby feeling the pull of attraction, she can sense her resolve fluttering away…
Why so excited: Cressida Maclaughlin's stories are very feel-good and cosy and perfect to disconnect for a while from your busy life. I am definitely planning on reading this one by the pool and forgetting about everything else.
My Sisters and Me by Lisa Dickenson - August 23rd
They're fixing up their childhood home. It's going to get messy.
When Willow Lake asks her daughters for help renovating the family home, each has a reason to hesitate about returning to Maplewood...
For quiet and bookish Emmy going back to the town that ridiculed her fills her with dread.
The youngest Noelle is perfectly comfortable in herself now, but once wanted to fit in so badly that she walked away from her first love. A first love who still lives in Maplewood.
And outspoken Rae is painfully aware of how much the townspeople hurt her little sisters growing up. She didn't protect them then, but there's no way she'll let history repeat itself.
The sisters agree to go home and make the best of it. After all if they've changed over the years, it's possible the townspeople have too . . . isn't it?
The BRAND NEW feel-good, kick-ass novel about sisterhood and second chances. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk, Mhairi McFarlane and Anna Bell.
Why so excited: It's been too long since Lisa Dickenson published a story. I am so looking forward to her hilarious remarks and her strong and relatable characters! This will be such a treat.
One Thousand Stars and You by Isabelle Broom - August 23rd
One spark will light up both their lives
Alice is settling down. It might not be the adventurous life she once imagined, but more than anything she wants to make everyone happy - her steady boyfriend, her over-protective mother - even if it means a little part of her will always feel stifled.
Max is shaking things up. After a devastating injury, he is determined to prove himself. To find the man beyond the disability, to escape his smothering family and go on an adventure.
A trip to Sri Lanka is Alice's last hurrah - her chance to throw herself into the heat, chaos and colour of a place thousands of miles from home.
It's also the moment she meets Max.
Alice doesn't know it yet, but her whole life is about to change.
Max doesn't know it yet, but he's the one who's going to change it.
Why so excited: Isabelle Broom is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. Her stories are getting better and better with each new book and she always takes us readers to the most wonderful places. I cannot wait to discover our next destination, Sri Lanka.
While I Was Sleeping by Dani Atkins - August 23rd
A brand new and brilliant emotional family drama for fans of Jojo Moyes and Dorothy Koomson, from the bestselling author of Fractured.
I don't remember what happened or what has changed.
I can still hear your voices but you can't seem to hear me.
I was about to be married and had everything to look forward to.
Now I have to find a way back - to you, to our family, to us.
Why so excited: I've already read this one and wow. I ugly-cried, I laughed out loud and I am still missing these characters. A stunning story and highly recommended. I'll share my review this month, so don't miss it!
