The Bookish Mindset

Summer is winding down so it’s the perfect time to tell you about this month’s new releases. Get a cold drink with plenty of ice, feel the sun on your skin and get ready for a new book. Sounds perfect, right? It’s definitely the perfect time to pick up a book being the National Year of Reading too, we’re ready to Go All In!

So let me share some of my favourite new releases for the month. Just tap on the titles to get more info from Bookshop.org and to support my work. Or if you prefer an audiobook, then I’d definitely recommend Libro.fm!

Jacaranda – Gael Faye & Sarah Ardizzone (trans). Literary. Hardback. A man’s journey from Paris to Rwanda to confront genocide. I’m intrigured by this one! Publish date: 06/08.

Sky City – Jacqueline Crooks. Literary. Hardback. From the author of Fire Rush, comes a story of friendship, trauma and redemption. Set in 90s London. Publish date: 06/08.

Brigands & Breadknives – Travis Baldree. Paperback. Fantasy. Fern returns with her usual chaos in her bookshop with hungover goblins. Publish date: 06/08.

Take What You Can – Naima Coster. Literary. Hardback. Friends fall in love and now in their 30s are navigating imminent family life along with identity, motherhood and class. Publish date: 06/08.

Before We Say Goodbye – Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (trans). Magical Realism. Hardback. Another book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, in the time travelling café. Publish date: 06/08.

Season of the Serpent – Suyi Davies Okungbowa. Paperback. Fantasy. The final in this epic pre-colonised West African fantasy. I need to check this one out! Publish date: 11/08.

An Edge Sharp Enough – Jesse Q Sutanto. Hardback. Fantasy. From the author of Dial A for Aunties comes her fantasy debut, with assassins and more in a race to save the world. Publish date: 11/08.

Little Spark – Jess Kidd. Hardback. Literary. A Victorian orphan with electrifying gifts. Set against a London and Kent backdrop, this is set to be an interesting one! Publish date: 13/08.

The Left Behind Child – Romalyn Ante. Hardback. Literary. From the author of the poetry collection Antiemetic for Homesickness, this is a story of abandonment and family. Publish date: 13/08.

The Girl With Seven Lives – Vika Swarup. Hardback. Literary. From the author behind Q&A, which Slumdog Millionaire was adapted from, comes a novel centring an online hostage situation. Publish date: 13/08.

Bridget and Gabe Are Not Okay – Lex Croucher. Paperback. YA Romance. The sequel to Gwen and Art Are Not in Love, and we’re back in Camelot! Publish date: 13/08.

Dreamland – Olivie Blake. Hardback. Fantasy. A gothic mystery, set in LA with unsolved murders and secrets a plenty. Publish date: 13/08.

Eternal Ruin – Tigrest Girma. Paperback. Fantasy. Sequel to Immortal Dark. War looms and secrets can’t stay safe forever. Publish date: 18/08.

Rider of Dragons – A. T. Qureshi. Hardback. Fantasy. The first in the dragon racer duology, from author of The Baby Dragon Café. Publish date: 27/08.

Crash Into You – Simone Sontani. Paperback. Romance. Another F1 romance from the author of Cross the Line. Publish date: 27/08.

Café. Waiting. Love. – Giddens Ko, Shanna Tan (trans). Literary. Paperback. A small town, coming of age novel with lots of love online. Translated from a Taiwanese modern classic. Publish date: 27/08.

Earthbound – Saara El-Arifi. Hardback. Fantasy. The final in the faebound trilogy! Publish date: 27/08.

Heartbreak Geeks – Anam Iqbal. Paperback. YA Romance. A romance set between two rival over-achievers, with South Asian rep. Publish date: 27/08.

Saltcrop – Yume Kitasei. Paperback. Sci-Fi. From the author of The Stardust Grail, comes a tale of two sisters sailing across oceans to find their missing third sister. Publish date: 27/08.

Have you planned to pick any of these up? I’d love to know!

If you like what you’ve read and would like to access more content, we have a cosy community over on patreon and if you love a bookish giveaway and learning about all the new releases, we’d love to have you with us. You can also find more content on my Instagram here.

And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 28/08/2026