August 2026 Reads

 

The month began with a YA novel, Wrecked, by local author Katie Mitchelson. Desperate to escape terrible home lives, teenagers Jake and Minnie agree to be participants in the trial of a new technology that is designed to help young people deal with trauma. Their lives begin to spiral out of control when another member of the trial goes missing. Not quite as dystopian as I’d hoped for.

I know Laura Pearson is always going to produce something interesting, and The Day Our Lives Collided lived up to expectations. Hayden, Tash, and Adam literally bump into each other during their first week at university. Over the next seventeen years, we follow the complexities of their friendship through the weddings they attend. I loved the characters and felt deeply involved in their lives.

A friend loaned me The Silence Of Scheherazade by Defne Suman, an historical epic set at the end of the Ottoman Empire. I knew nothing about this period or location and enjoyed the glimpse of life in Turkey at the turn of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, I found the story a little confusing as it jumped between various characters and time periods.

Creepy stories are a hallmark of C. J. Tudor’s writing, and Serenity Falls continues this theme. Dan Barker and his daughter, Sadie, inherit a house in the model town of Serenity Falls. The chance to start a new life seems perfect, until they move into their new home and strange things begin to happen. Is Serenity Falls as perfect as everyone makes out? It’s difficult not to make comparisons with real places in this bizarre tale.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans had been hovering near the top of my TBR pile for a while. This is a gentle tale featuring elderly Sybil Van Antwerp, who spends her days tending her garden, reading books, and writing letters. Given a glimpse into the letters she writes, we learn of the diverse relationships she has with family, friends, and acquaintances.

Truth Will Out is a twisty debut thriller from N. J. Hatton. Jack Kilby is filled with panic as he rushes his pregnant wife to the hospital; it's far too early for their baby to be born. A momentary distraction results in him hitting and killing a cyclist. Leaving the body at the side of the country lane, he continues on to the hospital. In the aftermath, wracked with guilt, he realises that he needs to turn himself in to the police, but when he gets there, he discovers they've already arrested the person they believe is responsible.

One of my favourite cosy crime series is the Nosey Parker books by Fiona Leitch. In book 11, The Cornish Halloween Murder, Jodie is asked to investigate the appearance of strange dolls that are found around an old convent that is in the process of being redeveloped. Are residents, upset at the work taking place, trying to scare off the developers, or is there something more sinister happening? This is my favourite in the series, it has seriously creepy vibes which are perfect for Halloween.

Dark academia calls in The Scholars by MacKenzie Common. Five brilliant scholars are awarded postgraduate scholarships to Oxford University. The scholarships are a stepping stone to greatness; recipients go on to be leaders in their field, Nobel prize winners, and even world leaders. This year's students have all the hallmarks of greatness, until one of them dies mysteriously and secrets are uncovered. This is an extremely accessible read, that grabs your attention immediately.

My book group read for August was Everything Under by Daisy Johnson. I really struggled with this, but persevered since it was relatively short. A modern retelling of the Oedipus story, I couldn’t engage with any of the characters. The mystery of the Bonak remained a mystery even after I’d finished. I don’t imagine this will have gone down well with the rest of my reading group.

Death On The Royal Yacht by S. J. Bennett continues the ‘Her Majesty The Queen Investigates’ series. Set in 1966 during a royal tour of the West Indies, a member of the household staff is found dead on board. I thoroughly enjoyed this fictional glimpse into the life of Queen Elizabeth II, and am truly astounded at how intense her life was.

I managed three audiobooks in August, the first of which was To All The Men I’ve Killed Before by Katy Brent. Kitty Collins returns, and she is on a mission. She's determined to seek revenge on the man who brutally attacked her best friend. Kitty heads to Los Angeles on the trail of Aiden Ward, but she's not alone this time. Alongside Kitty is her newly found half-sister, Antoinette, a serial killer in training. This was so much fun, particularly with Kitty trying to rein in the impulsive Antoinette.

The town of Maple Falls is at its best in autumn, so it was lovely to return in The Pumpkin Pie Book Nook by Harper Graham. Robyn is taking a sabbatical from her job as a professor at Yale. During her time off, she is looking after the local bookstore for a friend. Challenges await Robyn: finding the parts of an old manuscript, preventing someone from buying the shop to turn it into a grocery store, and, toughest of all, not falling for her colleague, Tyler. If you like your romance spicy, then this is for you.

Killer Twist by Jo Furniss is a delight if you like crime fiction, as it pokes fun at crime writers, crime fiction fans, and the publishing industry in general. During a crime fiction festival, a celebrity writer is murdered. There seems to be competition for who the killer might be as the celebrity kept stealing other writers’ ideas for his novels.

Publication dates to watch out for:-

The Day Our Lives Collided by Laura Pearson will be published 6/9/26 in paperback and ebook format.

Serenity Falls by C. J. Tudor will be published 10/9/26 in hardback, ebook, and audio format.

Truth Will Out by N. J. Hatton will be published 10/9/26 in paperback, ebook, and audio format.

The Scholars by MacKenzie Common will be published 24/9/26 in paperback and ebook format.

The Cornish Halloween Murder by Fiona Leitch will be published 24/9/26 in paperback, ebook, and audio format.

Death On The Royal Yacht by S. J. Bennett will be published 15/10/26 in hardback, ebook, and audio format.