What are your goals and focuses for August? It’s the end of summer, and the start of something new. I like to use August as my pre-fall buffer. It’s my time to get all of the summer fun out of my system before the roar of a busy September. It’s a great time to reflect, and also get lost in the pages of books.

Here’s what you should add to your reading list this month.

The Turnout by Megan Abbott: Abbot is back full force with a story that takes place in a family-run ballet studio. If Showtime dramas have taught us anything, it’s that ballet is full of unexpected thrills and chills.
A Slow Fire Burning: A Novel by Paula Hawkins: Hawkins paves the way with deep twists, but it’s her intense storytelling abilities that steal the show. It starts with a murder on a London houseboat, and the lives of three women intertwine as they try to piece together the reality of what’s happened.
Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So: Anthony Veasna So’s debut is a collection of short stories. The Cambodian-American uses his personal experiences to open readers up to the queer and immigrant worlds that may often seem far too foreign for them to imagine.
We Are the Brennans: A Novel by Tracey Lange: Lange’s first novel starts with a bang when Sunday Brennan wakes up in the hospital after a drunk driving accident…that she caused. Long before the incident, Sunday made a ton of mistakes that led her to that hospital room, but is it too late to make some things right again?
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang: In the final installment of Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient series, we meet Anna Sun, a high-achieving violinist on the verge of complete burnout (we can relate). She thinks she will find her answer in fun hookups and one-night stands, until she meets Quan.
The Husbands: A Novel by Chandler Baker: Successful attorney Nora Spangler has it all, including an endless daily to-do list for work and her home life. While searching for a new home in the esteemed Dynasty Ranch community, she comes face to face with the realities of the successful women in the area: they all have doting Stepford-like husbands behind them. Could this be the answer to her problems?
Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy: If you miss Outlander as much as I do, then you’ll definitely find peace in McConaghy’s historical fiction set in the Scottish Highlands. A journey to reintroduce fourteen great wolves into the wild brings Inti and her twin sister Aggie to Scotland. The sisters are smoldered by their own dark secrets, making it hard for them to communicate and forgive. However, the thriving wolves could change everything for the better for the sisters.
We Were Never Here: A Novel by Andrea Bartz: Best friends Emily and Kristen travel the mountains of Chile together, hoping to strengthen their already-incredible bond. However, one devastating night changes everything and causes Emily and Kristen to question whether they really know each other.