I must admit that since I deal with books every day I assume that ordinary non-library directors also know what new books are coming out, but I can tell from the latest releases sitting on our new shelves that are not being requested for contactless pickup that many people discovered books by browsing and serendipity.  So, for those who do not read Publishers Weekly like the daily newspaper, here are some books for August. 

 

Beatriz Williams brings her fictional skills to the story of a famous pilot lost in the 1930s in “Her Last Flight.”  Elise Hooper also looks at the same time period in her novel about the female Olympians competing in the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany in “Fast Girls.”                 Another World War II novel is by best-selling writer, Kristin Harmer; “The Book of Lost Names” is about a young woman fleeing Paris with her mother before they are picked up by the Nazis.   

 

Decades away is Kevin Kwan’s “Sex and Vanity” which is a retelling of “A Room with a View” about a rich Asian-American and her family’s expectations. 

 

Katherine Center’s “What You Wish For” involves a school librarian whose life is upended when the head of the school dies suddenly, and his replacement is a total killjoy.  Determined to protect her students, she launches a “joy offensive” and propels all their lives in a new direction.

 

“500 Miles Away from You” by Jenny Colgan is a fun romance when a London nurse witnesses a hit-and-run murder that she cannot forget.  So, her bosses trade her job with one in a small remote Scottish village to give her a chance to unwind and decompress while propelling her counterpart, a gorgeous Scot, into the high-speed life of modern London.   “Beach Read” by Emily Henry is also a light-hearted romance about two writers who are experiencing writer’s block and, in a bet, decide to trade writing roles.  He will write a romance and she will write a literary novel.  Things just get even more complicated from there. 

 

For those looking for new books to read, the library is leaving stacks of BookPage, a monthly preview of that month’s books on the table in our lobby.  Plus, we subscribe online to Bookbrowse which also offers recommendations and reviews.  You can find it on our website.