As summer winds down, savor the last carefree moments of the season and squeeze in a few more reads before the hustle and bustle of fall takes over. There are some great new books to keep you company this month, whether you’re beachside, or simply enjoying a quiet evening on the porch.
The following information is provided courtesy of the Arlington Public Library.
Fiction
Lady Macbeth
By Ava Reid
Rocille is rumored to be a witch with a gaze that can drive men mad. Forced to leave France to marry a much older man in Scotland, she will take the small scraps of agency she can in order to build her own power. But her husband is holding three witches prisoner who have grand prophecies for his future. This immersive retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth leans into the supernatural elements of the tale to paint a sympathetic and complex portrait of one of literature’s great villains. // Available August 13. Library catalog link here.
(Fans of literary retellings focused on misunderstood female characters will also want to pick up Medusa by Nataly Gruender. // Available August 13. Library catalog link here.)
The Queen City Detective Agency
By Snowden Wright
Lenora Coogan knows her son didn’t commit the murder he was imprisoned for, and she knows his death wasn’t a suicide, despite the official ruling. She hires the Queen City Detective Agency to find out who really killed her son. Clem Baldwin is a biracial ex-cop turned private investigator. Investigating Turnip’s death puts her up against the Dixie Mafia as the case starts to involve the town elite. Set in 1980s Mississippi, Clem’s investigation reveals the town’s hidden secrets with an action-packed plot. // Available August 13. Library catalog link here.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop
By Mai Mochizuki, translated from the Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood
Every so often, on the night of a full moon, a coffee shop appears in Kyoto, manned by giant, talking cats. While being served coffee and desserts, the people allowed to visit the shop are given wisdom and advice from the cats–and the direction they need to change their lives. In Japan, it is said that if you are nice to a cat, they will return the favor. In this gentle, feel-good fantasy, five people were nice to the right cat and will have their kindness repaid in ways they could never imagine. // Available August 20. Library catalog link here.
She Who Knows
By Nnedi Okorafor
Every year, Najeeba’s father and brother harvest and sell salt–the proceeds of which keep their village alive. Only men ever feel the call to travel the Salt Roads, until Najeeba does too. She’s welcomed on the trek, but events mark her as even more special than being the first woman to make the trek, and there will be a price to pay. This fairy-tale-like novella is the first in a trilogy prequel to Okorafor’s popular and award-winning Who Fears Death. // Available August 20. Library catalog link here.
(Fans won’t want to miss Nnedi Okorafor’s visit to Arlington Public Library on October 10! For more info click here!)
Nonfiction
Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party: How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World
By Edward Dolnick
In the early 1800s, a farm boy in Massachusetts discovered giant fossilized footprints. In England, they discovered bones bigger than a man. Over the ensuing decades, paleontology took off as more prehistoric fossils were discovered. But the discoveries changed everything Victorians thought they knew about science, religion, and the world. Full of adventure, dinosaurs, and eccentric characters, Dolnick explores how the world came to terms with the T. rex in this delightful read. // Available August 6. Library catalog link here.
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
By Evan Friss
From Benjamin Franklin printing and selling the first novel in the country to the Old Corner Bookstore (a favorite of Nathaniel Hawthorne) to Amazon, Friss traces bookstores in America–their business models and concerns, as well as the role they play in their communities. Along the way he interviews booksellers and profiles several small bookstores past and present. An engaging love letter to books and the people who sell them. // Available August 6. Library catalog link here.
McMillions: The Absolutely True Story of How an Unlikely Pair of FBI Agents Brought Down the Most Supersized Fraud in Fast Food History
By James Hernandez and Brian Lazarte
In the 1980s and 90s, millions of Americans played McDonald’s Monopoly, hoping to win anything from free fries to a million dollars. Only, for over a decade, the winners who claimed the large-ticket prizes were all part of a scheme to rig the game. When a surprising informant called the FBI, a rookie agent, a forensic accountant, and an ingenious undercover operation blew the case wide open. Filmmakers Hernandez and Lazarte expand and update their HBO Docuseries, McMillion$, in this wild and entertaining story that shows the truth really is stranger than fiction. // Available August 6. Library catalog link here.
Bite: An Incisive History of Teeth, from Hagfish to Humans
By Bill Schutt
From eating, to defense, to million-dollar smiles, zoologist Schutt explores why and how vertebrates developed teeth and how they’ve contributed to long-term vertebrate success. Looking across species and time, he explores how different animals have different types of teeth for different uses and how humans have been taking care of, and showing off, their teeth from antiquity to the present. Wide ranging, accessible, and fascinating. // Available August 13. Library catalog link here.
Middle Grade
We Are Big Time
By Hena Khan, illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui
When Aliya and her family move from Florida to Wisconsin, everything is different. Luckily, her new school has a basketball team, even if they aren’t very good. With a new coach the team learns to work together and improve. But a successful team entirely made up of Muslim girls who wear a hijab attracts microaggressions from other coaches and press interviews more concerned with identity than basketball. Inspired by the real-life team at Salam School in Milwaukee, this is a feel-good sports graphic novel that focuses on finding yourself on and off the court. // Available August 6. Library catalog link here.
Teen
Indiginerds
Edited by Alina Pete
Just because you’re connected to your Native heritage doesn’t mean you can’t also be a huge Star Trek nerd. The 11 comics in this anthology focus on Native American and First Nations’ teen nerds. From a rock band that has a drum kit stolen right before a competition, to a website reviewing horror films, to using social media to keep tradition and culture alive, these stories show a wide range of modern teens balancing modern culture with traditional ways of knowing. // Available August 27. Library catalog link here.
Jennie Rothschild is a collection engagement librarian for Arlington Public Library.