The best new books out in August 2025

Whether you’re craving dark fantasy, smart literary fiction, heart-tugging romance, or unforgettable memoir, the books hitting the shelves this month are near-guaranteed to hit the spot. RF Kuang returns with Katabasis, a genre-bending journey into underworld, while Sarah Hall delivers Helm, a bold climate-fiction epic that’s as cerebral as it is visceral. For something softer but no less powerful, Cecelia Ahern’s Paper Heart is full of hope and healing and Jacqueline Wilson brings the charm with Picture Imperfect, her second adult sequel to her beloved children’s novels. Elsewhere, Nicola Sturgeon has penned her first autobiography. It truly is a good month for book lovers. Here is our selection of what else to read this August…

The Expansion Project by Ben Pester

This surreal read follows an employee who loses his daughter in his workplace during a “bring your child to work day” – only to be told she was never there. A smart, subversive take on modern life. (Granta, £16.99)

Katabasis by RF Kuang

The Yellowface author goes back to her roots with this dark academia fantasy. Charting the journey of grad student Alice as she ventures into the underworld, it’s a rich novel of romance, history and magic. (HarperVoyager, £22)

Helm by Sarah Hall

You can always rely on Hall to blow you away, but never has this been more fitting than with this story about the titular wind, the people who have tried to capture it – and the scientist who believes pollution might kill it. (Faber, £20)

Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper

Harper’s Wolf Den trilogy earned her legions of fans. Now she is back with a standalone novel which transports its readers to Nero’s fading Roman Empire, where a young British warrior’s daughter fights to survive. (Apollo, £18.99)

Loved One by Aisha Muharrar

When Julia’s friend dies suddenly at 29, she finds herself on a cross-continental journey to recover his possessions and uncover the mystery at the heart of their own relationship. A funny and astute debut novel. (Fourth Estate, £16.99)

And Notre Dame is Burning by Miriam Robinson

After a miscarriage and the end of her marriage, Esther attempts to pick up the pieces of her life. Mostly she does this by writing fragments of notes and letters. And Notre Dame is Burning is lyrical and evocative. (Corsair, £18.99)

Good and Evil and Other Stories by Samanta Schweblin

Schweblin returns with her first short story collection in a decade. Translated from Spanish by Megan McDowell, here is a book of finely wrought tales exploring family, grief, love, and longing. (Picador, £16.99)

Paper Heart by Cecelia Ahern

Twenty years after she first published PS I Love You, Cecelia Ahern still has the power to burrow deep into readers’ hearts. Her latest novel is a warm romance between Pip and the astronomer from the local observatory. (HarperCollins, £20)

Picture Imperfect by Jacqueline Wilson

In returning to the world of The Illustrated Mum with an adult sequel, Wilson delights a generation who grew up on her kids’ books. Here we meet Dolphin, 33 and stuck in a rut – and will her to re-write her story. (Bantam, £22)

Injury Time by David Goldblatt

What can the state of football tell us about British society? Quite a lot, if this book from an acclaimed football historian is anything to go by. An illuminating read for sport fans and non-fiction buffs alike. (Mudlark, £22)

I Swear by John Davidson

Also being turned into a biopic, the remarkable story of a young man learning to live with Tourette’s syndrome – from growing up misunderstood in 1980s Scotland to earning an MBE for his work. (Doubleday, £18.99)

Little Ruins by Manni Coe

From the author of brother. do. you. love. me. comes an account of his move to a remote farmstead in Andalusia, where he finally confronts his past traumas. It might be hard to read, but it is also hard to forget. (Canongate, £16.99)

A Truce that is Not Peace by Miriam Toews

Whenever this lauded author is asked why she writes, she can never say – but it always pushes forth guilt and pain surrounding her sister’s suicide. Her memoir, A Truce that is Not Peace, confronts this and more. (Fourth Estate, £16.99)

Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon

The former Scottish first minister looks back on both her personal and political life, from early beginnings in Ayrshire to her experiences in Holyrood and dealings with Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. (Macmillan, £28)