Happy August readers! We have officially begun our last full month of summer. For some of you that means more time inside curled up with a good book, avoiding the heat. For others it means getting a little bit more time reading outside in the nice weather. Wherever you are, I hope you read some great books this August!

Follow this link for new release books, August 2020 Can't Wait Book List.

I always encourage people to use their local library to access free books, ebooks and audiobooks. Unfortunately, that is not always an option. So it is nice to know that many online bookstores provide inexpensive access to thousands of ebooks. Sorting through their selections can be overwhelming, which is why I compiled this list of best e-books for $3 or less.   

Some of these books are by well-known popular authors, some of these books are by new and upcoming authors. Most have hundreds, if not thousands of four and five star reviews. All of these books are relatively new, having been published within the last two years.   

The Sun Down Motel is a “No-Tell-Motel” on a deserted stretch of highway on the way to nowhere. It’s a dark and dangerous place where people go to sell drugs, have affairs, and dump bodies. On a slow day, the ghosts outnumber the living.
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The story follows Victoria, the night shift clerk of Sun Down Motel in 1982 and her niece Carly in 2017. Both are trying to solve the many mysteries surrounding the motel. Why do the lights flicker before the woman appears, who is the kid dressed for summer in the middle of winter, and who is the smoking man? Will they solve these mysteries or wind up becoming ghosts themselves?

When the world went on lockdown, book bloggers responded one of two ways. They either immediately published a list of doomsday books or a list of uplifting books. I was in the second category. I was beyond stressed about our situation and needed something to help me relax. So I published this list of Funny, Happy, Cozy Books to Help You Relax! If you are still really stressed, please check it out!

At this point, however, many of us have started to accept our “new normal”. We know that if we practice social distancing, wear masks, and wash our hands we can limit our chances of contracting the virus. For now, our food supply chain is operational. We don’t have the shortages we did when this started. Things are different and they will be for a long time, but I have less uncertainty, fear, and anxiety than I did in the beginning. I hope you feel the same.

My Dark Vanessa is a difficult, but important book. This is not a book you read for pleasure, this is a book you read to get a better understanding of sexual abuse and trauma.

Vanessa is fifteen when she goes to live at a prestigious boarding school. She is a misfit and a loner, she’s not interested in normal teenage activities. She’s not interested in spending time with other girls and she’s not interested in dating boys. She is interested in men, and particularly her forty-two year old English professor.

My Dark Vanessa explores the issue of consent. Specifically, consent between a physically and emotionally mature young woman and a much older authority figure. Can an intelligent and mindful minor girl give consent to an adult man? 

After wading through hundreds of upcoming titles, I have narrowed the list of August New Release Books to these seven exciting titles. I flipped through book review catalogs, book blogs and library chat forums to ensure that I found the most interesting and original new books.

There are so many good books coming out this month, it was hard to narrow down this list! I ended up including the best upcoming books from a variety of genres including, Political Fiction, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Romance. These are the seven stand-out titles for August! Hopefully there is something for everyone!

I exclude sequels and anything that will not have broad appeal. 

Testament to Murder is a 1920s murder mystery set in a coastal French mansion. Malcolm Is dying and has invited his closest friends and relatives to be with him in his final days. He intends to select an heir, but there is a catch…

Every day a new heir will be selected from the party. Whoever is heir the day Malcolm dies inherits everything.
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Malcolm anticipates this scheme will put his life in danger and maybe even shorten his suffering. He expects that he will learn the true nature of his heirs. Like most experiments, the outcome is rather different than expected.

Reading can be an expensive hobby! Especially if you like to buy new hardback editions of popular books. If you read a new book every week, your hobby can add up quickly. You could easily spend $1300 per year on books!

I always encourage people to use their local library to access free books, ebooks and audiobooks. Unfortunately, that is not always an option. So it is nice to know that Amazon provides inexpensive access to thousands of ebooks. Sorting through their selection can be overwhelming, which is why I compiled this list of Best e-books for $2 or less.  
 
Some of these books are by well-known popular authors, some of these books are by new and upcoming authors. Most have hundreds, if not thousands of four and five star reviews. All of these books are relatively new, having been published within the last two years.   
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Hope, or “Hopeless” as she is known by her enemies, is your average teenage girl. However, Hope is literally trying to survive high school. She is so sickly and allergic that it seems the entire world is slowly killing her. Will she even make it to graduation?

Nobody seems to expect anything of her. Teachers are constantly asking her if she needs to go home, and her parents are kind, but clueless. The only people who seem to notice her are the ones who try to make her life worse. The bullies.
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Until the new boy starts school…

Summer is a great time to get in some quality time with a good book blogger! If you are looking to find that perfect read for vacation, the beach, or just staying in, find a book blogger and they will find you the perfect book! It’s what they do.

Book bloggers are basically professional readers. Most read at least 50 books per year, some read HUNDREDS. Not only do they rate and review all these books, they also collaborate with other bloggers, so they know ALL THE GOOD BOOKS!!! They can give an in depth analysis of all the books in their niche and they know the most popular books in every niche. Book bloggers are truly book experts.
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There is a whole world wide web of book bloggers. Each has their own unique style and their own unique selection of books from their favorite genres. Finding the right book blogger for you, is all about finding a blogger in your favorite genre, with a writing style you enjoy. Reading a book review, should be like having a conversation with your best friend. Trust me, your book blogging best friend is out there!  

Talking to Strangers is not about *exactly* what I thought it was about. I thought this book would be about human psychology and sociology with the goal of making it easier for me to actually talk to strangers. Or even other humans in general. Instead, it pointed out all the ways we miscommunicate with each other, often disastrously, in an attempt to encourage us to be more mindful??? I am now even less sure of how to talk to stangers…
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That’s not to say that I didn’t like this book. I heart Malcolm Gladwell. His books are always thought provoking and intended to better the individual and society. Love, Love, Love! 

The aptly named Oona Out of Order is about a woman who is living her life out of order. One day she is 19, the next she is 51. She jumps through time on her birthday every year and spends 365 days as an older or younger version of herself. She is often surrounded by people she doesn’t know, in a time she doesn’t understand, in a body she barely recognizes.

The story starts in 1982 and spans 35 years. One year she is ordering an Uber from her IPhone, the next she is posing for a Polaroid. One year she’s going to a funeral, the next she is making the most of every moment with that person.

Montimore illustrates the difficulties of life out of order, but also acknowledges that there would be benefits. Oona has advance knowledge of the stock market, which provides her with a more than comfortable lifestyle. She is often devastated by events and circumstances, but finds she gets second chances. Just like every life, there is good and bad.
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To say this book is complicated is a massive understatement. Paperback mysteries are complicated. This is Agatha Christie on Groundhog Day with body-swapping.

It made my brains fall out.

7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is set at a crumbling, remote estate in 1920s England. The house is full of guests and servants that would rather be anywhere else, with anyone else. The story takes place on an eight-day, eight-body loop that has repeated an indeterminate number of times.
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After wading through hundreds of upcoming titles, I have narrowed the list of July New Release Books to these eight exciting titles.

I flipped through book review catalogs, book blogs and library chat forums to ensure that I found the most interesting and original new books.

​I try to include a variety of Fiction, Non-Fiction and even Young Adult books. This month’s selections include a dark fairy tale, a cutesy romance, and zombie horror, to name a few. Hopefully there is something for everyone!

I exclude sequels and anything that will not have broad appeal. 

Breaking the Lore is a snarky urban fantasy novel. It starts with one dead fairy and before you know it, you are up to your eyeballs in magical creatures. One quirky and clever detective, an elf, a troll, a witch, at least seven dwarfs, centaurs, and the rest. All introduced with a tone of hilariously disbelieving sarcasm.

The characters are thrown together when a war in the magical world spills over into the gardens of Manchester. Let’s just say, the gardens of Manchester are ill-prepared to handle a magical skirmish. Luckily, the quirky and clever detective, Nick Paris, is on the case!

While the plot of this book is entertaining and the characters are fun, what I really love is the writing! This book is packed full of that dry British humor that tickles your brain. I laughed the whole way through this book. 
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Karin Slaughter is one of those intense thriller authors that fans can’t seem to get enough of. Every book she publishes leaves her readers begging for more.

Luckily her fans never have long to wait as she publishes about a book per year. Between her popular Will Trent series and her standalone books, she always has a new book on the horizon.

Her upcoming book, Silent Wife, is the tenth Will Trent book. I know it can be daunting to see that a series is on #10 if you haven’t started it, but stay with me. You have options!

The Will Trent series can be read as a standalone and out of order. So you could read, Silent Wife, and then go back and read book three, if you wanted. However, fans recommend starting at the beginning and binge-reading the series in order.
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Release Date: October 06, 2020

Tara Teaspoon is an experienced chef with a passion for her craft. She has worked with Martha Stewart and was the food director of Ladies Home Journal Magazine.

She credits her mother with her creativity and enthusiasm in the kitchen. Tara worked alongside her mom in the kitchen since she was old enough to reach the counters.

Through her work Tara has access to the best equipment and ingredients, but she understands that home chefs often have to make-do with what they have.

I love the idea of finding my next favorite author by following the book awards. Unfortunately, the reality is a little different.

Most well-known book awards are published on unwieldy websites that are damn-near impossible to navigate.

​In addition to being difficult to track down, the winning books are often selected by critics for critics. These are books that critics read and then congratulate each other for reading. They are just too unpleasant and pretentious to attract most readers.
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​I created this list in an effort to find the award winning books that people actually want to read. I started with the 30 most well-known book awards and narrowed the list to these eleven. Many of these awards are still listed on websites designed by MC Escher, but the books tend to be well rated and widely read.

Carry On begins in Simon Snow’s final year at Hogwarts, errrr I mean Watford. Simon is just trying to make it through his last year without being obliterated by Voldemort, Dammit! The Insidious Humdrum! He’s faced Dragons, Ghosts, Foster Care, and his *suspected* blood sucking, vampire roommate. What will this final year bring? What will he do when he leaves Watford? Assuming he lives that long…

Carry On is Harry Potter Fan Fiction. I don’t have a lot of experience with fanfic, but Carry On was inspired by and will be loved by fans of Harry Potter. 
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Every year libraries host Summer Reading Clubs for all ages, including teens.

The main goal of the program is to help reduce the loss of knowledge that occurs every summer, known as the “Summer Slide”. Studies show that students lose about 20% of their school year knowledge during summer break (Austrew, 2019).

As you can imagine, this year will be particularly bad because of the early school closures. Luckily, Summer Reading Clubs have shown to help prevent and reduce the Summer Slide.

Libraries are operating a little differently this year.
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Willowdean Dickson, aka Will, aka Dumplin’, is the plus-size daughter of a former Texas Bluebonnet Beauty Queen. She has always been confident and always had strong relationships with her friends and family.
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Willowdean’s mother remains an important part of the local pageant planning team and committees. For a few months every year, the pageant takes-over life at the Dickson household. Will has never had an interest in the pageant and seems to just stay out of her mother’s way, when it’s pageant season. After a few interactions rub her the wrong way, Will decides to enter the pageant to prove a point. 
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