By Sophie

It will come as no surprise that the biggest bestseller of August, despite it going on sale only on 26 August, was Katabasis by R. F. Kuang. We have 4 editions in our assortment, but that U.S. deluxe limited edition is going fastest – and no wonder, with those incredible sprayed edges, not to mention the details on and in the book itself. Another special edition that made the bestsellers list this month was Ava Reid’s A Theory of Dreaming. Some titles from earlier this year have made a reappearance (Sunrise on the Reaping and Deep End), and the long-awaited paperback edition of The Will of the Many made it, too. Interestingly enough, there’s only one non-fiction title on the August bestsellers list, but it’s a book everyone should read at least once in their lives: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.

Katabasis – R. F. Kuang
Grad student Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become the brightest mind in the field of analytic magick. But the only person who can make her dream come true is dead and – inconveniently – in Hell.
And Alice, along with her biggest rival Peter Murdoch, is going after him. But Hell is not as the philosophers claim, its rules are upside-down, and if she’s going to get out of there alive, she and Peter will have to work together. That’s if they can agree on anything.

The Will of the Many – James Islington
The Catenan Republic—the Hierarchy—may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.
I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus—what they call Will—to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.
But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
“I don’t want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death!”
When Otto Frank’s daughter Anne pointed out the small red and white plaid autograph book in a shop window, just before her thirteenth birthday, he could not have known that it would become one of the most moving and inspirational icons of the 20th century.
Part of the ABC Favorites collection.

Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.
Or does he?

A Theory of Dreaming – Ava Reid
All stories come to an end.
Effy learned that when she defeated the Fairy King.
Even though she may never know exactly what happened at Hiraeth, she is free of her nightmares and is able to pen a thesis with Preston on the beloved national fairytale Angharad. She has finally earned a spot at the literature college, making her the first woman in history to enroll.
But some dreams are dangerous, especially when they come true. The entire university and soon the entire nation is waiting for her to fail.
With the Fairy King defeated and Myrddin’s legacy exposed, Effy can no longer escape into fantasy. Who is she without her stories?
Return to the immersive, lush, and dreamlike world of the instantly bestselling dark academia fantasy A Study in Drowning as the aftermath of their first discovery pulls Effy and Preston on a final adventure and brings their haunting love story to its end in this stunning sequel and final book in the duology.

The Vegetarian – Han Kang
Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams–invasive images of blood and brutality–torture her, driving Yeong-hye to renounce eating meat. It’s a small act, but it sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. A darkly Kafkaesque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.
Winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Not Quite Dead – Holly Jackson
In seven days Jet Mason will be dead.
Jet is the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Woodstock, Vermont. Twenty-seven years old, she’s still waiting for her life to begin. She’ll do it later, she always says. She has time.
Until, on the night of Halloween, Jet is violently attacked by an unseen intruder.
She suffers a catastrophic brain injury. The doctor is certain that within a week, she’ll suffer a deadly aneurysm.
Jet never thought of herself as having enemies. But now she looks at everyone in a new her family, her ex-best friend turned sister-in-law, her former boyfriend.
She only has seven days, and as her condition deteriorates she has only her childhood friend Billy for help. But nevertheless, she’s absolutely determined to finally finish.
Jet is going to solve her own murder.

Sunrise on the Reaping – Suzanne Collins
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honour of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

Deep End – Ali Hazelwood
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden
It’s 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is well and truly over. Living alone in her late mother’s country home, Isabel’s life is as it should be: led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis delivers his graceless new girlfriend, Eva, at Isabel’s doorstep-as a guest, there to stay for the season…
Winner of the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The Wedding People – Alison Espach
It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people – but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall Inn who isn’t here for the big event.
Phoebe has dreamed of coming here for years. She hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband but now she is divorced and depressed, and not sure how to go on. She’s not been sure how to do anything, lately, except climb into bed and drink gin and tonics and listen to the sound of the refrigerator making ice.
When the bride discovers her elaborate destination wedding could be ruined by this sad stranger, she is furious. She has spent months accounting for every detail and every possible disaster – except for, well, Phoebe . . . Soon, both women find their best-laid plans derailed and an unlikely confidante in one another.
A Staff Choice of Sophie.

Tender is the Flesh – Agustina Bazterrica
It all happened so quickly. First, animals became infected with the virus and their meat became poisonous. Then governments initiated the Transition. Now, ‘special meat’ – human meat – is legal.
Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans – only no one calls them that. He works with numbers, consignments, processing. One day, he’s given a gift to seal a deal: a specimen of the finest quality. He leaves her in his barn, tied up, a problem to be disposed of later.
But she haunts Marcos. Her trembling body, and watchful gaze, seem to understand. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost – and what might still be saved.
A Staff Choice of both Matty and Sywert.