August signals the summer wind down as back to school season is coming in hot! August is also Women in Translation month where we celebrate women authors from around the globe and their work that has been translated into additional languages. Your patrons will appreciate Women in Translation titles to discover, back to school books to browse, plus all the new releases they have been hearing about.  Below are lists available to shop in OverDrive Marketplace to make sure your patrons’ shelves are full for the coming month!

Women in Translation

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Women in Translation are celebrated every August as #WITMonth. This is an opportunity to highlight the voices of women from around the world and their stories. Find out more about #WITMonth at https://womenintranslation.org

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The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, Translated by Jesse Kirkwood

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From your OverDrive DCL: A bestselling title in Japan, this charming fantasy debut is a lovely read. Centered around the Japanese idea that cats are good luck and if you are kind to cats, the favor will be repaid, this tale adds magic to the myth. The Full Moon Coffee Shop only appears to certain people, and at this coffee shop, they do not take orders. Rather, the talking cats that run the place bring you delectable food and drinks, as well as insights on life. Various people find their way to the coffee shop, including a struggling screenwriter, a love-stuck director, an actress in a scandal, a discontent hairstylist, and an IT startup founder fighting with technology. The cats read each person’s star chart to offer guidance and wisdom on the current path of these people’s lives. As past and present aspects of everyone’s lives are explored and the future advised, we discover what has brought everyone to this coffee shop, and that these individuals are more connected than they may first seem.

This cozy fantasy full of astrology, coffee shops, and talking cats with life advice is a fun and quick read that is sure to be a pleasure. Discovering the connections of the select people that find their way to the coffee shop adds to this heart-warming tale.

Talk Nerdy to Me: STEM Reads

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With back to school around the corner, there are plenty of great STEM reads for everyone, including those who may be beyond their primary school years already. Still, for those lifelong learners and those with STEM reading interests, this is a great list for adult STEM titles, both fiction and nonfiction.

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Second Tide’s the Charm by Chandra Blumberg

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From your OverDrive DCL: A second chance romance with shark week vibes, this STEM rom-com from Blumberg fits late summer perfectly. Hope is a marine biologist who has been working in her Michigan hometown after a career setback, but she is ready to jump back in to her true passion of shark research. When she gets a summer job doing just that, it sounds perfect, except the part where it means working with her ex-boyfriend Adrian. Hope has spent the last three years steering clear of him and anything that reminds her of him. Still, this is an opportunity she can’t pass up. There is a little more than just research going on though. There is conservation awareness too! Adrian found internet fame after a video of him saving a shark on the beach went viral. He seized the opportunity and started a YouTube channel to educate internet users about sharks. Hope and Adrian test the waters of their working relationship, but is there more lingering just below the surface?

With tidbits of marine biology and plenty of humor sprinkled throughout, this forced proximity and closed-door romance is a fun read that will appeal to a variety of readers. The added layer of navigating social media for personal and professional use makes this even more relevant and timely.

Back to School

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Don’t worry, children and teen back to school titles are covered too! For the back to school subjects and themes, these juvenile and young adult titles will be just as helpful as back to school shopping lists.

Top Titles of August

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Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend by MJ Wassmer

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From the publisher: White Lotus meets Kevin Wilson in this whip-smart social satire about a man who finds himself trapped on an island resort after the sun explodes, and suddenly must choose whether to save himself from the chaos, or help the fellow guests make it off the island alive…

Vacation Checklist: Pack swim trunks. Apply sunscreen. Survive the apocalypse?

Professional underachiever Dan Foster is finally taking a vacation. Sure, his life has been average at best, and yeah, he’s never quite lived up to his potential. But after a few Miller Lites in paradise with his girlfriend, Mara, things are starting to look up.

Then the sun explodes.

With the island resort suddenly plunged into darkness (he really should’ve sprung for the travel insurance), Dan’s holiday goes from bad to worse when elite guests stage a coup and commandeer supplies. As temperatures drop and class tensions rise, revolution begins to brew on the island, and Dan accidentally becomes a beacon of hope for the surviving vacationers. But when one six-person plane is discovered that could get them back to the mainland, Dan realizes he has a choice to make.

Does he escape the island with Mara? Or does he stay and fight to become the most unlikely hero of the end of the world?

Coming Blockbusters of August

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Wild Wisdom by Donny Dust

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From the publisher: Donny Dust is a US Marine Corps veteran who now owns and operates Colorado’s premier survival and wilderness self-reliance school. He’s amassed two decades worth of primitive living skills everywhere from the jungles of Asia to the mountains of North America. He’s appeared on reality TV series like History Channel’s Alone and hosted USA Channel’s Mud, Sweat & Beards. Now, Donny brings all he’s learned to Wild Wisdom. He teaches you how to be more observant to help avoid danger, problem-solve, prioritize finding shelter, and to be flexible and creative when you need the right supplies for a task. He also focuses on essential gear, sheltering, building fire, staying hydrated, food, foraging, and trapping. Beautiful and instructive illustrations throughout make this is must-carry for anyone venturing into nature.

Millions of people now follow Donny Dust on TikTok to watch him craft objects from nothing but what he finds in the wilderness. Even the tools he uses to do the crafting are made from scratch, whether it’s a saw, chisel, hammer, or cordage. He’s made bows, arrows, axes, rope, sandals, backpacks, bowls, swords, and of course, fire—lots of fire—but Wild Wisdom offers so much more. Written by one of the country’s foremost experts, it’s a book for almost anyone, whether you’re a longtime outdoorsperson hoping to hone your skills and deepen your appreciation and understanding of the wilderness, or a newcomer looking to take your first adventures in nature.

Top Fantasy of August

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The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean

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From your OverDrive DCL: This debut cozy romantasy from MacLean is a delightful read. The San Tamculo Zoo is home to many mythical creatures and has a great cast of zookeepers that care for the animals and raise awareness for conservation. Aila Macbhairan is head phoenix keeper, looking after the critically endangered Silimalo phoenix, as well as other birds housed in the aviary. When a phoenix heist at a nearby zoo sparks the possibility of re-opening the decade old phoenix breeding program at San Tamculo, Aila must get the program back in shape. However, Aila also must overcome fears of public speaking and asking others for help along the way. Unfortunately, this includes Aila’s college rival Luciana, griffin keeper and show leader at the zoo. Luciana may be beautiful and confident, but Aila can’t stand her insistence to have Aila’s phoenix partake in the zoo’s griffin show. Besides, Aila has a breeding program to get up and running to help save a species from extinction.

Aila’s passion propels the plot forward in this magical world. The descriptions of the various animals and their activities and interactions at the zoo are a true joy and a magic all their own. A wonderful mix of fantasy, zoology, and some romance- plus dragons, unicorns, and kelpies too!

Top Historical Fiction of August

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The Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister

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From the publisher: Based on a real woman from history, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets The Haunting of Hill House in this fictional tell-all narrated by the glamorous Aimee Crocker, revealing everything from her mischievous days in German finishing school to dinners with Hawaiian royalty to lavish Astor parties in Manhattan. But behind Aimee’s public notoriety, there’s private pain.

When Aimee is ten years old, as the night dips into the witching hour, the Woman in White appears to her. Minutes later, Aimee’s father is dead—and Aimee inherits a fortune. But the Woman in White never really leaves Aimee, appearing as a sinister specter before every tragedy in her life. Despite Aimee’s wealth, her cross-continental travels, and her increasingly shocking progression through husbands, Aimee is haunted by the unidentifiable Woman’s mysterious motivations.

Tearing through millions of dollars, four continents, and a hearty collection of husbands, real-life heiress Aimee Crocker blazed an unbelievable trail of public scandal, private tragedy, and the kind of strong independent woman the 1880s had never seen. Her life was stranger than fiction and brighter than the stars, and she whirled through her days as if she was being chased by something larger than herself. Greer Macallister brilliantly takes us into her world and spins a tale that you won’t soon forget.

Top Sci-Fi of August

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Hum by Helen Phillips

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From the publisher: In a city addled by climate change and populated by intelligent robots called “hums,” May loses her job to artificial intelligence. In a desperate bid to resolve her family’s debt and secure their future for another few months, she becomes a guinea pig in an experiment that alters her face so it cannot be recognized by surveillance.

Seeking some reprieve from her recent hardships and from her family’s addiction to their devices, she splurges on passes that allow them three nights’ respite inside the Botanical Garden: a rare green refuge where forests, streams, and animals flourish. But her insistence that her son, daughter, and husband leave their devices at home proves far more fraught than she anticipated, and the lush beauty of the Botanical Garden is not the balm she hoped it would be. When her children come under threat, May is forced to put her trust in a hum of uncertain motives as she works to restore the life of her family.

Written in taut, urgent prose, Hum is a work of speculative fiction that unflinchingly explores marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement, a world of both dystopian and utopian possibilities. As New York Times bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer says, “Helen Phillips, in typical bravura fashion, has found a way to make visible uncomfortable truths about our present by interrogating the near-future.”

More recommended August lists you don’t want to miss

Top Romance of August. Shop the list here.

Top Mystery/Thriller of August. Shop the list here.

Top Nonfiction of August. Shop the list here.

Top Self-Published of August. Shop the list here.

If you ever need help shopping, you can always email your Digital Content Librarian! Find your DCL in the SUPPORT tab of Marketplace.

About the author: Tori Casper has worked in academic libraries, archives, and public libraries in various roles. Now at OverDrive, she helps public libraries build and highlight their digital collections. Outside of work and reading, she enjoys hiking, gardening, wildlife photography, and planning trips to national parks. Tori is always happy to discuss all the books with strong nature settings!