The Best Books to Read This August

John Lurie has lived many lives. He’s been a painter, a musician, a filmmaker, and an actor—and now he’s a memoirist. In this candid, fascinating look back at New York City’s artistic underground in the 1980s, Lurie recalls the gritty, glamorous East Village of the time, life alongside characters including Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and an artistic Shangri-La like we might never see again.

From the author of The Girl on the Train and Into the Water comes another read-it-in-one-night thriller. When a young man is found murdered on a London houseboat, all eyes turn to three women in his life: a one night stand, a grieving aunt, and a meddling neighbor. As the murder investigation unfolds, so do an onslaught of secrets. This thriller proves that revenge is actually a dish best served hot, simmering and smoldering.

We all have difficult days, but not everyone reacts to them in the same way. In this insightful new book, Dr. Samantha Boardman explores what it takes to deal with everyday stress and struggles, and leads readers to strategies for living a less fraught, more vital life. Skeptical that a book can help you overcome those daily obstacles? Boardman's medical expertise, personal experience, and approachable writing make the book feel less like self-help than advice from a wise friend. 

Dissecting one of the most famous acronyms in American history, Michael Knox Beran presents a thoroughly researched exploration of the American upper crust through some of its most notable figures. From Henry Adams to Theodore Roosevelt, from George Santayana to John Jay Chapman, and from Babe Paley to Edie Sedgwick, WASPS presents this small subset of the American population as not just an economic group, but a cultural one.

Author Blythe Grossberg encountered a new breed of tutoring once she began teaching the children of some of the wealthiest families in the country. With compassion and humor, Grossberg details the cutthroat ways the elite try to catapult their children to the top no matter the monetary (or emotional) cost. Despite the glittering exterior of this lifestyle, Grossberg explores an underbelly of insecurity, pain, and dysfunction.

This debut novel from Ash Davidson tells the story of a California logging town with a rich history but a possibly perilous present. It's a sprawling, compelling story about a family that's spent generations in the local logging business and finally has a chance to make a better life for themselves—a chance that might be put in jeopardy by a sinister secret that could tear the community and the family at its heart apart forever.

This anticipated collection from the late author Anthony Veasna So compiles a series of stories that explore the intricacies of life for Cambodian Americans. At turns funny, poignant, and haunting, So's stories touch on illuminating specifics of the immigrant experience but also speak to humanity at large, exposing the true nature of characters that, in moments good and bad, are always recognizable as intrinsically human. 

This new novel by Leila Slimani, the author of The Perfect Nanny, is the first of a planned three and uses Slimani's own family history as inspiration. It tells the story of a French woman and her Moroccan husband who, after World War II, settle in Morocco—but don't immediately find their happy ending. Instead, she struggles with cultural mores, gender roles, and the meaning of marriage, while he finds himself caught in political turmoil and the ins and outs of a relationship. It's a thought-provoking, touching story that feels complete on its own, but certainly leaves readers anticipating what could come next. 

Journalist Kat Chow’s memoir tackles a vast topic—grief—and brings it into focus with a gripping, harrowing personal story. After losing her mother to cancer, Chow explores how sorrow can echo throughout a family spread across the world. Her book is a touching meditation on what it means to know and remember a loved one and how we can continue living without losing sight of the people who have shaped our lives, even after they’re gone.

Pamela Ruiz is an American Renaissance woman living in Havana who for many years has doubled as a guide to visiting journalists, designers, creatives, and visionaries. Now, she’s put pen to paper, and authored a beautiful coffee-table book from Assouline that exalts the Havana of the 21st century, a gem of a city that remains under the thumb of a repressive government but is bursting with beauty, heart, and resilience. A must-read for lovers of design, architecture, and wanderlust.