Few things boast a sleeker summer look than a slim, 200-page novel.
And while not all of the offerings here are that brief, several are, and you have to imagine this trend might have to do with a desire to tell a compelling story with an economy of words. Or it might be because it’s a little easier to hold a short book aloft with one hand as you recline, sipping a cool, fruity beverage in the other.
Maybe that’s just us. In any case, here are 17 new books coming from some favorite authors as well as debut writers you can pick up at your local independent bookstore – or the airport as you make your way out of town to some end-of-summer getaway.
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August 4
“The Amateur” by Chris Bohjalian (Doubleday)
Set in the 1970s, the latest novel by the author of multiple bestsellers, including “The Flight Attendant,” deals with the repercussions of a freak accident, in which a teen golf prodigy accidentally kills a caddy with an errant ball, and a deluge of secrets comes pouring forth.
“The Ego Trip: Psychedelic Toads, a Trail of Deaths, and the Guru Who Peddled Transcendence” by Kimon de Greef (Doubleday)
In a book praised by Patrick Radden Keefe, journalist de Greef explores a true crime story that involves claims of secret rituals, a psychedelic God molecule, and the growth of so-called “toad medicine” and its effects on those who are drawn into its world.
“Meet Me in the Garden” by Nina LaCour (Flatiron Books)
From the 2017 Printz Award winner comes a historical fiction about a Creole family in 1940s New Orleans and Los Angeles, inspired by LaCour’s own family and the Great Migration.
“Exhumed: Unearthing the History of the American Vampire” by Aaron Mahnke (Running Press)
Sometimes history can be quite grim, or Grimm, and no one knows that better than “Lore” podcaster Mahnke. Here, he explores the real case of Mercy Brown and the Great New England Vampire Panic in the 1890s.
“The Blue Flame” by George Pelecanos (Cardinal)
One of the best crime writers working in any medium, the prolific novelist and screenwriter of “The Wire,” “The Deuce” and “Treme” brings his Washington D.C. private investigator Derek Strange back for a new case involving drugs, greed and revenge.
“Killing Sadie” by Rachel Peterson (Simon Pulse)
In this debut novel from a new name in young adult thrillers, a party turns deadly and is recounted by unreliable narrators, the teens who witnessed the murder.
“Triage” by Claudia Rankine (Graywolf)
In this new book, Rankine, who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2015 for “Citizen: An American Lyric,” returns with a personal narrative, sparked by attending the lecture of a once-close college friend, that reevaluates those early days and what’s happened since.
“Dragonlance: War Wizard” by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Random House)
The first book in the Dragonlance Chronicles, “Dragons of Autumn Twilight,” inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons game, was published more than 40 years ago. The latest from the original authors, Weis and Hickman, kicks off a prequel trilogy, making it perfect for newbies and veteran fantasy readers alike.
“Etna” by Paul Yoon (Scribner)
In the latest from this acclaimed novelist, a working canine that has served alongside soldiers in a bloody war takes off in search of a home that may not exist. Think “The Odyssey,” but with a dog instead of Matt Damon.
August 11
“The Witches of Cambridge” by Alice Hoffman (Scribner)
Who’s ready for a new series by the author of “Practical Magic”? (All of us?) Set at Radcliffe College during the 1950s, the novel weaves together a story that includes McCarthyism, secret societies, witches and witchhunts.
“A Tender Age” by Chang-rae Lee (Riverhead)
The award-winning author returns with a coming-of-age story about a Korean American preteen, the child of immigrant parents, and the events that unravel during a summer at a church camp.
“Freight” by Ryan Lowell (Mullholland)
Author Lowell spent more than a decade in the trucking business, and his fast-paced debut novel involves a semi-truck full of drugs and a cast of characters trying to get their hands on it.
“Sunrise” by Téa Obreht (Random House)
The latest from the author of “The Tiger’s Wife” brings three strangers’ stories together, who become connected by the ghost town of Sunrise and the secrets it holds between 1902 and 2024.
“Reliquary” by Hannah Whitten (Run For It)
Known for her fantasy writing, Whitten dips into atmospheric horror with “Reliquary,” which follows a grieving woman who realizes her late fiancé’s family is keeping dark secrets.
August 18
“The Maltese Version” by Katy Simpson Smith (FSG Originals)
Realizing she might be pregnant, Leonie enlists her friend, a travel writer, to track down the errant father, Max, who dropped off the map (and stopped answering her messages) sometime after reaching the Mediterranean island of Malta.
Map: 100 Southern California independent bookstores to visit in 2026
August 25
“Makeshift” by Peter Rock (Soft Skull)
Set on a small island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, the novel tells the story of three sisters who believe they’re the last humans on Earth.
“The Devil Knows Her Name” by C.N. Vair (Berkley)
A new name in the game takes a stab at Appalachian horror. With her debut novel, Vair asks what happens when you’re willing to make a deal with the devil not once, but twice.