PEOPLE’s Best Books of August 2025: New Fiction From Louis Sachar, Jason Mott and More

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Settle into summer's extremity pinch 1 of these awesome caller reads

Published connected August 3, 2025 08:00AM EDT

The covers of 'People Like Us' by Jason Mott, 'LA Women' by Ella Berman and 'The Magician of Tiger Castle' by Louis Sachar.

A brace of starkly different book tours, a retro communicative of 2 aspiring writers and a spooky sister story — present are PEOPLE's picks for nan champion books of August 2025, truthful far.

'People Like Us' by Jason Mott

The screen of 'People Like Us' by Jason Mott.

From nan acclaimed writer who won nan National Book Award for Hell of a Book comes this electrical caller astir 2 Black writers who group retired connected wildly different book tours. One gets whisked disconnected to France, wherever a gazillionaire instrumentality offers to bankroll him, while nan different girds himself to speak astatine a assemblage precocious devastated by weapon violence. Populated by larger-than-life characters, this circuit de unit is astatine erstwhile gut-bustingly funny and profoundly moving.

'L.A. Women' by Ella Berman

The screen of 'L.A. Women' by Ella Berman.

Berkley

The uneasy relationship and rivalry betwixt 2 writers halfway this riveting communicative loosely inspired by Joan Didion and Eve Babitz. The productivity and hedonism of late-’60s and early-’70s L.A. travel to life arsenic 1 female strives for fame, nan different respect and each fights done turmoil to clasp her identity.

'The Locked Ward' by Sarah Pekkanen

The screen of 'The Locked Ward' by Sarah Pekkanen.

Georgia, adopted into a able confederate family, is imprisoned successful a psych ward, accused of murdering her sister. She’s plotting her measurement retired and counting connected nan thief of her twin, Amanda — who antecedently didn’t cognize she existed. Clever, twisty and oozing pinch desperation. — Robin Micheli

'This Kind of Trouble' by Tochi Eze

The screen of 'This Kind of Trouble' by Tochi Eze.

A Nigerian mates torn isolated by race, wellness struggles and different obstacles travel together decades later erstwhile aged secrets resurface. A stunning debut.

'The Hounding' by Xenobe Purvis

The screen of 'The Hounding' by Xenobe Purvis.

The Mansfield sisters are turning into dogs — aliases truthful their 18th-century colony believes. The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides successful this sharp, incisive novel.

'The Magician of Tiger Castle' by Louis Sachar

The screen of 'Magician of Tiger Castle' by Louis Sachar.

Ace

Fans of Holes will devour Sachar’s first big novel, a richly imagined history successful which a princess falls for a scribe, and a magician must effort to prevention nan day.