New Books for August 2025
Small, Independent, and University Press, and Author-published Books
NewPages learns about many wonderful book titles each month to share with our readers. You can read more about some of these by clicking on the link to their blog post. If you are a publisher or author looking to be listed here and featured on our blog, social media, and in our weekly newsletter, please visit our FAQ page.
August 2025 Featured Books
Agrippina the Younger, Diana Arterian, Northwestern University Press
A poetic journey through the past of the Roman Empress Agrippina looks toward the future. See Editor’s Choice blog post here.
Ancient Light, Kimberly Blaeser, University of Arizona Press
This collection uses Indigenous stories, art, and language to confront violence and loss. Read the book review here.
The Book of Records, Madeleine Thien, W. W. Norton
A family flees oppression, connecting their lives to historical figures who also faced repression of their ideas and physical freedom. Read the book review here.
Cursed Daughters, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Doubleday
This novel follows a Lagos family plagued by a curse as they grapple with fate, tradition, and female autonomy. Read the book review here.
DEED, torrin a. greathouse, Wesleyan University Press
This poetry crafts a new queer lexicon, exploring trans desire, intimacy, and liberation while moving beyond trauma narratives. Read the book review here.
Fundamentally, Nussaibah Younis, Tiny Reparations Books
An unprepared UN worker deradicalizing women exposes organizational flaws and challenging Western perceptions of Muslims. Read the book review here.
Heart, Be at Peace, Donal Ryan, Viking
An Irish community’s various relationships and individual choices to confront a looming drug problem. Read the book review here.
I Ask My Mother to Sing: Mother Poems of Li-Young Lee, ed. Oliver Egger, Wesleyan University Press
This collection compiles new and older poems exploring a poet’s relationship with his mother and his family’s exile from China. Read the book review here.
A Judge’s Tale: A Trailblazer Fights for Her Place on the Bench, Janet Kintner, She Writes Press
This memoir details one woman’s legal career, highlighting her perseverance through sexism and her trailblazing journey as a judge. Read the book review here.
Kimono with Young Girl Sleeves, Jill Hoffman, Box Turtle Press
This poetry collection demystifies a writer’s life through candid poems on aging, family, fame, and a deeply human sense of pain. Read the book review here.
More Letters from the Edge: Outrider Conversations by Margaret Randall, New Village Press
This book shares letters between progressive activists, celebrating their friendships and the blurring of personal and political lives. Read the book review here.
The Obituary Cocktail, Sue Strachan, Louisiana State University Press
This book chronicles a cocktail central to New Orleans’s 1940s bohemian past, reviving a unique drink that had faded into obscurity. See Editor’s Choice blog post here.
A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting, Casey Johnston, Grand Central Publishing
From dieting unhappiness to holistic strength, this memoir shows a woman’s empowerment through weightlifting’s transformative power. Read the book review here.
Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore, Ashley D. Farmer, Pantheon Books
“‘Queen Mother’ is a brilliant look at one woman’s passionate quest for social justice, peace, and racial equity.” Read the book review here.
Raw Deal: The Indians of the Midwest and the Theft of Native Lands, Robert Downes, The Wandering Press
This historical account details the centuries-long theft of Native lands in the Midwest through swindles, broken treaties, and violence. See the blog post here.
The Real Ethereal, Katie Naughton, Delete Press
This debut collection explores daily life, loss, and existence through four distinct sections, emphasizing resilience and creativity. Read the book review here.
The Slip, Lucas Schaefer, Simon & Schuster
A story that explores hidden identities, societal perceptions, and the evolving selves of those connected to a man’s disappearance. Read the book review here.
Stone Yard Devotional, Charlotte Wood, Riverhead Books
An unnamed narrator retreats to a convent to explore personal struggles and profound questions about living a meaningful life. Read the book review here.
Stronger: The Untold Story of Muscle in Our Lives, Michael Joseph Gross, Dutton
This book champions strength training for all ages, using historical figures and research to highlight muscle’s lifelong health benefits. Read the book review here.
More Notable New Books
Poetry
The Character Actor Convention, Guy Elston, The Porcupine’s Quill
a chronology of blood, Teo Shannon, University of New Mexico Press
Cupcake Day, Alissa Sammarco, Turning Point
The Danbury Chronicles, Timothy Schmand, BlazeVOX [books]
Flowering: Images & Ideas, Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian, BlazeVOX [books]
Full Circle, Robert Paul Allen, WordTech Editions
Haunt Me, José Enrique Medina, Rattle
Into the Thrum, Marjorie Moorhead, The Poetry Box
The Last Wild Place, Peter Serchuk, WordTech Editions
Merely Players, Anne Harding Woodworth, Turning Point
Muttertongue: what is a word in utter space, Lillian Allen, Gary Barwin, and Gregory Betts, Exile Editions
Named and Nameless, Susan McCaslin, Inanna Publications
Nine Volt Nirvana, Dane Cervine, Word Poetry
Notes from the Ward, Steffi Tad-y, Gordon Hill Press
Old, J.R. Solonche, David Roberts Books
An Opera of Hankering, Ginnah Howard, Word Poetry
Palpitations, Thomas Leduc, Latitude 46
Persephone’s Alibi, Nina Bannett, David Roberts Books
Peter, Lauren Rose, CW Books
The Place That Is Coming to Us, J.D. Smith, Broadstone Books
Prodigals, Sean Minogue, Latitude 46
Q&A for the End of the World, Kim Roberts & Michael Gushue, WordTech Editions
Recapitulation in the Wrong Key, Mark Tardi, BlazeVOX [books]
Singing the Forge, G.H. Mosson, David Roberts Books
Sky of Sudden Changes, Cornelia Veenendaal, BlazeVOX [books]
small lives, Gary Jackson, University of New Mexico Press
Teacup Cemetery, Mia Bachman, David Roberts Books
This May Be The Year, Carole Giangrande, Inanna Publications
Viagra Sunset, Greg Moglia, Cherry Grove Collections
The Waiting Room, Alissa Sammarco, Turning Point
Weeding the Labyrinth, Margaret Chula, Cheery Grove Collections
A Whisper Branch, Judith Alexander Brice, David Roberts Books
Fiction
12 Oxen Under the Sea, Craig Bernardini, New American Press
Black Creek, Susan Grundy, Inanna Publications
Bones is Back, Marc Fetscherin, Author Published
The Deadly Life of Diana Penn, Shawn Inmon & Kirsten McKenzie, Squabbling Sparrows Press
The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien, Brit Griffin, Latitude 46
The Llano County Mermaid Club, Kathleen M. Rodgers, University of New Mexico Press
Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon, Lisa de Nikolits, Inanna Publications
Still, Joanna Cockerline, The Porcupine’s Quill
The Tavern at the End of History, Morris Collins, Dzanc Books
The Unravelling of Ou, Hollay Ghadery, Palimpsest Press
The Upending of Wendall Forbes, David Giuliano, Latitude 46
Waiting for Godínez: A Tragicomedy in Two Acts, Daniel A. Olivas, University of New Mexico Press
A Watch of Nightingales, Catherine Walker, Inanna Publications
Where Blackbirds Fly, Shann Ray, University of Nebraska Press
Window Fantasies, Hollay Ghadery, Gordon Hill Press
Nonfiction
Wild Moon: How the Lunar Phases Light Up Our World, Andie Powers, illus. Lucy Rose, Gibbs Smith Publishers
Product of Italy, Made in Canada, Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli, Latitude 46
The Writing on the Wind’s Wall, Kevin Andrew Heslop, The Porcupine’s Quill
See July 2025 book titles here.
To discover more great books from small, independent, and university presses, visit the NewPages Guide to Publishers as well as our Books Received monthly roundup. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up to date!