It’s hard to believe that summer 2025 is almost in the books, especially when most parts of the country are still experiencing record-breaking heat. But while you may have already started your back-to-school shopping, there are still plenty of great reads hitting the shelves in August – just in case you want to squeeze in one last beach trip.
Suggested Reading
From romance to fantasy to memoir, we’ve rounded up some of the books by Black authors we can’t wait to read in August.
“Cudi: The Memoir” by Kid Cudi (August 12)
“Day ’N’ Nite” artist Kid Cudi is out with his debut memoir, “Cudi” this month. He writes about his journey from childhood growing up in Cleveland to music stardom and how he dealt with depression, addiction and a near-fatal overdose along the way.
“People Like Us” by Jason Mott (August 5)
“People Like Us” is the latest novel from Jason Mott, author of “Hell of a Book.” The story alternates between two Black writers who are trying to find peace in a world filled with gun violence.
“A New New Me” by Helen Oyeyemi (August 26)
“A New New Me” is a novel that centers around Kinga, a woman who has a different persona for every day of the week. But when one of those personalities finds a man tied up in her apartment, the Kingas are forced to try to figure out which one of them may not have the best intentions.
“Once Upon a Time in Dollywood” by Ashley Jordan (August 5)
At the center of Ashley Jordan’s novel “Once Upon a Time in Dollywood” is Eve Ambroise, an up-and-coming playwright whose personal life has seen better days. In an attempt to reset, she leaves everything behind and heads to the Tennessee mountains, until she finds herself falling for the single dad next door.
“The Black Family Who Built America: The McKissacks, Two Centuries of Daring Pioneers” by Cheryl McKissack Daniel and Nick Chiles (August 12)
“The Black Family Who Built America” is the story of McKissack and McKissack, the Black, family-owned construction company behind some of the country’s landmarks, including the National Civil Rights Museum in Tennessee, the Barclays Center Arena in Brooklyn, New York and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field.
“This book makes clear that the McKissack family should be mentioned in the same conversation with those prestigious last names so often heralded as models for what we call the American Dream,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson.
“The Cruel Dawn” by Rachel Howzell Hall (August 19)
In times like these, we could all use a little fantasy. Enter, “The Cruel Dawn,” a romance which centers around Kaivara Megidrail, a warrior who must decide if she can trust an ex when the fate of her
“The Re-Write” by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn (August 12)
“The Re-Write” tells the story of Temi, a Black writer trying to navigate the literary scene in London. Things take a turn when she gets an opportunity to ghostwrite a celebrity memoir. The only problem is the subject is her ex-boyfriend who dumped her right before going on a popular dating reality show.
“Mounted: On Horses, Blackness and Liberation” by Bitter Kalli (August 19)
Biter Kalli draws on their their experience as a former urban equestrian, Black queer person, and child of Jamaican and Filipino immigrants in Mounted,” a collection of essays about the vital role horses have played within Black communities.
“Family Spirit” by Diane McKinney-Whetstone (August 12)
“Family Spirit” is a novel about Ayana, a young woman who comes from a family of clairvoyants. While dealing with the pressures of being a college senior, she’s also trying to make sense of the gift she’s inherited and the secrets her family has held onto for decades.
“This Kind of Trouble” by Tochi Eze (August 5)
“This Kind of Trouble” tells the story of Margaret and Benjamin, a couple who found love in Lagos in the 1960s, despite the warnings of Margaret’s family. Although their relationship didn’t last, the couple has reunited to try to erase a family curse and save their grandson.
“Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and The Fight for a Black State” by Caleb Gayle (August 12)
In “Black Moses” Caleb Gayle writes about Edward McCabe, a Black businessman who lobbied politicians to create a state for Black people to live among themselves.
“Full of Myself: Black Womanhood and The Journey to Self-Possession” by Austin Channing Brown (August 26)
In “Full of Myself,” author Austin Channing Brown writes about her personal experience with what she describes as activism-induced burnout and provides a roadmap for other Black woman on how to live their best lives during these trying times.
“Beyond Midnight” by Ian K. Smith
“Beyond Midnight” is the fifth installment in Ian K. Smith’s Ashe Cayne mystery series. The mysterious death of undocumented immigrant Juaquin Escobar is ruled an accident, until his nephew, who thinks something suspicious went down, hires Ashe Cayne to find out the truth. But the truth may reveal some unflattering things about the city’s political elite.
“The Dancing Face” by Mike Phillips
In “The Dancing Face,” a professor plans to steal the priceless Benin mask from a British museum in order to liberate it. But others with more power and fewer morals want to get their hands on the mask as well, leading the professor and those he cares about down a dangerous path.
‘The Independent’ calls the book, “brutal, deep, cunning and unbearably beautiful.”
“Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler” Susana M. Morris (August 19)
Octavia Butler was a pioneer in the world of science fiction writing, blazing trails for future generations of Black storytellers. In “Positive Obsession,” Susana M. Morris writes about how Butler’s “positive obsession” with the craft of writing inspired her to create despite tremendous obstacles, including rejection and personal hardship.
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