Books

The Best New Books Out The Week Of August 24

Make room on your TBR pile.

Feminist sci-fi novels and a spate of spectacular memoirs are coming to your favorite bookstore this week.

We only include products that have been independently selected by Bustle's editorial team. However, we may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

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Nahr's parents were refugees, but they didn't think she'd ever be in their shoes. Now, following a series of unfortunate events that culminated with the start of the Iraq War, the Palestinian-Kuwaiti woman finds herself searching for love and a place to belong in an increasingly hostile world.
$27
See On Amazon
Trading a bed at the asylum for sleeping in a country house is every orphan's dream, or so Margot's peers would have her believe. But when the Suttons take her home to be their mute daughter's companion, Margot begins to see cracks in the family's fine veneer... and a darkness underneath.
$18.99
See On Amazon
The Stepford Wives meets I, Robot in this new feminist sci-fi tale. Sylv.ie's husband's flesh-and-blood wife doesn't like her, so Sylv.ie lives out her innumerable days in the family's attic. Her only purpose is to serve her husband. It's what she was made to do. So why does she want more?
$26
See On Amazon
As the water crisis in Flint, Michigan rages on, more U.S. cities find themselves grappling with the effects of crumbling public infrastructure. In her new book, Erin Brockovich lays bare the reasons behind these interconnected crises, and shows how we can all work together for clean water.
$28.95
See On Amazon
Struggling to rebuild her public image, 18-year-old Evie arranges for her grandmother, a reclusive former megastar, to receive a lifetime achievement award. It's a win-win situation... so why has the older woman disappeared just before the curtain's raised?
$17.99
See On Underground Books
U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo serves as editor on this phenomenal new anthology of poetry from Native American and First Nations author. With work spanning the last 400 years, When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through may be the year's best collection.
$19.95
See On Semicolon Bookstore & Gallery
H Is for Hawk author Helen Macdonald returns to bookstores this week with her new essay collection, Vesper Flights. Drawing from her experiences watching huge flocks of birds across the globe, Macdonald's new book is sure to delight lifelong nature lovers and those just finding their affections.
$27
See On Amazon
The Mothers were supposed to save humanity. They raised a generation of children, watched them grow, and now the robotic parents themselves are changing. One man finds himself torn between state orders and his feelings for his own Mother in Carole Stivers' debut novel, The Mother Code.
$26
See On Amazon
In her first memoir, disability advocate Rebekah Taussig takes on problematic representations of disability in the media, rude and uncomfortable interactions with members of the public, and how her day-to-day life differs from what others might expect.
$25.99
See On Amazon

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