Aesthetical August Staff Picks

Together We Will Go

“Mark, an unsuccessful young writer, creates a vague social media post inviting those who understand it to join him on a journey to California. Not the typical vacation trip, this one will end with a drive off a cliff. Several people respond, and soon Mark and Dylan, the driver he has hired, set off to begin picking up the others. As each member joins the group, we learn their story and their reasons for choosing to end their life. Their journey together in the close quarters of a bus changes each of them, in ways both small and large, and does not proceed quite as planned. This is much more than a book about suicide; it is an exploration of relationships, love, heartache, loss, and joy. It is a story of the human heart.”

Nancy, Raven Book Store

Burning Girls and Other Stories

“This short story collection blew me away. Our protagonists, in true fairytale fashion (but perhaps better than I’ve ever seen it) are pushed by circumstance and historical context and prejudice and sometimes cruelty, into situations where they seem to have no choices left. It’s then that the fantastical elements of the stories come in. Through magic—sometimes ugly and grotesque magic and always with a cost—our characters retain their agency and fight back, even though they rarely win a “happily ever after”. My two favorite stories were, "The Revenant," and “Emma Goldman Takes Tea with the Baba Yaga," but if I let myself choose more than two I'd pick almost all of them as favorites.”

Miriasha, Phoenix Books

Malibu Rising

“This ode to Malibu in the 1980s is the perfect beach read. Four famous siblings throw a star-studded party and over the course of 24 hours find their lives changed forever. It’s enthralling and layered and so vivid it could be a memory. Perfectly paced and suspenseful from page one!”

Meagan Dallner, Books are Awesome

In this satisfying page-turner from "the queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl.

On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a...

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The Guilt Trip

“Loved this one and it had such a surprise ending!”

Jennifer, Walls of Books of Oviedo

Falling

“Falling is the literary thriller that gets your heart racing and causes you to be both contemplative and terrified at the same time. TJ Newman, a former indie bookseller and a former flight attendant, knows how to tell a story. She writes with a remarkable turn of phrase and with insider knowledge of what can happen in an airplane. It's always a great day when an indie bookseller publishes a book. It's an extremely great day when the book is a fantastic page-turner.”

Cindy, Changing Hands

Spanning more than half a century and cities from New Delhi to Atlanta, Anjali Enjeti’s debut is a heartfelt and human portrait of the long shadow of the Partition of the Indian subcontinent on the lives of three generations.

The story begins in August 1947. Unrest plagues the streets of New Delhi leading up to the birth of the Muslim majority... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • From the bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and When Life Gives You Lululemons comes a highly entertaining, sharply observed novel about sisters, their perfect lives . . . and their perfect lies.

“Goes down like an ice-cold guilty pleasure on a hot beach-reading day.”—USA... Read more »

Ambition will fuel him.Competition will drive him.But power has its price.

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on... Read more »

If you enjoyed Circe, then you’ll love Norse Mythology.

“Just wow this audiobook! Neil Gaiman reading his special and slightly different versions of classic Norse stories is such a joy to listen to. His voice is mesmerizing and the stories are fantastic.”

Teri, UC San Diego Bookstore

The Forest of Vanishing Stars

“A little girl is kidnapped from her parents and raised in the wilderness. As a young woman, she uses her skills to help Jewish refugees survive in the forests of Poland. From the first page, I didn't want to put the book down.”

Jill Gregory, A Likely Story

If you enjoyed The Glass Castle, then you’ll love Nowhere Girl.

“In this riveting memoir, Cheryl (a.k.a. Crystal a.k.a. Harbhajan) recounts her childhood growing up on the run, crisscrossing the globe with her family in order to evade Interpol. Diamond’s childhood set the stage for an extremely dysfunctional adolescence thanks to her charming yet intensely controlling father. Not only was the family on the run, they were living by his set of rules and principles that set them even further apart from regular society. Nowhere Girl hit exactly the way I think the best memoirs do: a place that is stranger-than-fiction and incredibly heartfelt. On top of that, Diamond is an excellent writer, evoking a strong sense of place in each setting as well as offering insightful commentary on her emotional state along the journey. Eileen Stevens narrates phenomenally, making it a slam dunk audiobook choice.”

Holly, WORD Bookstores

The Anthropocene Reviewed

“How do you find the words to describe a book that repeatedly took your breath away? That kept knocking you on your ass? That made you stop multiple times to dutifully type out quotes to text to your friends? I don't know, but I know this is the book I needed right now. It's probably the book you need right now, too. I give THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED five stars.”

Nicole, Oblong Books

Winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal
New York Times Bestseller

This program is read by the author.

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption—a bold and lyrical audiobook written by Carole Lindstrom.

Water is the first...

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