What to read in August - our 5 top picks

The best new books to read this month - from wizards to romantic romps.

By Rose Shepherd | Published - 31 Jul 2024

Our pick

There's Nothing Wrong With Her - Kate Weinberg

Bloomsbury Publishing hardback - RRP: £16.99

Poleaxed by a mystery illness, Vita lies in her basement flat, with the companionship of a goldfish called Whitney Houston, and the sporadic attentions of her faintly sceptical surgeon fiancé.

An occasional visitor, 16th-century aristocrat Luigi Da Porto (flesh or figment?), author of the original Romeo and Juliet, sits and chats, counsels her, snacks on Twiglets and is marvellously entertaining.

If only Vita can find the strength to get upstairs to see widowed Mrs Rothwell and her gorgeous son, Jesse, maybe she can recover her health. An inventive, witty and questioning novel from a young author who herself spent months sunk in the Long Covid ‘pit’.

Guilty By Definition - Susie Dent

Bonnier Books - RRP £16.99

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Cryptic letters signed only ‘Chorus’ arrive at the Oxford offices of the Clarendon English Dictionary, challenging the recipients to solve a mystery.

For new editor Martha, a reference to 2010 signifies the year that her beloved, brilliant sister, Charlie, disappeared. Who better than lexicographers to unravel the clues?

Such a clever debut from Saga Magazine's resident wordsmith.

I Will Ruin You - Linwood Barclay

HarperCollins Publishers UK - RRP £15.99

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High-school teacher Richard Boyle is briefly a hero as he faces down a vengeful former student bent on blowing himself and others to kingdom come.

But it doesn’t end entirely well – and it gets worse, as Boyle finds himself a victim of blackmail with everything to lose. The injustice of it!

Bank on Barclay to engage your sympathies, introducing twists and ‘yikes’ moments before delivering the knockout blow.

A Woman Of Opinion - Sean Lusk

Penguin Books - RRP £15.99

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She was a widely travelled poet, intellectual, pioneer of inoculation, and wife of Sir Edward Worley Montagu, an MP, briefly ambassador to the Sublime Porte in Constantinople.

Many of her letters survive, but her daughter burnt her diaries, so Lusk is free to imagine what gems they contained as he brings Lady Mary Wortley Montagu to life in all her 18th-century glory.

Loosen your stays, settle back and enjoy!

Clay: A Human History - Jennifer Lucy Allan

Hachette UK - RRP £20

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Author, amateur potter and Radio 3 presenter with a PhD in foghorns, Jennifer Lucy Allan digs deep into geological time to reveal a humble material, taken for granted yet everywhere in our lives.

From creation myths to grave goods, clay in one shape or form has accompanied humankind down the millennia and has even been found on Mars.

An absorbing work from such an original, enthusiastic writer.

This article appeared in the August 2024 edition of Saga Magazine.

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