Books I'm Squeeing About in August

We're already at August and this year is just flying by. Luckily we've had lots of incredible books to keep us going over the last seven months and this month is now exception. There's a wonderful mix of contemporary and fantasy hitting out shelves that I cannot wait to get stuck into, and some books that I've already read and loved and can't wait to see what you guys make of them!
So without further ado, here are the books that I am squeeing about in August!

1st August - The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
Annabelle Aster doesn’t bow to convention—not even that of space and time—which makes the 1890s Kansas wheat field that has appeared in her modern-day San Francisco garden easy to accept. Even more peculiar is Elsbeth, the truculent schoolmarm who sends Annie letters through the mysterious brass mailbox perched on the picket fence that now divides their two worlds.Annie and Elsbeth’s search for an explanation to the hiccup in the universe linking their homes leads to an unsettling discovery—and potential disaster for both of them. Together they must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and yet somehow already did.

This blurb was so brilliantly strange that it immediately caught my interest. Combine that with the mouthful of a title and whilst this wasn't my usual type of book, ever since Outlander I have been curious about reading more time travel books.
Keep an eye out for my review!
Pre-order this book on Amazon now!
Check back on August 14th for a guest post from Scott Wilbanks himself!


4th August - As Black as Ebony by Salla Simukka
After a harrowing summer in Prague, Lumikki Andersson is back in Finland at her prestigious art school, concentrating on graduation. She lands the lead role in the school’s modern-day adaptation of “Snow White” and finds herself facing a new distraction—Sampsa, the boy playing the role of the huntsman, who has an undeniable allure that makes Lumikki conflicted about what, and who, she wants.
As Lumikki starts falling into something more than just her role on stage, a shadow is cast over the production when she begins receiving creepily obsessive love notes. Lumikki can’t ignore the increasingly hostile tone of her admirer’s messages, and when the stalker threatens mass violence at the play’s premiere, Lumikki knows she must discover who is behind the menace and stop the person at all costs.
With a foe who has a heart as black as ebony, does Lumikki have any hope of saving those she loves?

I loved the first book in the series, a tragically under-rated and unknown book translated into English from Finnish and with a tense thrilling story at its heart. The second book didn't grab me in quite the same way and had a few issues with translation, but that didn't diminish my excitement for the final installment in the trilogy, which stormed along at a terrific rate and left me breathless with fear at points!
You can read my review here
Pre-order this book on Amazon now!

13th August - Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home. 
But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.
Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince... but realizes she doesn't want a fairy tale happy ending after all.

A re-telling of Cinderella with a heroine who isn't just waiting for a Prince to sweep her off her feet and make everything better? A heroine who creates her own identity and empowers herself rather than relying on a man to do it for her? Sign me up, immediately. I can't wait to read this one!
Pre-order this book on Amazon now!

20th August - The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de BodardParis has survived the Great Houses War – just. Its streets are lined with haunted ruins, Notre-Dame is a burnt-out shell, and the Seine runs black with ashes and rubble. Yet life continues among the wreckage. The citizens continue to live, love, fight and survive in their war-torn city, and The Great Houses still vie for dominion over the once grand capital.
House Silverspires, previously the leader of those power games, lies in disarray. Its magic is ailing; its founder, Morningstar, has been missing for decades; and now something from the shadows stalks its people inside their very own walls.
Within the House, three very different people must come together: a naive but powerful Fallen, a alchemist with a self-destructive addiction, and a resentful young man wielding spells from the Far East. They may be Silverspires’ salvation. They may be the architects of its last, irreversible fall…

This blurb was basically all I needed to have this book shoot straight onto my wishlist. I'm loving reading books set in France at the moment, and a war torn Paris with magic and warring houses?! This just ticks all of my bookish boxes and leaves me desperate to get my hands on it!
Pre-order this book on Amazon now!

25th August - Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.
Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.
Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

Finally! The time has come! I have been excited about this book since the start of the year, and with a blurb like that can you really blame me? Brutal, brilliant and oh so exciting, I cannot wait to dig into this book.
Keep an eye out for my review later this month!
Pre-order this book on Amazon now!

27th August - One by Sarah Crossan
Tippi and Grace share everything—clothes, friends... even their body. Writing in free verse, Sarah Crossan tells the sensitive and moving story of conjoined twin sisters, which will find fans in readers of Gayle Forman, Jodi Picoult, and Jandy Nelson.
Tippi and Grace. Grace and Tippi. For them, it’s normal to step into the same skirt. To hook their arms around each other for balance. To fall asleep listening to the other breathing. To share. And to keep some things private. The two sixteen-year-old girls have two heads, two hearts, and each has two arms, but at the belly, they join. And they are happy, never wanting to risk the dangerous separation surgery.
But the girls’ body is beginning to fight against them. And soon they will have to face the impossible choice they have avoided for their entire lives.

This book is stunning. Beautiful, raw and simplistic prose, written in free verse and utterly engrossing, this is one of the best books I've read so far this year. It's an incredible story and Crossan has pared down the writing to the very bare bones needed, which makes the story even more powerful and engaging. I loved Tippi and Grace, I fell into their lives and their choices and crept through their thoughts and hopes and dreams. This is an incredible book, I cannot recommend it enough.
Keep an eye out for my review later this month!
Pre-order this book on Amazon now!

So there you have the books I can't wait to get my hands on this month. Are they any you think I've missed? Or books that I've popped onto your radar? Let me know in the comments below, and tell me what you're hoping to read!