It’s been a fantastic month of reading, recommending, and repeating. We saw your comments, your likes and shares, and clicks. We’d be remiss if we didn’t look back on all of the books we’ve collected this month and give you a rundown of the best of the best. In case you missed it, here were the most popular books featured on Off the Shelf in August—according to you!
Readers’ Choice: Our 10 Most Popular Books in August
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
The Cookes—Mother and Dad, brother Lowell, sisters Fern and Rosemary—are an ordinary middle-class American family, in all ways but one: Fern is a chimpanzee. Beautifully written, this is the tale of an unconventional family and the heartbreaking consequences of their good intentions.
We're completely obsessed with Mary Doria Russell's review of this award-winning book.
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
“WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES is one of those completely absorbing books that makes the rest of the world disappear, while at the same time reminding us all too clearly of the world we come from and its occasional cruelty.”
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The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise
"Once in a while, I come across a rare, wonderful book that I just want to hug to my chest as soon as I’ve finished the last page." This novel full of whimsy and charm centers on Balthazar Jones, his wife, and his 120-year-old pet tortoise. Tasked with setting up a zoo of the Queen's exotic animals, Balthazar's eccentric life is suddenly changed when his wife leaves him and his tortoise runs way.
Add sunshine to your TBR with these feel-good novels.
The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise
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The Incarnations
Taxi driver Wang begins to receive unusual letters from a mysterious “soul mate” that are filled with the stories of his previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars. With each letter, Wang becomes more convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for more than 1,000 years.
These are the books we couldn't stop thinking about in August!
The Incarnations
Read a Book Wherein All Point-of-View Characters Are People of Color
Taxi driver Wang begins to receive unusual letters from a mysterious “soul mate” that are filled with the stories of his previous lives—from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars. With each letter, Wang becomes more convinced that someone is watching him—someone who claims to have known him for more than 1,000 years.
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Watching You
For fans of BIG LITTLE LIES and the long list of suburban thrillers taking over our reading lists, have you read any Lisa Jewell lately? This month’s Book Club Favorites pick, WATCHING YOU is a heart-pounding domestic mystery with twists and turns—a perfect companion for the last few weeks of summer. In Melville Heights—one of the finest neighborhoods in Bristol, England—a shocking murder reveals secret obsessions that date back twenty years, involving a beloved headmaster, his son, and a student. A Lisa Jewell novel is not to be missed.
Quick! Add these new paperbacks to your shelf, today.
Watching You
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Mindhunter
During his 25-year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement as he pursued some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time.
Read up on the book behind the hit Netflix series, Mindhunter.
Mindhunter
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Anatomy of a Scandal
How much do you trust your husband? In this enthralling and heart-pounding courtroom drama, Sophie Whitehouse grapples with standing by her successful husband after he is accused of a shocking crime. An utterly absorbing read filled with breathless twists and turns, ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL explores how secrets, power, and vengeance affect women.
Check out which classic novel we paired with ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL, and more.
Anatomy of a Scandal
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The Beautiful Bureaucrat
"In THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT, Helen Phillips makes the most of her literary freedom, putting her considerable talents to work in creating one astounding kitchen sink of a novel. Why choose thriller when you can use the pacing of a thriller? Why restrain the world to a dystopian future when you can highlight how our current world already echoes with dystopia? Why limit yourself when you can have satire and romance. Wordplay and sci-fi. Mystery and existentialism. “You don’t even have to choose!”"
Read more of Elizabeth's review of this book you didn't know you needed.
The Beautiful Bureaucrat
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Mornings with Rosemary
In this heart-warming debut, twenty-something journalist Kate Matthews discovers a cross-generational connection while writing a story about the closing the Lido, a local pool and community center. Rosemary, one of the Lido’s longtime members, shares her memories of the place: coping with the aftermath of World War II, navigating the complexities of marriage, and struggling through periods of loss. Within the safe harbor of this transformative place, Rosemary and Kate discover a friendship that will change their lives forever.
Want more books about friendship? Click here.
Mornings with Rosemary
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All the Birds, Singing
A mesmerizing mystery of missing sheep and past intrigue, ALL THE BIRDS, SINGING is a profound testament to the hardships of being a woman in a man’s world.
We asked you what books you wish you could read again for the first time. Your answers didn't disappoint!
All the Birds, Singing
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A Different Kind of Evil
In this follow up to A TALENT FOR MURDER, famed crime writer Agatha Christie boards a cruise ship headed to the Canary Islands to solve the violent murder of a British Secret Intelligence Service agent. But a seemingly unrelated act of violence that occurs on the ship sparks Agatha’s curiosity and soon she’s on the case to track down what might connect these two deaths. Using one of the genres most beloved authors as inspiration, Andrew Wilson crafts a mystery that will inspire nostalgia even in its originality.
Solve this Agatha Christie-inspired mystery and more from these historical novels.
A Different Kind of Evil
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