august new nonfiction

New Nonfiction | August 2025 

Adult - What We're Reading | Published August 15, 2025

These nonfiction titles are coming out in August. Select the link in each title to put the book on hold.

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  • book cover: between two rivers by moudhy al-rashid

    Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History / Moudhy Al-rashid 
    Humanity’s earliest efforts at recording and drawing meaning from history reveal how lives millennia ago were not so different from our own. 

  • book cover: king of kings by scott anderson

    King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution, a Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation / Scott Anderson 
    A stunningly revelatory narrative history of one of the most momentous events in modern times, the jaw-dropping stupidity of the American government, and the dawn of the age of religious nationalism. 

  • book cover: we should all be birds by brian buckbee

    We Should All Be Birds: A Memoir / Brain Buckee 
    A charming and moving debut memoir about how a man with a mystery illness saves a pigeon, and how the pigeon saves the man.   

  • book cover: deadwood by peter cozzens

    Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West / Peter Cozzens 
    The first book dedicated the story of early Deadwood. It also probes timeless subjects such as race and sex, crime and punishment, religion and recreation, and everyday life in a manner that will immerse readers in the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the frontier West. 

  • book cover: cleaning house by lindsay dahl

    Cleaning House: The Fight to Rid Our Homes of Toxic Chemicals / Lindsay Dahl 
    From the front lines of the movement for safer products, environmental health expert Lindsay Dahl takes us on her journey from skeptic to activist, exposing the secret forces that keep toxic chemicals in our homes, bodies, and environment—showing us how to fight back and keep our families safe. 

  • book cover: the mother next door by andrew dunlop

    The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy / Andrea Dunlop 
    An investigation of Munchausen by Proxy (MBP) through narratives and expert insights, exploring the disturbing dynamics between mothers and their children facing fabricated illnesses; following three high-stakes investigations, they reveal the complexities of this child abuse phenomenon while addressing misinformation and proposing solutions to protect vulnerable children. 

  • book cover: the devil reached toward the sky by garrett graff

    The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb / Garrett M. Graff 
    On the eightieth anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the Pulitzer Prize finalist whose work is “oral history at its finest” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) delivers an epic narrative of the atomic bomb’s creation and deployment, woven from the voices of hundreds of scientists, generals, soldiers, and civilians. 

  • book cover: victory 45 by james holland

    Victory ’45: The End of the War in Six Surrenders / James Holland 
    On the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, two acclaimed historians chronicle the remarkable stories behind the surrenders that ended the world’s most catastrophic global conflict. 

  • book cover: are you mad at me by meg josephson

    Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You / Meg Josephson 
    With Josephson’s “lucid prose and smart mix of clinical expertise, personal disclosure, and pertinent case studies” (Publishers Weekly), Are You Mad at Me? will help you shed the behaviors that are keeping you stuck in the past so that you can live in your most authentic present. 

  • book cover: rehab by shoshana walter

    Rehab: An American Scandal / Shoshana Walter 
    Pulitzer finalist Shoshana Walter exposes the country’s failed response to the opioid crisis, and the malfeasance, corruption, and snake oil which blight the drug rehabilitation industry. 

  • book cover: anatomy of a con artist by johnathan walton

    Anatomy of a Con Artist: The 14 Red Flags to Spot Scammers, Grifters, and Thieves / Johnathan Walton 
    After being scammed out of nearly $100,000 by a devious con artist, Walton was turned away by police. Infuriated and armed with the investigative skills he’d gained from years as a TV reporter, Walton launched his own investigation and built a compelling criminal case authorities could not ignore. Walton got his con artist charged, prosecuted, and convicted, then devoted his life to helping other victims do the same. This book packs in all he has learned. 

  • book cover: disney adults by aj wolfe

    Disney Adults: Exploring and Falling in Love with a Magical Subculture / A.J. Wolfe 
    Dives deep into a misunderstood subculture, exploring the lives and experiences of a fascinating community to better understand its devotees’ unwavering passion for all things Disney, why it offends, and why it matters. 

View previous months:

July 2025 New Nonfiction
June 2025 New Nonfiction
May 2025 New Nonfiction
April 2025 New Nonfiction
March 2025 New Nonfiction
February 2025 New Nonfiction
January 2025 New Nonfiction
December 2024 New Nonfiction

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