August 7, 2026, By Library Staff in Staff Reads.
I’m Deidre—an avid book lover, Adult Programming Librarian for Flathead County Library, and Branch Manager of the Bigfork Library. I love when other people make monthly book plan lists, so I’d thought I’d share mine too!
August is the season of getting outside as much as possible for me in Montana, but there are still quite a few books I’m excited about this month.
It’s also the start of the literary awards season, like the announcement of the Booker Prize Longlist. I love a good reading list, and love predicting which book might be the winner. I’m guessing John of John by Douglas Stuart. Anyone can pick their favorite book of the year though, what’s yours?
My favorite so far is Good People by Patmeena Sabit.
Here are some other books I’m excited about this month:
- A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett – The third book in the Shadow of the Leviathan fantasy series. A Sherlock and Watson type duo with a cantankerous but brilliant old woman and her young assistant with the skill of remembering every detail perfectly.
- The Unknown by Riley Sager – A murder mystery by one of my favorite thriller authors. It takes place on a remote Vermont island famous for its séances, where five women disappeared 100 years ago. Now they’re making a movie about what happened, and more women are disappearing. Sounds spooky and atmospheric.
- Etna by Paul Yoon – I think this is a retelling of The Odyssey, but the main character is a military working dog named Etna. Paul Yoon writes lyrical and literary books, often about veterans and postwar healing and resilience.
- Queen Mab by Emily McBride – I love a story with fairies, and changelings. This book takes that idea and uses it to talk about the challenges of motherhood and the post-partum experience. It might be quite dark.
- The Wild Beneath by Kelly Anderson by Rene Denfeld – The main character in this book grew up on a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest deeply connected to the ocean and nature. A little romance, a little magical realism, lots of nature.
- A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival: A Memoir by Virginia Eubanks – This memoir is about a woman who cares for her husband after a traumatic incident, and then develops complex PTSD as a result. She turns to learning all kinds of outdoor survival skills as a way to deal with her trauma. I love memoirs that let me understand experiences I’ve never had, and I’m interested in the skills she learns and how they impact her mental health.
- Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty – The sequel to Big Little Lies, only now the kids are fifteen and in high school. A crime thriller with a group of five women and their friendship at the center. Read the first book first, or watch the TV show based on the book before picking up book two, or read it as a standalone!