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PEOPLE’s Best Books of August 2025: New Fiction From Louis Sachar, Jason Mott and More

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A pair of starkly different book tours, a retro tale of two aspiring writers and a spooky sister story — here are PEOPLE’s picks for the best books of August 2025, so far.

‘People Like Us’ by Jason Mott

From the acclaimed author who won the National Book Award for Hell of a Book comes this electric novel about two Black writers who set out on wildly different book tours. One gets whisked off to France, where a gazillionaire fan offers to bankroll him, while the other girds himself to speak at a college recently devastated by gun violence. Populated by larger-than-life characters, this tour de force is at once gut-bustingly funny and deeply moving.

‘L.A. Women’ by Ella Berman

The uneasy friendship and rivalry between two writers center this riveting story loosely inspired by Joan Didion and Eve Babitz. The creativity and hedonism of late-’60s and early-’70s L.A. come to life as one woman strives for fame, the other respect and each fights through turmoil to embrace her identity. 

‘The Locked Ward’ by Sarah Pekkanen

Georgia, adopted into a wealthy southern family, is imprisoned in a psych ward, accused of murdering her sister. She’s plotting her way out and counting on the help of her twin, Amanda — who previously didn’t know she existed. Clever, twisty and oozing with desperation. — Robin Micheli

‘This Kind of Trouble’ by Tochi Eze

A Nigerian couple torn apart by race, health struggles and other obstacles come together decades later when old secrets resurface. A stunning debut.

‘The Hounding’ by Xenobe Purvis

The Mansfield sisters are turning into dogs — or so their 18th-century village believes. The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this sharp, incisive novel.

‘The Magician of Tiger Castle’ by Louis Sachar

Fans of Holes will devour Sachar’s first adult novel, a richly imagined history in which a princess falls for a scribe, and a magician must try to save the day.

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