August 18, 2025 |
In the month of August, when laying sedately in the yellowing grass expanses of city parks just to catch the sun before the heat gives way to wetter weather, the final flecks of summer are well and truly at the forefront of everyone’s mind. And as you while the day away, those fleeting UVs kissing your skin, why not stick your nose in the latest literary delights? This summer has boasted an overwhelming abundance of bookshelf arrivals to pick from, with more still to come. But we don’t want you wasting any of these precious days spent on vanilla BookTok recs that leave you feeling like you’re burning daylight – literally. And so, we’ve rounded up the latest reads, hot off the press and ready to dogear. From Martin Parr’s first autobiography Utterly Lazy and Inattentive to Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley‘s return with Be Gay, Do Crime, because how else would you want to spend the final stretch of summer?
So, whether you’re in need of a distraction from the sweltering heat of the Vicky line, searching for an impressive coffee table book to top your housemates or simply pretending to be mysterious in your local pub’s garden, we’ve got something to meet all your book-worming needs.
A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez
A Sunny Place for Shady People is Argentinian author Mariana Enriquez’s latest enthralling collection of short stories, where paranormal hauntings mingle with the everyday horrors and the mundane. Published in July by Granta and translated by Megan McDowell, the twelve-piece collection of chilling yet witty works questions how gothic horror lies in the benign and unexpected, exploring love, womanhood, LGBTQ counterculture, parenthood and Argentina’s brutal past.
Great Black Hope By Rob Franklin
Published in June by Summit Books – a division of Simon & Schuster – Rob Franklin’s debut novel Great Black Hope grips from the get-go with Smith, a young queer Black Stanford Graduate bailing himself out of jail for possession of drugs. As the story unravels, we see Smith’s seemingly glamourous life being pulled in all directions. From sparring with family pressures, race and class to the death of Smith’s beloved roommate Elle, Great Black Hope reads as an astute and ambitious book that seeks out what it means to exist between worlds.
Be Gay, Do Crime by Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley
At a time where so much feels out of our control, Molly Llewellyn and Kristel Buckley’s Be Gay Do Crime comes crashing onto the literary scene with sixteen boisterous and celebratory short stories of queer people taking matters into their own hands and breaking the rules. Released in June by Dzanc Books and presenting an all-queer line up of talented authors, the rebellious collection tells the tales of acts of deviance and defiance, reckoning with why queer people turn to crime, unintentionally, as necessity, as protest or to right the worlds wrongs
Utterly Lazy and Inattentive: Martin Parr in Words and Pictures by Martin Parr and Wendy Jones
Set to be published September 4 by Particular Books – a division under Penguin Books, Utterly Lazy and Inattentive: Martin Parr in Words and Pictures is the first and last autobiography of the celebrated photographer Martin Parr written with author Wendy Jones.
Tracing Parr’s photography back to the first scene he remembers capturing The Great Freeze in which his father stands wide on a frozen lake, binoculars hanging from his neck for birdwatching. The book includes pictures of key objects that spark weighty memories in Parr’s life: his copy of The Tom Lehrer Songbook which he credits for starting his interest satire and humour and the school report slating Parr for being “Utterly lazy and inattentive” in French class.
It isn’t until you reach photo 51 where his work awakens, drenched in saturated colours and flash-induced light as he enters his New Brighton era. From here on we see snippets of his The Cost of Living and Signs of The Times series, eventually closing with his more recent works featuring Black Lives Matter Protests, Tesla Showrooms and Iftar celebrations in Bristol.
The Nineties x Anna Sui by Anna Sui
Arriving September 9, The Nineties x Anna Sui book – published by Rizzoli – serves as a time capsule to an era teeming with chockers, frosted eyeshadow and midriffs.
Sui invites us on a trip down memory lane, exploring the legendary designer’s crossover of Victorian and grunge aesthetics to her iconic baby-doll dresses beloved by Kurt Cobain. The book revisits her energetic catwalks and dissects her pop-culture inspirations and flamboyant flair with features from friends and colleagues Marc Jacobs, Sofia Coppola, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington Burns and Steff Yotka.
Pleasure: The Keys to Female Sensual Delights by Betony Vernon
Designer, author, clinical hypnotherapist and pro-pleasure activist Betony Vernon is releasing her third book this September 2 published by Rizzoli, titled Pleasure: The Keys to Female Sensual Delights. From G-spots to boundaries, lover’s guides to rosebud play, Vernon once again gifts us her joyful and sex-positive energy, this time with a comprehensive guide of modern sexual territories.
Million Dollar Hip Hop Watches by Tobias Kargoll, Jeanette Lang and Leon Schäfers
Releasing September 5 and published by TeNeues, Million Dollar Hip Hop Watches deconstructs the history of Hip Hop with help from the industry’s most significant watches. From the 90s Hip Hop group Wu-Tang Clan’s collab with Rolex flaunted by member RZA to American rapper Sexyy Red’s skeletonized Santos de Cartier diamond watch, editors Tobias Kargoll, Leon Schāfers and Jeanette lang have served up a visual feast, one that captures the heart of Hip Hop and illustrates the stories of the wearers.
Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh by Robin Givhan
Published June 26 by Cornerstone – a division under Penguin Books, Pulitzer Prize winning culture critic Robin Givhan tells the legacy of Virgil Abloh and how he became Louis Vuitton’s first Black designer. Make It Ours excellently recites how Abloh came to symbolise the fashion industry’s revolution through the form of streetwear and accurately depicts one man’s rise that “upends a century’s worth of ideas about luxury and taste”.
Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told by Jeremy Atherton Lin
Released earlier in June by Penguin Books, Jeremy Atherton Lin’s Deep House follows his personal and raw story of his transnational relationship set against a backdrop of the gay marriage debate. Subtitled the Gayest Love Story Ever Told, the award-winning author not only shares his own story but examines the politics of outlawed love in a broader history of how queer couples lived and loved before the legalisation of gay marriage.
Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef by Slutty Cheff
Published by Bloomsbury in July, Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef is a tale as old as time where girl meets grub. Slutty Cheff entertains us all with her rom-com to becoming Instagram’s most anonymous and alluring chef. Trading zoom calls for fine-dining kitchens, Tart dishes up a world with enough food, sex, windowless kitchens and steamy bartenders to satiate your sweet tooth.
If that wasn’t enough for you, some honourable mentions ready to read are Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth, Strange House by Uketsu, Girls Girls Girls by Shoshana von Blanckensee, Thirst Trap by Gráinne O’Hare and So What! By Susanne Junker. And still yet to come is Cleaner by Jess Shannon releasing August 28 and Costume Jewellery by Carol Woolton releasing September 18.
Top image: ‘Tart: Misadventures of an Anonymous Chef’ by Slutty Cheff, Bloomsbury; ‘Make it Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh’ by Robin Givhan, Cornerstone; ‘Deep House: The Gayest Love Story Ever Told’ by Jeremy Atherton Lin, Penguin.
