9 Books to Read in August

August is promising to be an exciting month for book lovers, just in time for vacations, afternoons at the pool, or warm evenings on the porch swing. Whether you like fantasy or literary fiction, I bet at least one of the following books is the perfect match for you.

Get Lost in a Good Story

• One Summer Day in Rome by Mark Lamprell (Flatiron, August 1): Three couples (two from the United States, one from London) travel to Rome for different reasons. While exploring the Eternal City, their paths crisscross during one transforming day.
• The Ready-Made Thief by Augustus Rose (Viking, August 1): A homeless teenager finds shelter in a squatters' cooperative in Philadelphia, but when fellow residents begin to go missing, she and a friend attempt to lose themselves in the city while figuring out who's behind the disappearances.
• If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss (Sourcebooks Landmark, August 22): Pregnant and newly married to a violent man, a young woman starts to question her choices, though she sees no way out of her South Carolina mountain town. The story is told from a variety of perspectives.

Give a Family Saga a Try

• The Ice-Cream Makers by Ernest van der Kwast (Atria / 37 Ink, August 1): When the heir to an Italian ice cream dynasty is called home to help rescue his family's business, he must decide between his passion to be a poet and his love for his heritage.
• The Half-Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker (Harper, August 1): This is the initial installment of a Viking tale of revenge, love, and family set on sea and land and based on ancient tales of the rise of Harald the Fair-Haired, the first king of Norway.

Step Back into the Past

• The Dress in the Window by Sofia Grant (William Morrow, July 25): Two talented sisters team up to create beautiful dresses suitable for postwar American woman and all the promise of the country's bright future. Their own small-town lives, however, are anything but easy.
• The Hidden Northern Fires by Daren Wang (Thomas Dunne, August 29): Few people know there was a secessionist town in upstate New York during the American Civil War. This novel explores the fate of a fugitive slave and an abolitionist in the most dangerous place north of Maryland.

Escape with an Urban Fantasy

• Rituals by Kelley Armstrong (Random House Canada, August 15): This is the final installment in the Cainsville series, which is set in the greater Chicago area, in a town that is anything but normal. Expect action, mystery, twists, and a good creep factor.
• Urban Enemies edited by Joseph Nassise (Gallery Books, August 1): A super collection of short stories from a variety of urban fantasy authors, including Jim Butcher Carrie Vaughn, Kelley Armstrong, and Seanan McGuire. The heroes of these stories are the villains we love to hate.