Every month, Debutiful selects can’t-miss books from debut authors that readers will love. You can find more recommendations here.
The Peach Seed by Anita Gail Jones (August 1; Henry Holt & Company)
Anita Gail Jones weaves together personal histories and the legacies that came before us in an expansive story about family and hidden histories. The world in this debut novel feels so lived in. Readers are drawn in by gorgeous passages about landscapes that dance with all five senses.
The Men Can’t Be Saved by Ben Purkert (August 1; Overlook Press)
A laugh-out-loud romp about masculinity, sex, and obsession. This is a hilarious expose about how society views working hard. Purkert cuts deep and his prose leaps off the praise.
The Lookback Window by Kyle Dillon Hertz (August 1; Simon & Schuster)
The Lookback Window will shake you to your core. The main character was the victim of sex trafficking as a child and now seeks to sue his abusers after a new law offers a short window to do so. Kyle Dillon Hertz’s phenomenal prose is tender and powerful and provides moments of beauty and hope even in the darkest and more harrowing moments.
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Powell (August 8; Mariner Books)
Following generations of Yanktonai Dakota women, Powell explores their lives and secrets, how Indian boarding schools devastated them and the entire population, as well as the massacres their people had to endure. It is a transcendent and moving novel that will remain in the heart of readers long after the final page.
Shark Heart: A Love Story by Emily Habeck (August 8; Marysue Rucci Books)
Imagine Nightbitch, but more fantastical and 100% more shark. This book was recently recommended by a bookstore owner and I gobbled it up in one night. It’s equally hilarious and heartbreaking. It’s the kind of book you just have to trust whoever is recommending you the book is right and go into it hungry for damn good writing.
Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go by Cleo Qian (August 15; Tin House)
These stories are surreal and enchanting. Qian explores how we hide behind and are obsessed with our screens. Everyone who has doom-scrolled should read this collection.
The Great Transition by Nick Fuller Googins (August 15; Atria)
Googins’ climate-fiction enters the canon alongside recent titles like Appleseed and Eleutheria. Partly set after the world was saved, readers get glimpses of a utopia we could have. The other side of the coin is the dystopia we see decades before as the world fails to address the climate crisis. There is a sense of hope among the despair.
Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (August 29; Bloomsbury)
Megan Kamalei Kakimoto is a short story writer that all other short story writers should study. She has the ability to captivate readers with a single sentence. Her prose bursts with exquisite confidence that makes it hard to believe this is a debut collection. Every Drop is a frontrunner for Book of the Year.
Where There Was Fire by John Manuel Arias (August 29; Flatiron)
The richy and luscious prose of Where There Was Fire is some of the best writing Debutiful has come across. Set in Costa Rica in 1968, the book follows a family hiding a secret that threatens to tear them apart. Every page is a masterclass in how to wrap a reader inside of a book. Simply put, this book will make you want to re-read it just to spend more time with the writing.
Everything/Nothing/Someone by Alice Carrière (August 29; Spiegel and Grau)
This 1990s bohemian coming-of-age memoir is filled with dark humor, stark revelations, and pitch-perfect writing. Carrière gives life to the city she grew up in and it’s a character just as much as her family is in this breathtaking memoir.