August Reads: 5 Books to Keep You Turning Pages
- Nathalie Ila Mukerabirori
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Whether you’re grasping onto the warmth of the sun or just trying to slow down before fall, August might be the perfect time for one to dive into stories that stir your heart or sharpen your perspective. These five books span continents and genres – from war-torn Syria to Irish college days – but all offer something unique and unforgettable.
Here’s your August reading list, loaded with stories of longing, resilience, and discreet transformation.
Written by Nathalie Ila Mukerabirori
Edited by Kamilla Jumayeva
As Long As Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
As Long As Lemon Trees Grow is a young adult and historical fiction book set during the Syrian war, exploring how its main characters navigate the war's horrors and overcome past traumas while holding onto hope and love. The female сharacter, Salama, is described as a pharmacist student who is forced by the situation to become a doctor.
Her journey will unravel the broken pieces of her past, unlocking new traumas as she tries to save victims of the war and loses some of them.
The main male character, Kenan, is pictured as a young man who wants to show how the war is torturing the people of their country by uploading videos of protest on the internet. These two protagonists may have had a connection in the past since their parents almost arranged an engagement for them, but it didn’t happen yet.
This book is a book that everyone needs to read as it is poignant, emotional, and incredibly human.
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
One thing about this book that has captivated its many readers’ attention is the language used by the author. According to a writer on Medium, Caroline O’Donoghue is impressive in “how she has created this world, which, from the very beginning, feels whole, and when some detail enters the story, it completes the already completed.” They also state that “the characters are a delight and a mess at the same time”.
The Rachel Incident pictures a happily married and pregnant journalist, Rachel Murray, based in London, where she has written about the legalization of abortion in the Republic of Ireland, where she’s originally from. While completing a piece for the Hibernian Post, she discovers that her long-ago Victorian literature instructor at University College Cork, Fred Byrne, is now in a coma.
The memory of Byrne arouses an important year in Rachel’s past, and she feels urged to text her closest friend, James Devlin, who is now an accomplished screenwriter living in New York and was once upon a time involved with Byrne.
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
If you are missing a rich/lush storytelling book mixing themes of love and war, nature, and memories, this book is knocking at your door. The Island of Missing Trees is a literary and historical fiction novel with a little touch of magical realism.
The story is set in Cyprus in the mid-1970s and the early 2000s, and then London in the late 2010s, focusing on the civil war in 1974 between the Muslim Turks and the Christian Greeks. Two teens fall in love over a divided Cyprus; decades later, their daughter uncovers their history.
According to a review done on “What I Think About When I Think About Reading”, this book is full of reflective content around migration, usually delivered by the fig tree. One may need to read more of the book to understand this perspective.
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
This satirical literary and contemporary thriller will keep your finger turning pages with its sharp, funny, and thought-provoking vibe, and if you registered for a book club this August, Yellowface will be perfect for lively book club debates.
An article on Spectrum, “White Privilege Gone Rogue: A Review of R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface”, notes that Yellowface “is a satirical discussion of cultural appropriation” as the story talks about a white author who steals her Asian friend’s manuscript about the Chinese Labor Corps of World War I and claims it as her own after her friend’s sudden death.
This gains her the fame and recognition that she has been longing for, as she has been struggling to make her debut, but it brings up utter chaos too, as she faces rejection and criticism of her act of “Yellowface” on the internet from Asian writers and activists.
What You Are Looking For is in The Library by Michiko Aoyama
Michiko Aoyama’s novel, What You Are Looking For is in The Library, is a feel-good and slice-of-life fiction about loosely interconnected stories of five individuals who find life direction through books recommended by the librarian.
The novel’s appeal is light, warm, and perfect for a summer afternoon reading. Each chapter of the book follows one of these five people as they all have different ages, careers, relationships and lives.
The Asian Review of Books underlines Aoyama’s definite understanding of meaningful coincidences and connections and her demonstration of “her undeniable ability to draw up a fascinating narrative.”
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