Five book recommendations for August: Must-Read Sci-Fi Books for August 2025
Five book recommendations for August: Must-Read Sci-Fi Books for August 2025
All Tomorrows by C.M. Kösemen
Genre: Speculative Evolution, Sci-Fi Classic Revival
Why You Should Read It:
This is the definitive print edition of a sci-fi cult classic. All Tomorrows was originally released online in 2006 and quickly gained a devoted following for its bold, visual storytelling and unforgettable take on humanity’s future. Told through the lens of speculative evolution, this book envisions what would happen if aliens genetically engineered humans into radically different species—some thriving, others horrifyingly altered.
The upcoming edition isn’t just a reprint—it includes expanded content, updated illustrations, and a beautifully packaged presentation. For readers who love long-form lore, dark imagination, and questions about what it means to be human, this is an essential addition to your bookshelf.
2. The Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Sci-Fi
Why You Should Read It:
If you love mind-bending stories like Dark Matter or Russian Doll, this debut is calling your name. The Once and Future Me follows a protagonist who begins to lose her grip on reality—her memories glitch, her surroundings shift, and timelines start to blur. But this isn’t just time travel for thrills. It’s a deeply personal and intimate journey that explores identity, trauma, and how the mind processes time and change.
Melissa Pace doesn’t just ask “What if time could bend?”—she asks what happens when you start to believe you are the anomaly. This cerebral story will have readers flipping pages late into the night, questioning what’s real and what’s imagined.
3. The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas
Genre: Horror-Sci-Fi Blend
Why You Should Read It:
This haunting tale blends gothic horror and speculative science fiction to chilling effect. Set during a time of plague, the novel follows Alba Díaz and her husband as they flee to an abandoned mine in search of safety. But isolation brings strange visions, whispering shadows, and hallucinations that feel too real to ignore.
What begins as a classic possession story morphs into a deeper psychological mystery. Is Alba truly being haunted by demons—or is something scientific at work, something her mind can’t fully comprehend? Isabel Cañas masterfully plays with genre, giving us a tense, eerie atmosphere while raising deeper questions about reality, perception, and survival under extreme psychological pressure.
4. The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
Genre: Gothic Sci-Fi, Historical Horror
Why You Should Read It:
Set in 18th-century England, The Hounding brings folk horror, hysteria, and transformation to life with sci-fi edges. The Mansfield sisters find themselves accused of witchcraft after villagers claim they’ve seen the women turn into dogs under moonlight. What unfolds is a slow-burn tale of paranoia, fear, and the monstrous ways society deals with the unknown.
But what truly elevates this book is its blurred line between myth and reality. Are these transformations symbolic of societal scapegoating? Or is there a scientific explanation behind the hysteria? Purvis explores the manipulation of perception and the psychological scars caused by fear, offering a uniquely cerebral and emotionally charged take on supernatural folklore through a speculative lens.
5. Love at First Sighting by Mallory Marlowe
Genre: Romantic Sci-Fi, UFO Mystery
Why You Should Read It:
Who says science fiction can’t be heartwarming and hilarious? Love at First Sighting is the UFO-themed rom-com we didn’t know we needed. El Martin, a confident and quirky social media influencer, accidentally captures footage of a UFO while livestreaming. That viral moment pulls her into a government conspiracy and straight into the path of Agent Carter Brody—a handsome, skeptical, and rule-following investigator.
Their dynamic crackles with humor and chemistry as they explore alien sightings, cosmic anomalies, and deeper secrets that could change everything we know about life beyond Earth. If you love your science fiction with a dose of romance, pop culture satire, and “opposites attract” charm, this book promises an uplifting (and interstellar) ride.
Final Thoughts:
From post-human futures to haunted psyches, 18th-century transformations to UFO rom-coms, August 2025 is proof that sci-fi remains one of the most flexible and fascinating genres in fiction. Whether you want to be thrilled, terrified, intrigued, or even charmed, there’s a new release ready to rocket you into a new dimension.
Which title are you most excited for?