ICYMI: August 2026 Bestselling Books Apropos Readers Bought Most

About the book

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

From Alex Aster, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lightlark series, comes her first adult romantasy. Enter the world of Starside, where swords wield magic and power is not inherited...but claimed.

Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals—the descendants of the gods, living in a power-rich paradise. Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic.

Every fifty years, the gates between them open, and fifty challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. Everyone has their reasons for entering, but Aris has only one: vengeance. As a child, a goddess set fire to her village, killing her family. Aris isn’t after the gods’ magic—she’s going to kill them.

First, she must survive the Culling, the king’s deadly competition to choose his fifty challengers. An orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice, Aris doesn’t have the superior weapons of the heirs from the Great Houses. But the greatest swords—ones that contain power—are not inherited or bought, they are claimed, by both sides. And when Aris claims a great sword, it makes her not just a real competitor—but a target.

Getting past the gates is only the beginning. Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magic-wielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago—and who may now be the key to her survival.

But Aris is hiding a secret tied to her family’s death. And when it’s revealed, not even the gods will be able to stop what’s coming…

About the book

Welcome to the Gun Show!

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.

The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world's subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.

But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.

About the book

A broken soul. A possessive stranger. The chance to be found…or ruined

When Ever and her only friend are abducted to a magical realm, her worst nightmares once again rise like a dark wave in her mind. And Ever has seen enough to know that nightmares can easily become reality. Quickly proven right, the pair are imprisoned by the realm’s brutal leader, who is determined to tear stolen magic from them—alive or dead.

Still reeling from a violent extraction attempt, Ever is snuck from her cell by Elivander—the brooding guard she is both drawn to and unsettled by. But her hopes of freedom, and the chance to save her friend, are shattered when she merely trades one prison for another.

Despite her growing curiosity toward Elivander, Ever remains uncertain of how much she can really trust him. The more time they spend together, the more she craves his touch…but what hides in the shadows of his heart?

Betrayals of the Broken is the first in a new dark fantasy dark romance trilogy from Jaime L. Tlax.

If you do not like the dark and twisted side of the mind, and possessive, morally gray men, kindly pass this on to your quietest, most uncorrupted-appearing friend. They will probably secretly love it.

About the book

Space Viking is a vigorous work of mid-century American science fiction, fusing swashbuckling space opera with a sober meditation on imperial decline. Set within Piper's Terro-Human Future History, it follows Lucas Trask, a Sword-World nobleman turned raider, whose quest for vengeance after personal catastrophe becomes an inquiry into governance, civilization, and barbarism. Its prose is brisk, martial, and lucid, yet beneath the adventure lies a historically minded pattern of fallen federations, frontier aristocracies, and the fragile institutions that preserve culture. H. Beam Piper brought to the novel a distinctive autodidact's command of history, weaponry, politics, and social theory. Born in Pennsylvania and largely self-educated, he was fascinated by recurrent historical cycles and by the material conditions that sustain order. These concerns inform his fiction's unusual density: starships and blasters coexist with feudal law, trade policy, and constitutional speculation. Space Viking reflects Piper's characteristic belief that civilization is neither inevitable nor self-sustaining. Readers who enjoy classic science fiction with intellectual ballast will find Space Viking especially rewarding. It offers action, revenge, and interstellar spectacle, but its lasting force lies in its stern question: what must individuals build after conquest ends?

About the book

About the book

A New York Times bestseller! From Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a diabolical thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, “a fantasy academy laid out like a combination of Hogwarts, Downton Abbey, and a White Lotus–style resort” (Los Angeles Times) dedicated to the art of murder where students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.

Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.

Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A “fiendishly funny” (Booklist) mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read.

About the book

In Running with the Demon, Terry Brooks does nothing less than revitalize fantasy fiction, inventing the complex and powerful new mythos of the Word and the Void, good versus evil still, but played out in the theater-in-the-round of the “real world” of our present.

On the hottest Fourth of July weekend in decades, two men have come to Hopewell, Illinois, site of a lengthy, bitter steel strike. One is a demon, dark servant of the Void, who will use the anger and frustration of the community to attain a terrible secret goal. The other is John Ross, a Knight of the Word, a man who, while he sleeps, lives in the hell the world will become if he fails to change its course on waking. Ross has been given the ability to see the future. But does he have the power to change it?

At stake is the soul of a fourteen-year-old girl mysteriously linked to both men. And the lives of the people of Hopewell. And the future of the country. This Fourth of July, while friends and families picnic in Sinnissippi Park and fireworks explode in celebration of freedom and independence, the fate of Humanity will be decided . . .

A novel that weaves together family drama, fading innocence, cataclysm, and enlightenment, Running with the Demon will forever change the way you think about the fantasy novel. As believable as it is imaginative, as wondrous as it is frightening, it is a rich, exquisitely-written tale to be savored long after the last page is turned.

About the book

HUGO AND LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • In the first book of an epic fantasy trilogy, master spy Shara Thivani investigates a murder in a mysterious city of dead gods, living assassins, and buried histories, from the nationally bestselling author of The Tainted Cup.

“Readers seeking a truly refreshing fantasy milieu should travel to Bulikov, and welcome its conquest.”—N. K. Jemison, The New York Times

With the gods on its side, the city of Bulikov was once rich beyond measure, using the power of the heavens to reign over the Continent—until a desperate people rose up and did the impossible, killing its divine protectors. Now the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.

“A great world, original and unique, with a scent and a texture, a sense of deep, bloody history, and a naturally blended magic living in the stones.”—NPR

About the book

"Ashes of the Sun is fantasy at its finest."—Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wyld

Long ago, a magical war destroyed an empire, and a new one was built in its ashes. But still the old grudges simmer, and two siblings will fight on opposite sides to save their world in the start of Django Wexler's new epic fantasy trilogy.

Gyre hasn't seen his beloved sister since their parents sold her to the mysterious Twilight Order. Now, twelve years after her disappearance, Gyre's sole focus is revenge, and he's willing to risk anything and anyone to claim enough power to destroy the Order.

Chasing rumors of a fabled city protecting a powerful artifact, Gyre comes face-to-face with his lost sister. But she isn't who she once was. Trained to be a warrior, Maya wields magic for the Twilight Order's cause. Standing on opposite sides of a looming civil war, the two siblings will learn that not even the ties of blood will keep them from splitting the world in two.

About the book

Fated mates, supernaturals of all kinds, a heroine who has no idea what she is, and an evil who is out for them all.

All I wanted was to keep my head above water. To survive long enough to hit my eighteenth birthday so I could escape the nightmare that my homelife had become. But all of that was turned upside down the moment they showed up.

The best friend from my past. The surly brooder. The kind-hearted nerd. The king of campus. The dark one.

They say they’re here to give me a fresh start in a place where I’m safe, warm, and cared for. And I can’t deny the pull I feel to all five of them. The buzz that lights beneath my skin when they touch me. And for the first time, I feel like I might belong.

But not everything is as it seems. These guys have secrets. Ones that will rip my world wide open. But when a dark evil begins stalking us, we’re all in for the fight of our lives…

The Supernaturals of Castle Academy Box Set is the complete series that includes Legacy of Shadows, Anchor of Secrets, and Destiny of Ashes

About the book

I could save him, but he would ruin me.

The beast.
The creature that stalks the forbidden wood.
The dragon prince.

He has suffered a fate worse than death. We all have. A curse put upon us by the mad king.

We are a kingdom locked in time. Shifters unable to feel our animals. Stuck here by a deal between the late king and a demon who seeks our destruction.

The only one keeping this kingdom alive is Nyfain, the golden prince to a stolen throne. The last dragon shifter.

He’s our hope.
He’s my nightmare.

When he catches me trespassing in the forbidden wood, he doesn’t punish me with death, as he’s entitled.

He takes me, instead. Forces me back to the castle as his prisoner. Seeks to use me.

Apparently, I can save him. I can save the whole forgotten kingdom, locked away by the demon king’s power.

But it would mean taming the monster beneath his skin. It would mean giving myself to him.

It would mean my ruin.

This is a dark and spicy Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring an anti-hero, a strong heroine, and a humorous supporting cast. This is an enemies-to-lovers and possible fated mates story suitable for 18+. It's the first of a trilogy, ending on a cliffhanger.

About the book

Something Psychotic this way comes.

Dead bodies are turning up in Philadelphia. Their faces frozen in terror. Their bodies drained to husks. And I'm the chaos witch who's supposed to fix it.

I'm Pepper O'Malley. Jill-of-all-trades. Hedonist. Dark witch with a bar to run and a peacekeeper's mantle I didn't ask for. My childhood best friends left me the keys and a job description written in fine print. That fine print will get you every single time.

For a while it was fine. Slinging cocktails, giving out the bartender advice people didn't know they needed, keeping the immortal drama on its own side of the counter.

Then the bodies started turning up.

Now a demon with a filthy mouth and a mortal detective who sees too much are refusing to leave my bar. They say they want to help. Every instinct I have says the thing hunting my city is older, bigger, and worse than a chaos witch working her first case.

I'm out of my league. I'm very mortal. And the men who keep circling me aren't going anywhere.

Fine. Let's see who cracks first.