I used to be the kind of reader who would wander into a bookstore with the best intentions and somehow always leave with yet another fantasy novel featuring a sad girl with supernatural problems and a love interest with mysterious dark eyes. Then I discovered reading challenges.

Come along on my step-by-step journey and you’ll see that in order to find representation and publish a book, you don’t social media status, a network of people to get you “in” or anything fancy. Just a solid manuscript, a thrilling pitch, and a tolerance for constant crash outs.

My TBR is always far longer than I can probably tackle in a lifetime. But with so many exciting new book releases, can you blame me? Here’s a list of all the August 2025 book releases I’ve marked as “want to read.”

Learn how to start your own online book club with this step-by-step guide to launching a virtual book club.