New Book Releases: August 3, 2021

Each week, I’ll catalog the biggest and most exciting adult and YA fiction — and the occasional nonfiction — coming out that Tuesday.

AFTERPARTIES, Anthony Veasna So. A stunning, often funny collection of short stories about Cambodian-Americans in Southern California. The New York Times calls it “witty and sharply expressed.” The New Yorker calls it a “remarkable début collection.” Aggregated critical reviews, Bookshop.

SONGBIRDS, Christy Lefteri. A wealthy widow in Cyprus searches for her missing migrant nanny when police refuse to help. “This well-crafted novel puts a poignantly human face on often invisible migrant workers,” writes Kirkus. Bookshop.

SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE SUN, Alexandra Kleeman. After decamping to California to oversee a film adaptation of one of his books, an East Coast novelist forms a reluctant relationship with the star of the film as they discover that the droughts, wildfires, and other maladies ravaging California may be the fault of a new synthetic water company. “Readers will be captivated by this intelligent, rip-roaring story,” writes Publisher’s…