The Best New Books Out in August, According to Indie Booksellers
![Five-Star Stranger cover](https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Five-Star-Stranger.jpg.optimal.jpg)
![Five-Star Stranger cover](https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Five-Star-Stranger.jpg.optimal.jpg)
Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang
Here’s another book you’ll hear me recommend on All the Books in about a week! It’s a thought-provoking, melancholic exploration of a “rental person” who pretends to be a child’s father one day a week for years at a time. Here’s the bookseller recommendation:
“A completely modern look at the way we live, regarding hurt, protection, and connection. As the protagonist tries to make himself into a blank slate so he can rent himself to strangers, the faded outline of his real self keeps threatening to peek through.”
—James Crossley, Leviathan Bookstore, St. Louis, MO