August 2025 - read-along

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

For the month of August 2025 we have 8 books to chose from presently, we will add books as they become known to us. Good reading.

1) Target Greenland: The uncompromising contemporary technothriller of the year by Christoffer Petersen
to be published on the 4th of August 2025. Greenland.

All eyes on Greenland!

With the changing of the guard in Washington, all eyes are firmly fixed on Greenland. But America is not the only nation with Arctic interests.

As Greenland votes on independence, and Denmark struggles to meet the military demands necessary to maintain a sovereign presence, deals are struck in the shadows, and the world shudders at the bold moves of competing nations.

From the back alleys and busy streets of the world’s busiest cities to the vast, desolate stretches of the Arctic, Target Greenland takes the reader on an adrenaline-fueled journey from small-scale skirmishes to the brink of war and beyond.

From the author of the Guerrilla Greenland series of novellas and short stories, Target Greenland explores the future of Greenland in what Petersen hopes will remain nothing more than speculative fiction.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

2) My Father's House by Ulf Kvensler to be published on the 5th of August 2025. Sweden. 368 pages.

Isak receives an unexpected inheritance from his father on one that he meet and make peace with the man at his remote island retreat. Once there, Isak finds himself thrown into a twisty psychological game of life and death, from the internationally bestselling author of The Couples Trip.

Isak works in home care in a small town in Småland. One day, he is contacted by his father, an internationally known artist, who left Isak when he was a child. His father is dying, and his only wish is to reconcile what remains of their relationship as father and son. He promises Isak his fortune, but Isak has certain reservations. Alongside his girlfriend, Madde, Isak decides to visit his father, but the line between nightmare and reality blurs as family secrets unravel.

From internationally bestselling author of The Couples Trip comes a brand-new stand-alone psychological thriller, for readers of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

3) When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén to be published on the 5th of August 2025. Sweden. 320 pages.

Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten to keep him company … though now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he’s expressed his love over the years. Sweden. 320 pages.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

4) Room 55: A clever Scandi-Noir thriller set in Sweden's notorious psychiatric clinic by Helena Kubicek Boye to be published on the 5th of August 2025. Sweden. 329 pages.

In the heart of Dalarna's shadowy forests, the mind can be the most dangerous place of all.

Sweden's most notorious clinic for forensic psychiatry Säter is hidden deep among the pines — a place where the country's most violent offenders are sent when prison isn't an option. For young psychologist Anna Varga, a position at the prestigious institution is the opportunity of a a fresh start, a career breakthrough, an escape from her past in Stockholm.

But behind the clinic's cold walls, something is terribly wrong.

Patients whisper about Room 55. Anonymous notes appear with chilling warnings. And when a man is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Anna's dream job spirals into a waking nightmare. Is someone watching her? Manipulating her? And what buried truths is the clinic so desperate to keep hidden?

A twisty, heart-pounding Scandi-noir thriller perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn's "Sharp Objects", Karin Fossum and Lars Kepler.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

5) Princess of Elm: An Irish Medieval Historical Romance by Sophia Nye to be published on the 6th of August 2025. Viking. 204 pages.

Honor is his duty. She is his undoing.

Astrid Olafsson will never marry anyone other than a fellow Norseman. To do so would be to abandon her heritage and her family’s legacy. So, logically, she does everything in her power to halt her brother’s betrothal to a woman foisted upon him by one of the most powerful kings in their new homeland. If he marries the king’s choice of bride, he may as well admit to being the man’s puppet.

As a leader of the elite Fianna warriors, Cormac O’Conor takes his responsibilities to king and kingdom more seriously than most. When the meddlesome Astrid interferes with his mission of securing a betrothal for his king’s daughter, Cormac’s dislike of Astrid only grows. In an effort to get her to stop interfering with her brother’s betrothal, Cormac handily changes the family’s focus to her own nuptials.

With little recourse remaining, Astrid forms a tense alliance with the irritating he will win the absurd tournament for her hand that her brother devised and she will convince her brother to agree to marry the king’s daughter. Neither of them imagined that the tournament wouldn’t just test their skills–it would test their hearts as well.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

6) The Second Chance Bus Stop by Ally Zetterberg to be published on the 19th of August 2025.
Sweden. 352 pages.

They say life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

Edith has Alzheimer’s. The idea that she will someday forget her son, her life, even her self, plagues her constantly. So there is something important she must do before the disease robs her of her she has to find Sven, the love of her life she was supposed to meet on a bus bench twenty-seven years ago and run off with, but he never showed.

Her son, Blade, is struggling to keep an eye on her. His mother’s full-time caregiver, he resents the fact, if he’s being honest, that he gave up his career and most of his life to look after her. But what wouldn’t he do for his mother? Track down her decades-old flame so that she has a chance to finally understand why he never showed all those years ago, before her mind fails her? Sure, he can do that.

Sophia is fiercely working to keep her business afloat. Her uncle left his flower shop to her and her brothers after he died, but she seems to be the only one interested in keeping it running. She needs to land a big enough client to show her family that not only is the business worth saving but she’s the one to do it. So when an opportunity comes along that takes her all over Sweden, she can’t say no.

While Edith is desperately trying to hold on to her memories, she discovers friendship with a young woman who sits with her daily at the bus stop. While Blade is out looking for Sven, he learns to embrace his relationship with his mother more fully. While Sophia is fighting to keep her dream alive, she comes to terms with the way her parents treated her as a child and the therapies that were forced upon her in response to her autism diagnosis. Life is happening all around them, and much like with life, there’s so much good to be found in these pages.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

7) Born of an Iron Storm by Anthony Ryan to be published on the 26th of August 2025. Sweden. 457 pages.

From the international bestselling author Anthony Ryan comes the spectacular second novel in a new epic fantasy trilogy inspired by Norse mythology.

The Sister Queens have fallen and Ascarlia lies naked before the storm. A Nihlvarian plan, years in the making, has seen Ascarlia’s enemy seize the capital Skar Magnol. Now the invaders look to the wealthy port city of Olversahl to complete their conquest.

But there is hope.

Elvine is trapped at the heart of the conspiracy, yet her role in the new government offers the chance to plan resistance from within. She must tread a fine line between loyalty and secret disobedience, knowing the smallest mistake will mean her death.

Meanwhile, Thera has secured the Outer Islands, but her loyalist forces alone cannot liberate Skar Magnol. She must seek allies to have any chance of defeating the Nihlvarian threat. But her greater challenge will be to overcome her own doubts and become the leader she needs to be.

If she fails, Ascarlia will fall.

And far away across the ocean, Felnir embarks on a bloody path towards kingship whilst to the north, Ruhlin seeks escape from the tyrannical realm of Nihlvar where the mysterious Vortigurn holds sway.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

8) The Glass Man by Anders de la Motte to be published on the 26th of August 2025. Norway. 560 pages.

The Leo Asker series, which will have you “hooked from the very first page” (Kyle Mills, #1 New York Timesbestselling author), continues with this second installment following wayward detective Leonore Asker on a chilling new murder case.

Detective Leonore Asker has just settled in as head of the Department of Lost Souls, a unit for odd cases, when her father contacts her after years of silence. A body has been found on his farm and, as the main suspect, he is desperate for Leo’s help. But is her father as innocent as he claims or is he trying to reel Leo into his grip once again?

Meanwhile, Martin Hill moves to a secluded estate to write a biography about the business leader Gunnar Irving, intrigued by the fact that the legendary property contains an abandoned astronomical observatory. Soon, Hill discovers that the area has more stories to offer…about mysterious lights and mutilated bodies. While Asker and Hill try to find answers, the Glass Man rises from the depths of darkness from which no one ever returns. Nobody but him.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

9) Blood Angels: A Constable David Maratse short story by Christoffer Petersen to be published on the 28th of August 2025. Greenland.

When a Danish travel agency complains about seal carcasses rotting on prominent beaches and ruining the coming summer season with bad press, Constable David Maratse investigates.

Blood Angels is a short story featuring characters from Christoffer Petersen’s popular series of novels, novellas, and short stories set in Greenland.

[Ken, Moderator (U.S.A.)]

10) The Warship Seaworm: Einar's Saga by Peter Gibbons to be published on the 31st of August 2025. Viking.

If you like Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, David Gemmell and Giles Kristian, you will love this epic Viking adventure, packed with battles, treachery, blood and gore.
Before the Viking Blood and Blade saga, there was Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar the Boneless, and the warship Seaworm.

Einar is a Northman with a dream, a Viking bound by blood to a ship and a crew of battle hardened warriors, and oathsworn to Ivar the Boneless.

The sons of Ragnar fight a war of vengeance against King Orsten the Roarer, ruler of Sweden, a savage pagan and murderer of Eric and Agnar Ragnarsson. Einar and his crew face losing their precious warship Seaworm and become locked in a fight to keep their ship, survive a brutal war, and treachery from within the Viking army itself...

Einar must navigate the war, survive brutal attacks, and take command of his longship in this fast paced adventure prequel to Peter Gibbons' Viking Blood and Blade saga, with unforgettable characters and heart pumping battles.