Much-anticipated, curious, or simply thrilling, here are some new and notable books out this month.

Kolia by Perrine LeBlanc, translated by David Scott Hamilton (House of Anansi) — Born in a Siberian gulag, Kolia receives basic survival training as well as higher education from fellow prisoner Iosif. This past and its memories follow and haunt Kolia despite the comfort of family and a job as a clown in post-Stalin era Moscow. Release Date: August 23, 2013.

Turn Us Again by Charlotte R. Mendel (Brunswick Books) — Mendel covers the difficult issue of abuse in this story of Gabriel Golden who discovers through his mother’s journal the dark side of his family history and the true nature of his parents’ marriage. Release Date: August 30, 2013.

Multitudes by Margaret Christakos (Coach House) — Christakos’s ninth poetry collection plays with the physicality of poems and words. The opening poem “Threshold” is a gateway that transforms words as tangible things to be “pushed” into the body, and the continual re-formations of the poems and words in this collection challenge both the reader’s eye and the mind. Release Date: September 2, 2013.

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much by Eldar Shafir and Sendhil Mullainathan (Times Books/Henry Holt and Co.) —  Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan and Princeton psychologist Eldar Shafir delve deep into the patterns, behaviours and mindset of people and society struggling against scarcity. The focus on finance and time management makes Scarcity a relevant read for everyone, and the authors’ considerate treatment of complex issues without easy answers is a welcome treat. Release Date: September 3, 2013.

The Insistent Garden by Rosie Chard (NeWest Press) — Living with an eccentric father hell-bent on waging war against a mysterious neighbour, and too often terrorized by a demanding aunt, Edith Stoker dreams of independence while nurturing a garden under the walls that keep her prisoner. Chard’s second novel is “a grown-up take on The Secret Garden” — about hope and finding the difficult path to adulthood and true independence. Release Date: September 15, 2013.