Must Read
Interesting reads to add to your shelf this month.
Big Little Truths
Liane Moriarty returns to Pirriwee a decade after the events of Big Little Lies. Madeline, Celeste, and Jane are now navigating older children, fraught marriages, and buried resentments when a mysterious package containing a severed finger raises the stakes. Out on August 25, it’s a sharp mystery about motherhood, secrets, and the cost of truth.
Grief Burns Like Fever
Grief Burns Like Fever by Minakshi Thakur is a contemporary novel set during a citywide lockdown. As an ambulance driver, a grieving teenager, and two women confronting fractured lives navigate loss and uncertainty, their stories become unexpectedly intertwined. Exploring grief, memory, resilience, and human connection, the novel asks how people find hope amid collective tragedy.
Under the Falls
Richard Russo’s new novel follows Tyler Sinclair, a famous musician returning to his small hometown of Stone Mountain for a benefit concert. What should be a homecoming turns tense as old friendships, unfinished love, family wounds, and long-held secrets surface, and a tragedy exposes the town’s resentments.
Must Watch
Riveting on-screen recommendations.
Sterling Point
Premiering August 5, 2026, Sterling Point is a new drama about 17-year-old Annie Jacobson, whose life is upended when she inherits her mysterious grandfather’s island in Canada. Raised in New York with her twin brother and adoptive father, Annie is pulled into a world of family secrets, new relationships, and unsettling revelations. It’s a coming-of-age story with mystery at its core.
Ted Lasso, Season 4
Returning this month, Ted Lasso season 4 brings back Jason Sudeikis’s eternally optimistic coach for another round of warmth, wit, and football drama. Apple says the season debuts with one episode, followed by weekly releases. Expect the same mix of emotional uplift, ensemble charm, and neatly tuned humour that made the series a breakout hit.
Outer Banks, Season 5
Outer Banks Season 5 arrives this month, bringing the hit teen drama to its final chapter. After the devastating events in Morocco, the Pogues return for one last mission driven by grief, revenge, and loyalty. Packed with high-stakes action, emotional goodbyes, and a final treasure hunt, the 10-episode season promises an epic farewell to the beloved crew.
Must Listen
Highly anticipated tunes to set the tone for the month ahead.
Lost Weekend
Phoebe Bridgers’ long-awaited return leans into her signature mix of ache, wit, and emotional precision. The album is expected to trace loneliness, memory, and damaged intimacy through intimate songwriting and stark imagery, while still leaving room for sharper sonic surprises.
The Gold Album
The Gold Album finds Weezer back in colour-coded mode with a set built around classic hooks, guitar-forward energy, and some familiar self-aware humour. The album includes singles like Shine Again and We Might As Well Be Strangers, and it nods to themes of identity, reinvention, and the messy optimism of rock nostalgia.
Sunshine
BRIT Award-winning trio Jungle has announced their fifth studio album, Sunshine. Introduced by the vibrant, club-driven lead single Carry On, the highly anticipated 11-track record will launch alongside an extensive 2026–2027 arena tour across North America, Europe, and Australia.
L: The Gold Album R: Sunshine
Must Attend
Concerts, festivals and screenings to watch out for.
Sour Stars and Breadfruit Monsoons
Running through 29 August at Experimenter, Colaba, Sahil Naik’s Sour Stars and Breadfruit Monsoons extends his forensic approach to images, memory, and colonial histories. The art exhibition draws from early-colonial landscape studies and murals across Goa, Bombay, and Daman, folding in architecture, botany, and empire.
External Affairs
External Affairs by Akvarious Productions arrives in Kolkata on 12–13 August and moves to Delhi on 16 August 2026. It is a sharp, urban comedy play written and directed by Adhaar Khurana that explores the chaotic world of modern dating, exes, and transactional connections in the digital age.
Love, Death and Ketchup
Beginning 8 August 2026, Varun Grover’s Love, Death and Ketchup India tour brings his trademark blend of satire, observation, and emotional wit back to the stage. The show turns to life, fear, absurdity, and the everyday contradictions of Indian middle-class experience.
Must Eat Live Drink
Exciting, innovative new places to dine at.
Bar Find, Mumbai
Known for inventive drinks, striking pop-ups, and a flair for turning a night out into an experience, this travelling cocktail bar blends music, design, and a playful sense of occasion into every stop. Bar Find has arrived in Mumbai, taking over KMC at Kitaab Mahal in Fort. The Mumbai chapter runs until early September, before the bar packs up and moves to its next destination.
The Kowloon Tiger, Pune
The Kowloon Tiger in Pune brings a compact, neon-lit mood to Baner, pairing Asian tapas with cocktails in a 35-seater space. With its speakeasy vibe and music-led atmosphere, it reads as both a dinner spot and late-night hangout.
Jùun, Mumbai
Jùun in Mumbai is shaping up as a polished Hong Kong-style Cantonese address, with a menu that leans on flaky pumpkin puffs, Hong Kong egg tarts, and housemade sauces. The restaurant’s appeal lies in its flavour-forward dining experience rooted in Asian comfort food, cocktails, and atmospheric hospitality.
Words Platform Desk
Date 4.8.26
L: The Kowloon Tiger R: Bar Find