August has a particular charm: the days get slowly shorter, the pace softens, and you can already feel September approaching. It is the perfect time to read. Enough time to sink into a book without guilt, enough distance to think about what you want from the rest of the year.
Here are 8 books from our library to enjoy what remains of the summer without wasting the momentum of September: four to savour and recharge, four to ease into the new season. For each one, you will find the link to its full summary on Cobalt, readable in 8 minutes.
| # | Book | Why now |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Alchemist | The definitive summer novel |
| 2 | The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari | A fable about meaning, far from your inbox |
| 3 | The Power of Now | Enjoy the holidays instead of watching them fly by |
| 4 | Ikigai | Rethink your balance before diving back in |
| 5 | Sapiens | The grand epic to devour in a week |
| 6 | The Psychology of Money | Short stories, perfect for the beach |
| 7 | The Four Agreements | Read in one evening, practised all year |
| 8 | Flow | Turn the work that awaits into energy |
Savour what is left of the summer
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is the definitive summer novel: an initiatory fable you can read in one afternoon on the beach and carry for years. Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd, sets out to find a treasure and discovers along the way that the fear of losing what we have is the only real obstacle. The full summary is at https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/l-alchimiste
The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma tells the story of a star lawyer struck down by a heart attack who leaves everything to seek another life in the Himalayas. It is a simple fable, naive at times, but it asks exactly the question summer brings up: what am I running for? Read it at https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/le-moine-qui-vendit-sa-ferrari
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is the book to open when you realise you are spending your holiday thinking about work. Tolle shows that most of our stress comes from a mind replaying the past or rehearsing the future, and offers concrete practices to return to the present moment. The summary: https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/the-power-of-now
Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles explores what keeps the centenarians of Okinawa going: a reason to get up in the morning, strong bonds, gentle movement, and a lot of simplicity. An ideal read to rethink your balance before diving back into the September rhythm. At https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/ikigai
Ease into September
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is the perfect book for the long stretches of time only summer offers: a 70,000-year epic about how one species among many came to dominate the planet through its shared fictions. You come out of it with a rare perspective on your own daily life. The summary is at https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/sapiens
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel is built from short, independent stories: the dream format for the beach. Housel shows that doing well with money is about behaviour, not intelligence, and that patience beats genius. An excellent read before September's financial decisions. At https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/la-psychologie-de-l-argent
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz can be read in one evening and practised all year: be impeccable with your word, take nothing personally, make no assumptions, always do your best. Four simple rules that change the tone of every back-to-work meeting. The summary: https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/les-quatre-accords-tolteques
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi answers the question everyone asks in late August: how do I find pleasure again in the work that is coming back? The answer lies in the state of flow, the moment when challenge and skill are in balance. Understand its conditions and you can recreate them from the first week of September. At https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes/flow
No time to read them all? The right method for these last weeks
Eight books in a few weeks is a lot. The reasonable method: pick two to read in full, the ones that attract you most, and go through the summaries of the other six to keep what matters. All of them are available at https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/resumes with their key ideas in 8 minutes.
And when September arrives, two reads to follow up with: our selection of 10 books for the new season at https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/blog/books-to-read-back-to-school-2026 and our 5 simple habits for a successful September at https://www.cobaltapp.io/en/blog/back-to-school-habits-2026