Each month, Biographile sorts through all the upcoming releases in biography and memoir, across publishers, to provide a curated reading list of the month's most exciting new titles. Below are our picks for August 2014.

The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents by Ronald Kessler
Award-winning investigative reporter and author of the New York Times bestselling book In the President’s Secret Service Ronald Kessler returns this month with an expose of life inside and around the oval office. (8.5.14)

In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides
Bestselling author Hampton Sides exposes the gruesome true story of the USS Jeannette, a ship that disappeared a thousand miles north of Siberia. (8.5.14)

Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford
In his new biography, Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph, revered music historian Jan Swafford takes on Ludwig van Beethoven, tracing his life, career, and death. (8.5.14)

In a Rocket Made of Ice: Among the Children of Wat Opot by Gail Gutradt
In a Rocket Made of Ice is Gail Gutradt's story of her time spent at the Wat Opot Children’s Community, an orphanage in rural Cambodia for children infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. (8.12.14)

Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker by Doug Swanson
Before he died in 1989, Lester Ben "Benny" Binion was a gambling icon and a mob boss with a criminal history. The casino owner may have been known for killing his enemies, but his legacy is the World Series of Poker and his hand in shaping modern Las Vegas. Pulitzer-nominated journalist Doug Swanson tells his story. (8.14.14)

Susan Sontag: A Biography by Daniel Schreiber and David Dollenmayer
Art and literary critic Daniel Schreiber has published the first biography on Susan Sontag since her death in 2004. (8.15.14)

The Culinary Imagination: From Myth to Modernity by Sandra M. Gilbert
In her new work, The Culinary Imagination, Sandra M. Gilbert explores the political, social, philosophical, and aesthetic implications of food and eating, and how those implications have evolved over time. (8.25.14)

Tell us: What are you most looking forward to reading this month?