All Of It Summer Reading Challenge 2026

All Of It with Alison Stewart | Jul 1, 2024

This summer, from May 26th to the end of Labor Day weekend, we are challenging YOU, our listeners, to complete our third annual summer reading challenge. Just like in school, but for fun!

Sign up here!

Participants select and read at least one book in ALL SIX of the following categories...

  1. A book published in 2026
  2. A book about United States history or American historical fiction (for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution)
  3. A book set in or written by an author from one of the 48 countries participating in the World Cup (click here to see the full list!)
  4. A classic
  5. A work of genre fiction, in one of the following categories:
    - Fantasy
    - Science Fiction
    - Romance
    - Horror
    - Mystery/Thriller
  6. A book about or set in New York

And as a special bonus, read The New York Public Library's summer book club selection, The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin, and find out how to join the special August 17th book club event in the Delacorte Theater!


You can download and fill out or print this PDF form to keep track of your selections!

To keep up-to-date with book recommendations, see comments from other Reading Challenge participants, and submit your own recommendations, subscribe to the Get Lit Newsletter!

You can also share your selections with us, and keep us updated on your summer reading progress, by tagging us in posts on Instagram, and we might repost you! Tag us @allofitwnyc and use the hashtag #AOISummerReadingChallenge.

Once you’ve completed the challenge, we’ll follow up about your selections to receive a prize!

All summer long, our host Alison Stewart will be completing the challenge along with you, so tune in to the show for some great recommendations. Plus, some special guests will be sharing their selections as well.

And if you’re looking for some inspiration to get you started, below are some suggestions from All Of It and Get Lit producer Jordan Lauf.

 

Jordan's Summer Reading Recommendations for 2026

Book published in 2026:

  • Kin by Tayari Jones

  • Famesick by Lena Dunham

  • Whidbey by T Kira Madden

  • Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta

  • London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

A book about U.S. history or American-set historical fiction:

HISTORY

  • Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
  • The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson
  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
  • The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
  • The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

FICTION:

  • The Known World by Edward P. Jones
  • The Antidote by Karen Russell
  • Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith
  • The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
  • The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
World Cup:
  • The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje (Belgium)
  • Flashlight by Susan Choi (Japan)
  • The Postcard by Ann Berest (France)
  • Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (Scotland)
  • Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez (Argentina)
  • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexico)
  • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana)

 Classics:

  •  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 

  • Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 

  • Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

  • East of Eden by John Steinbeck

  • Middlemarch by George Eliot

Genre Fiction:

    • Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (sci-Fi)

    • The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (thriller)

    • The Changeling by Victor LaValle (horror)

    • Writers and Lovers by Lily King (romance)

    • The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (fantasy)

A Book About or Set in NYC 

  • The Hours by Michael Cunningham
  • Playworld by Adam Ros
  • Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith 
  • The Taking of Manhattan by Russell Shorto

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

WNYC Homepage - Top Stories

Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy Running for Congress in New York. Plus, the Astronaut Reid Wiseman

The candidate on the role of social media in politics, and speaking out against his cousin R.F.K., Jr. Plus, the commander of NASA’s Artemis II mission on the dark side of the moon.
The New Yorker Radio Hour |

NJ Gov. Sherrill: If state police were too aggressive at Delaney Hall, we'll look into it

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill took call after call Wednesday night from people who told her state police had been overly aggressive in violent clashes with protesters outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center this weekend.
Ask Governor Sherrill |

I.C.E.'s "Wartime Recruitment" Campaign

Hiring at the highest-funded U.S. law enforcement agency.
On the Media |

Ask the Mayor Recap and More News From City Hall

Elizabeth Kim discusses the issues Mayor Mamdani talked about in his first "ask the mayor" segment.
The Brian Lehrer Show |
YOU ARE ONLINE