Summer Challenge 2026: Recommended By An Author You Admire

Looking for help completing your Summer Challenge Bingo Card? Here are some books recommended by well-known authors.

Updated June 27, 2026
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Kin
Jones, Tayari
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR  OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * A magnificent new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of An American Marriage--Tayari Jones has written an unforgettable novel that sparkles with wit...

Recommeded by Anne Patchett.

John of John : a novel
Stuart, Douglas
Paper Book
AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Oprah Daily, and Vogue "Douglas Stuart brilliantly weaved a layered, compelling and yet so intimate a story...

Recommeded by Anne Patchett.

The Left and the Lucky
Vlautin, Willy
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE JOYCE CAROL OATES PRIZE A JOHN MULANEY READS BOOK CLUB PICK "One of America's greatest storytellers."--Jonathan Evison Eddie Wilkens is a housepainter in his early forties. His wife has left him, and his one employee barely shows up for work....

Recommeded by Anne Patchett.

What a happy family
Dave, Saumya
Paper Book
Natasha Joshi quit her day job so she could pursue her passion: comedy. But stage fright and a series of rejections send her into a downward spiral. Suhani Joshi is the sister who always followed the rules. But when her ex-boyfriend is hired at her hospital, dark secrets threaten to surface. Their...

Recommended by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Such a fun age : a novel
Reid, Kiley
Paper Book
A Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post * Chicago Tribune * NPR * Vogue * Elle * Real Simple * InStyle * Good Housekeeping * Parade * Slate...

Recommended by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Sula
Morrison, Toni
Paper Book
One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years * A modern masterpiece about love and kinship, about living in an America birthed from slavery. Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison gives life to characters who struggle with what society tells them to be, and the love they...

Recommended by John Green.

The history of a difficult child
Sibhat, Mihret
Paper Book
"An endearing coming-of-age story. . . . Sharp and witty. . . . A wily and operatic novel. . . . Propulsive." --The Washington Post "The History of a Difficult Child is an extraordinary novel." --Maaza Mengiste, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Shadow King...

Recommended by Rebecca Yarros.

Yellowface : a novel
Kuang, R. F.
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK "Hard to put down, harder to forget." -- Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences... Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who...

Recommended by Rebecca Yarros.


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