Book Reading Schedule: Summer 2026
Summer provides the perfect opportunity to catch up on reading. Here’s my suggested reading schedule for June through August 2026.
June: Foundations
Week 1-2: Narrative Nonfiction
- “Deadliest Enemies” by T. R. Whitehead (border violence investigation)
- “The Great Inland” by Jeffrey K. Brown (water rights)
Week 3-4: Investigative Classics
- “All the President’s Men” by Woodward & Bernstein
- “The New York Times” on Watergate collection
July: Current Events
Week 1-2: Accountability Reporting
- “The Panama Papers” (BBC/McSweeney’s collaboration)
- “Capitol Crime” by Jerry M. Flint
Week 2-3: Local Government
- “City Hall” by Mike Deets (Kansas City investigations)
- “Broken Trust” series collection
August: Deep Dives
Week 1-2: Longform Journalism
- “The New Yorker” best of 2025-2026 collection
- “Longform” magazine’s top investigative pieces
Week 3-4: My Own Research
- “The Settlement Machine” (my own work, for research updates)
- Source materials for upcoming project
Reading Tips
How I Read
I read differently in summer:
- Morning sessions (2 hours before work)
- Audiobooks during runs
- E-readers for archives (easier to search)
- Paper for dense documents
Track Your Reading
Keep a simple spreadsheet:
- Title
- Author
- Pages read
- Notes
- Would recommend?
Join the Discussion
What are you reading this summer? I update my recommendations monthly and love hearing what others recommend.
Book Club Questions
For group discussion:
- What made this investigation possible?
- What would you have done differently?
- How does this apply to current events?
Schedule your summer reading now—these months fly by.