2021 Summer Reading Challenge Book Suggestions for Adults
The 2021 Summer Reading Challenge is here! Below are a few books for each category as well as links to other articles with book recommendations in case you are looking for suggestions. Remember that you can read any book that meets the criteria for a specific category and each book can only be used for one category. We encourage you to be creative. YA and children’s chapter books will also work for some categories.
Click here for the Summer Reading Challenge card and official information. If you are looking for suggestions for the Children’s Summer Reading Challenge, click here.
Poetry or a Play
Daydreaming by Cydney Brown (poetry)
The Tradition by Jericho Brown (poetry)
Toni’s Room: A Poetic Journey to Restoration by M. Tonita Austin (poetry)
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur (poetry)
Letters to a Young Poet By Rainer Maria Rilke (poetry)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard (play)
Jitney by August Wilson (play)
More Suggestions:
Asian/Pacific American Poetry | Academy of American Poet
U.S. Latinx Voices in Poetry | Poetry Foundation
12 Poems to Read for Black History Month | Academy of American Poets
LGBTQ Poetry | Academy of American Poets
10 Latinx, Hispanic, and Chicano/a Playwrights You Should Know : PerformerStuff More Good Stuff
32 Plays to Pick Up For LGBTQ+ Pride Month : PerformerStuff More Good Stuff
Graphic Novel, Comic, or Manga
New Kid or Class Act by Jerry Craft
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller
When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
More Suggestions:
Bookshop: Best Comics and Graphic Novels for Adults: 2021.
20 Diverse Graphic Novels | Rae's Reads and Reviews
9 Emotionally Devastating Mental Illness Graphic Memoirs
The Best LGBTQ Graphic Novels of 2019
100 Best Comics And Graphic Novels : NPR
A Beginner’s Guide to Manga And Types Of Manga | Book Riot
A book from a series
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
The Track Series by Jason Reynolds
More Suggestions:
Best Book Series 2021 - PBC (pennbookcenter.com)
8 of the Best Book Series Ending In 2021 | Book Riot
Comedy
We are Never Meeting in Real Life or Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby
Dear Girls by Ali Wong
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused by Melissa Maerz
Build Your Own Romantic Comedy: Pick Your Plot, Meet Your Man, and Direct Your Happily Ever After by Lana Schwartz
More Suggestions:
The Best Comedy Books of 2021 (So Far)
50 of the Funniest Books Ever Written
A book written during the 1990s
In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
More Suggestions:
20 Bestsellers Published in the 1990s
20 Must-Read Novels From the 1990s for Your TBR
A book by a Black author
Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi
Do You Dream of Terra-Two? By Temi Oh
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Red at the Bone or Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
More Suggestions:
33 Books by Contemporary Black Authors
44 Books by Black Authors to Read 2020
20 YA Books by Black Authors for Your 2021 TBR - Bookish
A book set in Central or South America
By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolano
Magdalena: River of Dreams: A Story of Columbia by Wade Davis
Enduring Patagonia by Gregory Crouch
Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester
Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food by Martin Morales
Far South by David Enrique Spellman
More Suggestions:
Books About Central America and the Northern Triangle Countries
Discover the best books coming from Central and South America
Around the World in 80 Books: Books Set in Latin America
A biography or memoir of a woman
My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) by Betty White
Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Kurt W. Beyer
Haben: The Deafblind Woman who Conquered Harvard Law by Haben Girma
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas
The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price by Rae Linda Brown
I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
More Suggestions:
Six Asian-American Memoirs to Read for Women's History Month
8 Must-Read Memoirs Written by Black Women | Off the Shelf
3 Underrated Memoirs by Black Women That Changed My Life
11 Memoirs And Autobiographies Written By Latinas Every Woman Should Read
5 of the Best Contemporary Memoirs by Women
Afrofuturism, Fantasy, or Science Fiction
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Kindred or Dawn by Octavia E. Butler
The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
More Suggestions:
17 Best Afrofuturism Books - The Best Sci Fi Books
8 of the Best Afrofuturism Books to Introduce You to the Genre
The Best Fantasy Books and Series to Read in 2021
A Beginner's Guide to Science Fiction | The New York Public Library
A debut book
Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
Glitter Up the Dark by Sasha Geffen
Well-Behaved Indian Women by Saumya Dave
Fairest by Meredith Talusan
There, There by Tommy Orange
More Suggestions:
The 10 Best Debut Novels of the Decade
A book that will improve an area of your life
The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor
The Focus Project by Erik Qualman
The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll
Deep Work by Cal Newport
What Happened to You: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey
More Suggestions:
Advice Worth Reading: 15 Self-Improvement Books That Will Motivate And Inspire
10 Books to Read Before You Retire
Best First Time Home Buyer Books, According to Experts | Apartment Therapy
15 Best Cookbooks for Beginners in 2021
A Magazine (online or in print)
Real Simple: Home Decor Ideas, Recipes, DIY & Beauty Tips
The Economist - World News, Politics, Economics, Business & Finance
Translated from another language
Storm Birds by Eina Karason
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Silence by Shūsaku Endō
The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq by Mīkhāʼīl, Dunyā
The Secret in their Eyes by Eduardo A. Sacheri
More Suggestions:
15 Must-Read Translated Books From the Past 5 Years
Best books of 2020: Fiction in translation | Financial Times (ft.com)
The Best Reviewed Literature in Translation of 2020 ‹ Literary Hub
13 of the Best Fall 2020 Books In Translation
True crime, mystery, or a spy novel
The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage by Cliff Stoll
American Kingping: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton
The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. by Evan Ratliff
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Last Call by Elon Green
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
More Suggestions:
20 of the Best New Psychological Thrillers in 2021
20 New Crime Novels to Keep You Up at Night
7 of the Best New Murder Mystery Books to Add to Your TBR
Suspenseful Crime Novels Where Women Fight Back
12 of the Best April 2021 Mystery Books to Read Right Now
A book about a topic new to you
Smokejumper by Jason A. Ramos
Northwest Trees by Stephen F. Arno & Ramona P. Hammerly
Discovering Dahlias by Erin Benzakein
Our Native Bees by Paige Embry
100 Hikes of a Lifetime by Kate Siber and Andrew Skurka
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Tanoshii Ke-Ki: Japanese-Style Baking for All Occasions by Masataka Yamashita
Salt: a World History by Mark Kaurlansky
Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool by Clara Parkes
More Suggestions:
50 Of The Best How-To Books To Learn How To Do (Almost) Everything
5 Cookbooks for When You Want to Cook Healthy Food Fast
Indian History Books to Understand the Country's Legacy and Global Impact
7 of the Best Nonfiction Books About Weird Jobs
6 of the Best Books About American Labor and the Minimum Wage