70 Summer Reading Recommendations from Leading Authors
The Guardian's summer reading list features 70 book recommendations from authors including Zadie Smith, Mark Haddon, Sarah Waters, and Bernardine Evaristo. Smith praises Margaret Busby's 'Part of the Story' and Luke Kennard's 'Black Bag'. Haddon highlights 'Taiwan Travelogue' by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (International Booker winner) and three other shortlisted titles. Waters recommends Siri Hustvedt's 'Ghost Stories' and Hallie Rubenhold's 'Story of a Murder'. Evaristo lauds Raymond Antrobus's memoir 'The Quiet Ear' and Arundhati Roy's 'Mother Mary Comes to Me'. The list spans fiction, memoir, poetry, and nonfiction, with a focus on summer reading.
Key facts
- 70 books recommended for summer reading
- Recommendations from Zadie Smith, Mark Haddon, Sarah Waters, Bernardine Evaristo, and others
- Smith recommends Margaret Busby's 'Part of the Story' and Luke Kennard's 'Black Bag'
- Haddon recommends 'Taiwan Travelogue' (International Booker winner) and three other shortlisted books
- Waters recommends Siri Hustvedt's 'Ghost Stories' and Hallie Rubenhold's 'Story of a Murder'
- Evaristo recommends Raymond Antrobus's 'The Quiet Ear' and Arundhati Roy's 'Mother Mary Comes to Me'
- List includes fiction, memoir, poetry, and nonfiction
- Published by The Guardian on June 13, 2026
Entities
Artists
- Zadie Smith
- Mark Haddon
- Sarah Waters
- Bernardine Evaristo
- Samantha Harvey
- Tahmima Anam
- Marian Keyes
- William Dalrymple
- Anne Enright
- Jonathan Coe
- Ali Smith
- Tessa Hadley
- Gary Shteyngart
- Nina Stibbe
- Stephen Grosz
- Virginia Evans
- Joe Dunthorne
- Luke Kennard
- Sarah Moss
- Olivia Laing
- Margaret Busby
- Yáng Shuāng-zǐ
- Daniel Kehlmann
- Ana Paula Maia
- Rene Karabash
- Siri Hustvedt
- Hallie Rubenhold
- Raymond Antrobus
- Arundhati Roy
- Séamas O'Reilly
- Helen Bain
- Maria Semple
- Deborah Treisman
- JL Carr
- Stefan Zweig
- Jess Walter
- Dodie Smith
- Benjamin Markovits
- Harriet Armstrong
- Sasha Debevec-McKenney
- Adelle Waldman
- Bindu Bansinath
- Julia Ioffe
- Barbara Pym
- Joan Barfoot
- Namwali Serpell
- Natasha Walter
- Louise O'Neill
- Lena Dunham
- Anthony Gottleib
- James Bailey
- Valeria Luiselli
- Daniyal Mueenuddin
- Peter Godfrey-Smith
- Doireann Ní Ghríofa
- Lucy Caldwell
- Rachel Aviv
- Melissa Harrison
- Cecile Pin
- Djamel White
- Ben Pester
- Ashton Politanoff
- Jan Carson
- Miriam Toews
- Sarah Orne Jewett
- Tove Jansson
- Nandini Das
- Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
- Edmund Richardson
- Nicholas Boggs
- Gwendoline Riley
- M John Harrison
- Patricia Highsmith
- Anna von Planta
- Lin King
- Ross Benjamin
- Padma Viswanathan
- Izidora Angel
- Paul Auster
- Sylvia Plath
- Ted Hughes
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Muriel Spark
- James Baldwin
- Janet Malcolm
- Henry James
Institutions
- The Guardian
- International Booker Prize
- New Yorker
Locations
- Africa
- Germany
- Hollywood
- Brazil
- Albania
- Accursed Mountains
- Derry
- Devonshire
- New York
- Brooklyn
- Soviet Union
- LA
- Los Angeles
- Italy
- Pakistan
- Cork
- Lower Eodham
- Dublin
- England
- Lough Neagh
- Northern Ireland
- Winnipeg
- Maine
- Oxford
- Goa
- Kentish
- Edo
- Babylon
- Mesopotamia