It’s mid-August, which means it’s last call for summer reading. This isn’t the biggest publishing season, but there were some great titles that came out this summer, so now is a good time to catch up on them. I’ve highlighted seven books that came out in June, July, and August that complete 2026 Read Harder Challenge tasks.
These new summer releases include queer romantasy, nonfiction about resistance, a modern gothic, a Japanese murder mystery, and much more. Fall is coming, and with it, an avalanche of new releases, so don’t let these new books of the summer pass you by!
Task #4: Read a novel with a main character who uses they/them pronouns, and Task #9: Read a romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main character
The Feywild Job by C. L. Polk
C. L. Polk’s first full-length romantasy in several years, The Feywild Job, is technically Dungeons & Dragons IP, and according to some, it offers the same vibes as the most recent movie. We’ve got a grifter who has sworn a literal magical oath never to fall in love, and their ex-partner, with whom things ended pretty terribly. Both have been recruited onto a team to steal a gem, and everything just goes wrong from there. Or right, depending on how you look at it. —Jessica Pryde
Task #5: Read a nonfiction book about resistance
Sex and Dissent: Stories of Feminist Resistance in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Spain by Meaghan Beatley
There are feminist movements all over the world, each on the frontlines fighting for women’s rights. In Sex and Dissent, Meaghan Beatley takes us to Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Spain and shows the advances feminism has made over the course of the last decade. While other countries in the world have seen women’s rights rolled back, Beatley gives us some hope with these wins across Latin America and Spain. —Kendra Winchester
All Access members, read on for five more new books out this summer and the Read Harder Challenge tasks they complete.
Task #6: Read a gothic novel published in the last ten years
Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez
I went into this book cold when I saw it was a work of gothic horror by a Latine author. Should I have probably deduced from the title that it was going to involve a creepy ass doll? Pues si, But did I? Nope! Doll feelings aside, I’m glad I didn’t make the connection because I might have missed out. In late 1960s Oakland, Natalia is a queer, Latine, working-class witch who schemes her way into a position caring for Violeta Miramontes, a glamorous heiress to Spanish colonial wealth who’s been paralyzed by a mysterious illness. Natalia, whose mother once worked for the Miramontes, suspects Violeta’s condition is the work of malevolent witchcraft and vows to break the curse, a pursuit that will endanger not only her charge, but herself. Make sure to read the author’s note for this one, which provides some great context for the people and places that may (or may not) have inspired the story. —Vanessa Diaz
Task #9: Read a romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main character
Dominion by Jean Kwok
The first in a new series, Dominion introduces us to Rubi, a young woman who has little to speak of in terms of magic in a world where magic is the biggest currency. When she catches the eye of a powerful leader in a different dominion after hurting one of his faction, he sends her into a brutal trial that leaves some partnered with tygers and some slaughtered. When she emerges selected, the world changes for her overnight, and becomes even darker than she knew. —Jessica Pryde
Task #15: Read a book by a librarian
Behind the Desk at the Main: A Librarian’s Memoir by Dorothy Lazard
As someone who grew up as a library kid, I’ve always believed libraries are special places that should be protected. Librarians were the superheroes of my childhood, just like Dorothy Lazard was at the Oakland Public Library. In her new memoir, Lazard gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her day-to-day life at the library. She shows us, firsthand, how much work goes into maintaining a public library and emphasizes why libraries are so important. —Kendra Winchester
Task #20: Read a book set in space
The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus
Fresh off his Pulitzer Prize win for Angel Down, Kraus is shaking things up again with this epic sci-fi novel! The mysterious crew aboard the sentient biomatter ship The Sickness travels to a plague-riddled planet to find out what is going on. But first, they’ll have to survive the journey and the scores that need settling among the crew. —Liberty Hardy
Task #21: Read a genre (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) book in translation
Murder at the End of the World by Akane Araki, translated by Jesse Kirkwood
For fans of detective duos, Japanese murder mysteries, and “an asteroid is about to hit the earth” setting
If there are only two months left to live—an asteroid is about to hit the earth—what’s the point of solving a murder? Turns out some people are trying to go about their lives as usual until they figure out what to do. Enter Haru, a university student getting her driver’s license, and Isagawa, her instructor/former police detective. When they find someone stabbed to death, they decide to investigate since the police most likely won’t. —Jamie Canaves
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