(PD) The Bookshelf: The 2026 Public Discourse Summer Reading List 

Patrick Brown, Contributing Editor 

I am sure I am far from the only member of the Public Discourse family to be preparing for the release of Christopher Nolan’s adaption of The Odyssey later this summer. In part because the tale was initially orally transmitted (and in part because it’s easier to sneak in chunks of listening time while watching kids at the park), I made a point of picking an audiobook recording—Sir Ian McKellen reads the Fagles translation with characteristic aplomb. Samuel Moyn’s Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth—and What to Do About It is on my list for professional reasons, and Leander Schaerlaeckens’ history of the U.S. soccer program The Long Game: U.S. Men’s Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top is helping me get in the World Cup spirit. Then I have to decide whether I want to make room for Caro Clare Burke’s viral tradwife novel Yesteryear … 

Alexandra Davis, Managing Editor 

My reading group is taking on Les Miserables this summer, so I am currently carrying around what I fondly call my “brick” with me in my diaper bag. It’s quite the conversation piece when I whip it out at the pool, all 1,100+ pages of it. It’s been a blast sending our favorite witty Hugo lines to our group text thread and declaring which parts of the narrative have left us decidedly “not okay.” In all seriousness, Les Mis will always remain among my favorite stories about human complexity, concupiscence, and redemption. May we all aspire to be Jean Valjean when, at times, we are regrettably more like Javert. (Our reading group will also enjoy a screening of the 2012 movie this summer, which is a masterpiece, Russell Crowe’s singing notwithstanding.) 

For a much lighter, cannot-put-it-down read, I’m nearly finished with the Catholic author (and occasional PD writer) Claire Swinarski’s novel The Supper Club Saints. It’s been a while since I’ve read a contemporary novel that so searingly captures the most honest and often unflattering angles of a mother’s interior dialogue. Not to mention, it’s often laugh-out-loud funny. Claire does enjoy some salty language, though, so caveat emptor, especially if you’re listening to an audio version….

Read it all.

https://t.co/mqdGZTdRDW Here’s what our editors are reading this summer.

— Public Discourse (@PublicDiscourse) June 25, 2026