2026 Summer Reading List
We are excited to share Maverick Collective’s 2026 Summer Reading List: What If?. It is a celebration of the power of possibility, and of the enduring idea that so much of what we now consider inevitable was once considered impossible. Before anything changed, someone had to imagine that it could, and this year's books invite us to do just that: to question what we think we know, to challenge the rules and who made them, and to dream bigger than the evidence currently allows.
This is a list we’ve been dreaming up for months, and we think it might be our favorite one yet.
It opens with our spotlight pick, What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a book not about what we are losing, but about what we are capable of building. We think that’s exactly the right place to start, and we’ll have more to share soon about a special session with Ayana this fall.
From there, the shelves wander wonderfully: fiction and nonfiction, poetry and picture books, a section for the young readers in your life, and, our favorite part, recommendations from Maverick members themselves. Whether you read one or read them all, we hope something in these pages cracks open, and that you’ll tell us when it does. These lists are always better when they become a conversation.
Happy reading and here’s to a summer full of questions!
P.S. If you’re purchasing books, we encourage you to support your local bookstore or use Bookshop.org, where all titles are linked and every purchase supports indie shops. Or check out your local library, another place of wonder and possibilities.