News & Notes

Summer Reading Recommendations

June 2026

Summer is the season of soft serve (mountains of it), peaches and tomatoes, lounge chairs and short-shorts—and, of course, books propped open in the grass, beside the pool, and on the sand.

Searching for summer reading of your own? Below, you’ll find recommendations from the writers in our June issue, plus a few favorites from our staff. Lather on that sunscreen, lay out your towel, and enjoy.

—Al Favilla, Editorial Assistant

The Sun on TV

This month Sun readers wrote to tell us about their experiences with “Television,” but that’s not the first time we’ve explored the little — or perhaps big — black box that resides in (most) everyone’s living room. In fact we’ve printed Readers Writes on “Television” and “Watching TV” in 1979 and 1996, respectively, and have published poems, essays, interviews, and photo essays on the subject. Here are just a few memorable examples of when The Sun and its contributors crossed paths with the small screen.

The Other Side of the Portal

Speculative Fiction in The Sun

As part of our ongoing celebration of The Sun’s fiftieth year in print, we featured Debbie Urbanski’s 2016 short story “The Portal” as our September issue’s Dog-Eared Page. In my introduction to the story I noted that several other writers of science fiction and fantasy — too many to list in print — have also found their way into the magazine. But here in the more generous confines of our website I can share some of my other favorites from our archives.

Getting The Sun to people in prison

Exchange for Change, a nonprofit organization that offers writing courses in prisons and facilitates letter exchanges between incarcerated students and writers on the outside, will release an anthology of writing and artwork by incarcerated individuals, their family members, and others.

Jared Seide’s Recommended Reading List

In our June 2020 interview, “The Power of Story,” Jared Seide discusses how listening to each other can restore our humanity. For readers interested in learning more, he offers this reading list of essential books on navigating vulnerability, working with compassion, and the power of listening from the heart.

More on Grizzly Times

We asked Louisa Willcox and David Mattson to share a few additional resources about grizzly bears and to suggest ways readers might be able to help.

Astra Taylor’s Democracy Reading List

Since Astra Taylor cited so many authors during our discussion for the November 2019 interview, we asked her to give us a list of books that have inspired her work as an activist and an artist.