How­ev­er you feel about sum­mer heat, these read­ing chal­lenges offer an excel­lent oppor­tu­ni­ty to soak up the sun or stay cool inside. Here are a few ideas to keep you booked, inspired by The New York Times’s Sum­mer Read­ing Buck­et List.”

  • Read a Jew­ish His­tor­i­cal fic­tion book (Find our rec­om­men­da­tions here!)
  • Try out a sum­mer recipe from a Jew­ish cook­book (Need inspo? Our read­ing list awaits.)
  • Buy a Jew­ish book from your local indie bookstore
  • Browse the Jew­ish books at your library
  • Join a Jew­ish book club
  • Sug­gest a Jew­ish book for your book club
  • Reread any All-of-a-Kind Fam­i­ly books
  • Gift a Jew­ish kidlit book to a young reader
  • Get in on the debate over what a Jew­ish book is
  • No ques­tions, only com­ments at a Jew­ish book event
  • Leave a review online of a five-star Jew­ish book you read
  • Join the brigade by pur­chas­ing JBC’s annu­al lit­er­ary jour­nal, Paper Brigade
  • Dive into a Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award-win­ning title
  • Explore lit­er­a­ture in trans­la­tion (Here are a few rec­om­men­da­tions if you’re look­ing for a place to start.)
  • Save a JBC Insta­gram post to return to later
  • Post a pic­ture of your Jew­ish book­shelf (and be sure to tag JBC!)
  • Check out a Jew­ish author that you’ve nev­er read before
  • Use the first line of one of your favorite Jew­ish books as a writing/​journaling prompt
  • Return to a clas­sic Jew­ish book
  • Rede­fine clas­sic Jew­ish lit­er­a­ture with a book you think is underappreciated
  • Com­pare and con­trast books and their film adap­ta­tions (Book to film read­ing sug­ges­tions here!)

Addi­tion­al sug­gest­ed cat­e­gories, from you, our incred­i­ble read­ers! Have anoth­er idea? Send us a note at info@​jewishbooks.​org 

  • Read a Jew­ish romance book
  • Immerse your­self in Jew­ish sci­ence fic­tion or fantasy
  • Host your own short sto­ry dis­cus­sion club
  • Try to read a book from every coun­try in the world
  • Curate a playlist for a book
  • Fol­low your favorite authors on your favorite social platform
  • Try out audiobooks
  • Attend or host a book swap
  • Choose your next read from the bot­tom of the to be read pile