[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Speaking of our friends at All Of It, and speaking, thinking about our last segment of actually reading the book, our friends at All Of It are hosting a summer reading challenge that can surely keep you entertained on warm beach days and stormy summer nights. There's supposed to be a lot of those this week. With me now to preview some of the books in the lineup and share how you can join in on the fun is Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It. Hey, Jordan. Welcome back to the other show on the station. Hi.

Jordan Lauf: Brian, so nice to make the journey across the hall.

Brian Lehrer: [chuckles] Your summer reading challenge, for those who don't know, kicked off on June 23rd, but listeners just finding out about it now could still join in. Why don't you introduce the challenge broadly and get us caught up to speed?

Jordan Lauf: We had a great time doing this last year. It seems like people really like to have some structure to their summer reading. I can relate. The idea of looking at your whole bookshelf and trying to pick something to take with you to the beach can sometimes be overwhelming. We liked giving a little structure to people's summers. You can sign up now- it's not too late to sign up- by heading to wnyc.org/summerreading. There you'll find all of the prompts and the categories for the Summer Reading Challenge this year. I think we're going to get into the categories in a minute. Basically, we're asking you to read five books by Labor Day Weekend, so you've still got some time. Five books in five different categories by Labor Day Weekend. If you do that, you'll get a prize. You can sign up at wnyc.org/summerreading.

Brian Lehrer: Can ChatGPT read the books for you?

Jordan Lauf: Absolutely not, Brian. That disturbs me to even think about. Please don't do that.

Brian Lehrer: I'm sorry, I have to get my head out of the previous segment. Five different categories. You want to name them?

Jordan Lauf: Yes, sure. The first one is a classic you've been meaning to get to.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, good one.

Jordan Lauf: A book about or set in New York City.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, great one.

Jordan Lauf: A memoir or biography.

Brian Lehrer: Nonfiction.

Jordan Lauf: A recent debut novel. And a book published in 2025. That one is really just anything published so far this year or upcoming. You have to read one book in all five categories to complete the challenge. One book in each category. You can't double or triple count. Sorry for folks who've written in to ask about that.

Brian Lehrer: What do you get if you complete the task?

Jordan Lauf: Well, we can't reveal what that is yet, but it's going to be something we're hopefully specially designing just for this challenge this year. Last year, we sent out some great tote bags. I know people were excited about that. This year, I think we're going to be working on something even more special. Stay tuned for that.

Brian Lehrer: If any listeners out there right now also want to cross the hall with Jordan and you're already participating in the Summer Reading Challenge from All Of It, you can call in and say what you're reading. Maybe that'll give some ideas to some other listeners who think, "This sounds great, but I don't know what to read." 212-433-WNYC, or with a question about All Of It's Summer Reading Challenge. 212-433-9692 if you want to call or text.

Looking at the classics that are on the summer reading list, I see you have The Great Gatsby, which we know is a favorite among many of our listeners. We actually did a segment on it in our 100 Years of 100 Things series because that big book is exactly 100 years old. Some other authors that you've got in the Classics category include James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, John Steinbeck. Do you want to list off a few of the others in that classic section of the challenge, since you do provide choices for people?

Jordan Lauf: Yes, exactly. As you said, it's the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 1925 was a pretty big literary year. It is also the 100th anniversary of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. If you're looking for an anniversary to give you an excuse to pick up one of those books, now is a great time. There's all sorts of literary programming around these two books happening around the city. You could take your whole book club with you if you wanted.

John Steinbeck came to mind for this category this year because there is a forthcoming adaptation of his book East of Eden, starring Florence Pugh, one of my personal favorite actors. If you're looking for an excuse to pick that one up and you're really excited about the adaptation, now might be a great time. It is a little longer to lug to the beach. I think it's over 500 pages. You can always try or bring your Kindle.

Last year, as you mentioned, was the Baldwin Centennial. That was a really good excuse. A lot of people, during our last Summer Reading Challenge, used that time to pick up a Baldwin book. My personal favorite from Baldwin is Another Country. It's about messy love affairs between artists and musicians in Greenwich Village and Harlem. That's one you can always pick up.

Then my favorite classic of all time is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. To me, it's just a beautiful, surprisingly feminist book for that time period. I really recommend you trying that one out, if you haven't read it.

Brian Lehrer: Listeners are texting some books they're reading. Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein, The Spinach King, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Warmth of Other Suns, Something of the Springtime, John Spiezio's debut novel. "I'm a political type," writes another listener, "so I'm reading Rachel Maddow's Prequel, an important read." When you mentioned Kindle, it brought to mind a question that I heard debated on the station recently on another show. Obviously, Kindle, is a reading device. You actually read on Kindle, so that actually qualifies. What, though, if somebody listens to a book as an audiobook, do you give them credit?

Jordan Lauf: I will give credit for an audiobook. It definitely is a debate. For me, there is certainly a different experience between reading the written word on the page and listening. I find, maybe because of my job, maybe because I spend so much time listening for work, when I try to listen to a book, I tune out much more easily than I do when I'm sitting with it. But I know so many of our listeners just really love audiobooks and how accessible they are. You can take it on the subway with you, you can take it on a walk. I will count an audiobook for this Summer Reading Challenge, if that's really your go-to.

Brian Lehrer: All right. Jordan Lauf coming down on yes on, "Is consuming a book by audio reading a book?" Let's go to the next category: Books set in New York City, which should be perfect for people who are spending a lot of the summer in town. You've got both fiction and nonfiction offerings here. Do you want to tell us a few?

Jordan Lauf: Sure. To start with the fiction, I think one of my favorite books I've read this year actually is a novel called Playworld by Adam Ross. It is a coming-of-age story about a child actor who's growing up here in the city in the 1980s, who becomes entangled in this very inappropriate relationship with an adult woman, a family friend. It is such a portrait of New York in the '80s. There's some stuff on film sets, there's stuff about wrestling in school, and just all sorts of good buildings, [unintelligible 00:07:34] themes and tropes, but in the most delightful New York-centric way. That's a really transportative novel that I recommend.

Another one, if you are watching The Gilded Age right now, if you're loving The Gilded Age, there are two great Gilded Age historical fiction books that I would love to recommend. One is Mutual Interest by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith. This one also came out recently. It is a historical fiction about a gay love triangle happening during the Gilded Age. There are two men who are closeted and a woman who is also closeted who join in this business alliance, actually, to make a soap manufacturing company. The woman and one of the men are married as a cover for their gay identity. Their rival ends up joining the business and maybe falling in love with one of them. It's a love triangle. It's a business story. It's great transportative, historical fiction.

Then this one's from a couple of years ago. Trust by Hernán Díaz is also a great Gilded Age historical novel. That one is more of a puzzle box mystery. You're learning about this great man and his story, but is he really that great of a man, and who was maybe really behind his massive fortune? That is Trust by Hernán Díaz.

Brian Lehrer: Cool.

Jordan Lauf: Those are the fiction options I have for that category.

Brian Lehrer: Some texts coming in. "I decided to actually read Moby-Dick for my classic.

Jordan Lauf: Oh, wow.

Brian Lehrer: I've been meaning to read. Kind of flipped through it in college but didn't really read. IT IS AMAZING, I can't believe I missed it." Somebody navigating Moby-Dick. Another one, "Two books I'm reading. I heard the author on All Of It. I'm in the middle of The Wager by David Grann.

Jordan Lauf: Nice.

Brian Lehrer: His interview was awesome. Carl Hiaasen's new one, Fever Beach, next. Can't wait." "On audiobooks," listener writes, "for those of us who are dyslexic and drive a fair amount, audiobooks rock." Obviously, also for anybody who might be sight-impaired, maybe goes without saying. Peter in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with Jordan Lauf from All Of It and the Summer Reading Challenge. Hi.

Peter: Hey. I just realized I made a mistake. I thought Percival Everett's book James came out in 2025. I looked it up while I was waiting; it's 2024. I was going to recommend reading Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and then reading James, it's kind of a great combo.

Brian Lehrer: James, the retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the enslaved person, right?

Peter: Correct.

Brian Lehrer: Peter, thank you for that. Well, let's see, Jordan, could both of those books satisfy two different categories?

Jordan Lauf: I'm scanning my brain. Huckleberry Finn definitely will count for a classic you've been meaning to get to. I don't think James fits in any of the categories. It's not set in New York, it's not from 2025, and it is certainly not Percival Everett's first novel. Unfortunately, that one doesn't count, but it doesn't mean it's not a great fun pairing to tackle this summer. If you're ahead on your five books, why not add a sixth in there?

Brian Lehrer: Finally, as we start to run out of time, there's the Novels released in 2025 as a category. I see that one hasn't even been published yet, so these are really brand new. What are some of the books in this category?

Jordan Lauf: One of my favorite books I've read this year is The Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy. It's about a family guarding one of the last remaining seed banks in the world on a very remote island. They're there all alone until suddenly washes up mysteriously on shore, and they don't know why she's there or what she wants. It's got the most beautiful descriptions of nature and man's relationship to nature and animals. Also, it's got this mystery that keeps you turning pages. That's the Wild Dark Shore.

The novel you mentioned that is not out yet is Katabasis by RF Kuang, who many know for her fantasy writing of Babel, or her most recent novel, was Yellowface. This new one is about two graduate students who have to descend to hell to find and recover their academic advisor. That one's not out until August 26th, so if you want to finish it by Labor Day Weekend, that might be a challenge. I know that we have some major RF Kuang fans who listen to our station and could definitely tackle this one in a couple of days if you're feeling really ambitious.

Brian Lehrer: Great. For people who may have heard about All Of It's Summer Reading Challenge for the first time in this conversation, before we go to actual All Of It, you want to tell them one more time how they can join in?

Jordan Lauf: Exactly. Yes. You can go to wnyc.org/summerreading to sign up. You can tackle those five categories by the end of Labor Day Weekend to receive a prize.

Brian Lehrer: I guess you've got enough of whatever these prizes are that anybody who completes the challenge is going to get one.

Jordan Lauf: Oh, fingers crossed, Brian. Last year, we grossly underestimated how many of you were going to finish. We sent out, I think, over 300 prizes. We'll see if we can top that this year.

Brian Lehrer: Wow. I actually just got a note from one of my producers who says, "Wow, this sounds so great. I want to do it." I don't know if employees of WNYC and their families are ineligible to enter, but they could at least have some fun. We leave it there with Jordan Lauf, producer for All Of It and its book club, Get Lit with All Of It. Happy reading.

Jordan Lauf: Happy reading. Thank you.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: That's The Brian Lehrer Show for today, produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen produces our daily politics podcast. Juliana Fonda, Shayna Sengstock. Milton Ruiz at the audio controls. Stay tuned for the aforementioned Alison.

Copyright © 2025 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.