BOOKSHELF: Exciting Books for Summer Reading

Compiled by Jamie H. Vaught

KySportsStyle.com Magazine

Updated May 7, 2026

--The Election of Pope Leo XIV: The Last Surprise of Pope Francis by Gerard O'Connell and Elisabetta Pique (Orbis Books, $26) is the story behind the headlines as told by two of the Vatican's most trusted correspondents. The remarkable book covers the death and funeral of Pope Francis, the behind-the-scenes maneuvers with the cardinals arriving in Rome, and the surprising election of Pope Leo XIV.

--Good Writing: 36 Ways to Improve Your Sentences by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott (Avery, $27)

shows you how to turn a worthy sentence into a memorable one. Good Writing can improve your book, your essay, your memo, your blog post, speech, or script. These essential rules for persuasive language work on any type of writing, and anyone can learn them quickly. Each rule is accompanied by examples and a lively pair of essays, the first by Neal Allen, who developed the list of tips over the course of his journalism and corporate careers; the second by his wife, Anne Lamott, acclaimed author of Bird by Bird and 19 other nonfiction works and novels. The authors don’t always agree on the specifics, but they are passionate about making better sentences. Whether you're a novice writer or a seasoned author, this entertaining guide will revolutionize your approach to crafting sentences.

--Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department by Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis (Penguin Press, $32) investigates the subversion of the U.S. Justice Department over the last decade. The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters exposes not only the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the department at every turn but also how delays in investigating Trump’s effort to overturn the will of voters under Attorney General Merrick Garland helped prevent the country from holding Trump accountable and enabled his return to power. With never-before-told accounts, the 471-page hardcover take readers inside as prosecutors convulsed over Trump’s disdain for the rule of law, and FBI agents, the department’s storied investigators, at times retreated in fear. With the excessive amount of sources deeply embedded in the ranks of three presidencies, the authors reveal the daily war secretly waged for the soul of the department.

--Boss Lincoln: The Partisan Life of Abraham Lincoln by Matthew Pinsker (W.W. Norton & Company, $39.99) is an eye-opening portrait of President Lincoln behind the scenes. We know Lincoln as the eloquent, compassionate leader of a nation torn by civil war. But he had another, less visible side, equally central to his character and leadership: Lincoln was a master of party politics. Schooled as a Whig in the rough-and-tumble of Illinois electioneering in the 1830s, Lincoln skillfully navigated treacherous partisan crosscurrents and helped build the Republican party into a viable force. His decades of experience as a party leader proved invaluable to him as president and commander in chief during the Civil War. The 564-page hardcover draws extensively on Lincoln’s private correspondence to move beyond the marble icon and realize a flesh-and-blood character in Boss Lincoln. Behind closed doors he was shrewd and insistent, capable of deft manipulation, blunt intimidation, or thoughtful argument as needed. As a decision-maker he was attentive to detail but kept his own counsel and trusted his own acumen.

--Kennedy's Coup: A White House Plot, a Saigon Murder, and America's Descent into Vietnam by Jack Cheevers (Simon & Schuster, $35) is a gripping account that recreates the Kennedy Administration’s secret encouragement of the fatal 1963 military coup against South Vietnam’s defiant president. The brutal assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem by his own generals — which capped weeks of bitter White House infighting amid JFK’s wavering — led to dreadful consequences for the United States, opening the door to nine years of costly and futile warfare in Vietnam. The 675-page book is based on a decade of research and writing, enriched by eyewitness interviews and revealing documents obtained through dozens of freedom of information requests.

--Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage by Heather Ann Thompson (Pantheon Books, $35) explores the roots of today's political and social crises -- marked by white rage, anti-immigrant policies, escalating income inequality, and the alarming rise of authoritarianism. The book argues the Reagan era of the 1980s laid the foundation for today's extreme gap between the rich and the poor, the dramatic dismantling of public institutions, and the legitimization of white supremacist ideologies and vigilante justice.

In this masterful work, Pulitzer Prize-winning author shines surprising new light on an infamous 1984 New York subway shooting that would unveil simmering racial resentments and would lead, in unexpected ways, to a fractured future and a new era of rage and violence.

--Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI by Karen Hao (Penguin Press, $32) is an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history, reshaping the planet in real time, from the cockpit of the company that is driving the frenzy. When AI expert and investigative journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined as its core mission, the organization was meant, its leader Sam Altman told us, to act as a check against more purely mercantile, and potentially dangerous, forces. What could go wrong? By drawing on the viewpoints of Silicon Valley engineers, Kenyan data laborers, and Chilean water activists, Hao presents the fullest picture of AI and its impact we’ve seen to date, alongside a trenchant analysis of where things are headed.

--On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR by Steve Oney (Avid Reader Press, $35) is an entertaining story about one of the country's most powerful radio news network despite being overshadowed by the larger and more glamorous PBS. Founded in 1970, NPR has long been home to shows such as All Things Considered , Morning Edition , and This American Life that captivate millions of listeners in homes, cars, and workplaces across the nation. NPR and its hosts are a cultural powerhouse and a trusted voice, and they have created a mode of journalism and storytelling that helps Americans understand the world in which we live. In On Air , a book 14 years in the making, the author tells the dramatic history of this institution, tracing the comings and goings of legendary on-air talents (Bob Edwards, Susan Stamberg, Ira Glass, Cokie Roberts, and many others) and the rise and fall and occasional rise again of brilliant and sometimes unethical executives.

--Being Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History by Andrew Burstein (Bloomsbury, $33) paints a dramatic picture of early American culture and brings us closer to Jefferson's life and thought than ever before. The author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was both a gifted wordsmith and a bundle of nerves. His superior knowledge of the human heart is captured in the impassioned appeal he brought to the Declaration. But as a champion of the common man who lived a life of privilege on a mountaintop plantation of his own design, he has eluded biographers who have sought to make sense of his inner life. In Being Thomas Jefferson, acclaimed Jefferson scholar Andrew Burstein peels away layers of confusion, taking us past the veneer of the animated letter-writer to describe a confused lover and a misguided humanist, too timid to embrace antislavery. The book attempts to look at Jefferson's weaknesses of character, his ego, his financial difficulties, among other things. Jefferson was a soft-spoken man who recoiled from direct conflict, yet a master puppeteer in politics.