Human Raised by Dana Suskind

HUMAN RAISED by Dana Suskind should be on your reading list. It is on several others, including an appearance as the notable non-fiction choice on the LibraryReads July 2026 selections and on the Next Big Idea Club’s summary of July 2026 Must Read Books. Suskind, an MD who writes extensively and is a professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at the University of Chicago, focuses this new book on “Nurturing Connection, Curiosity, & Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI.” In chapters with titles like “The Human Edge,” “How Parents Build a Child’s Brain,” or “Robots in the Classroom,” she makes several very compelling and interesting arguments. For example, Suskind writes, “I believe that the relationship between child development and artificial intelligence is one of the most critical and overlooked challenges of our time, one that has the potential to transform childhood, family structures, and ultimately nothing less than our future as a species. And it's up to us as parents and caregivers to decide how these intelligent tools will shape our children's lives.” I found her sharing of Hinton’s comments on embedding maternal instincts in AI models to be quite thought-provoking. And, like many of us, she expressed  concerns about the pervasiveness of AI, asking, “Will a primarily or entirely human-raised childhood be a luxury experience, like a farm-raised diet?” Parents, grandparents, caregivers and educators will find much to consider and discuss in HUMAN RAISED. This book is not anti-technology; rather Suskind is encouraging us to act and to shape the future; she eloquently points out, “In Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, … the birds that no longer sang weren't the tragedy. They were …. a warning that something essential was dying. I hear a similar warning now in a different kind of silence: the eerie, algorithm-induced quiet of children transfixed by technology.” Suskind stresses four guiding principles (HOPE) for raising children alongside AI:  Human connection is irreplaceable; Own your imperfections; Protect the early years; and Enhance—don’t replace—connection. Highly recommended.

The Chase by Felix Francis

THE CHASE by Felix Francis continues in the tradition of the excellent horse racing mysteries by Dick Francis. In this case, his son, Felix, shares a tale about almost fifty-year-old Fabian Tulley who runs an art gallery. The paintings and sculptures he buys and sells are generally related to the racing world and horses; plus, Tulley’s father is a trainer with horses in major races, so he is definitely involved in that world. Easing into retirement does not look likely for Tulley when an unpleasant client very publicly accuses him of knowingly selling a forged painting. Troubles compound when more paintings are vandalized and Tulley is physically attacked. To me, THE CHASE is stronger (and closer in style to an original Dick Francis novel) than Francis’ previous offerings largely because of the way he shares Tulley’s musings and suppositions with the reader. THE CHASE received a starred review from Booklist (“It’s fascinating to follow his [Francis’] hero into art galleries and auctions as well as the stable and racetrack.”) and is scheduled to be published on September 8.

The Distinctly Competent District Councillor

THE DISTINCTLY COMPETENT DISTRICT COUNCILLOR by Jonas Jonasson is a quick read (144 pages) which will have readers laughing and smiling even as Jonasson satirizes multinational conglomerates and their impact on small towns. The newly elected mayor, Julia Back, of a small Swedish town, Halstaholm, is intent on improving future prospects for her constituents and she spearheads a campaign to attract investment by a German mattress manufacturer. Her local task force (including a ten-year-old boy) quickly devise a number of surprising ways (e.g., starting a German language school) to convince the owner, Konrad Kaltenbacher Jr., and his two young daughters that Halstaholm is German-friendly. They are up against a tight timeframe and some unethical competition from consultants pushing for a rival location, however. Let the contest begin! Jonasson said that he “felt the urge to write something that might give us hope … about friendship between people from different nations.” Booklist called THE DISTINCTLY COMPETENT DISTRICT COUNCILLOR a “warm-hearted satire” and The Mail on Sunday described it as “a shot of serotonin in book form.” Enjoy!!

Return to Sender by Stephanie Parente

RETURN TO SENDER by Stephanie Parente is a debut novel which succeeds and surprises on many fronts. While mainly a rom com, it explores aspects of identity, friendship, and grief, offering humorous sidenotes and road trip adventure with appealing characters. The most endearing is fourteen-year-old Phoebe who has recently lost her father and is living with her twenty-six-year-old sister, Violet, a teacher. Parente is described as “passionate about writing messy characters falling in love,” and she begins the story with a rebellious Phoebe opening and reading a stranger’s love letter. That leads to their finding and convincing Dex, a troubled young man, to return the letter to its intended recipient, named Catalina. Along the way, the trio visits several highlights (e.g., Yogi Bear statue, Coney Island, a gay bar in Chicago) and experience moments of self-reflection (“The sort of unremarkable night that maybe once would have been easily forgotten, but now I knew to hold onto it with both hands. What a privilege it was to be bored and boring. We were alive at the same time, on opposite sides of the couch. I could have lived in this moment with him forever.”). Violet often focuses on naming three good things and is relentless in trying to stay positive (although her musings about being a guardian can feel repetitive). As readers might expect, there are several romantic scenes as well. RETURN TO SENDER received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (“a zany road trip provides a path to recovery”).

Wisdom Corner by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

WISDOM CORNER by David Heska Wanbli Weiden is the second book, following award-winning Winter Counts, to feature Virgil Wounded Horse, his girlfriend Marie, nephew Nathan, and mentor Jerome Iron Shell who live on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Virgil is trying to move away from his past as a vigilante, but there are still aspects of violence in this novel as he tries to solve a murder, confront a rival gang, and deal with a devious politician. The action keeps coming, but this text also adheres to Weiden’s agreement with the view that crime fiction is “the new literature of resistance.” He deftly weaves in background information about Native American history, like life at the infamous Native boarding schools and “how the children there were compelled to abandon their Indigenous traditions, languages, and spirituality.” As another example, I particularly liked his recounting of the origin of football’s forward pass, involving Pop Warner, Jim Thorpe, and the Carlisle Indian School football team. The author’s note includes several recommended titles for further reading. Both S. A. Cosby (“a raw yet moving journey”) and William Kent Krueger (“riveting thriller that will surprise you to the very end”) have praised this compelling mystery.

The audio book of WISDOM CORNER is narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper who does an excellent job of relaying the action and differentiating the characters. In a recent Bookpage cover story, Weiden says, “I'm hoping that readers will leave the novel with a better understanding of the broken criminal justice system on reservations as well as a sense of life as a Native American in the 21st century.” He succeeds. Learn more about his thinking on this topic in Weiden's New York Times essay, “This 19th-Century Law Helps Shape Criminal Justice in Indian Country.”

The Story Keeper by Kelly Rimmer

THE STORY KEEPER by Kelly Rimmer is sure to be a popular choice with readers of mysteries and historic fiction. Just released, it is an upcoming Indie Next pick and also number one for July’s LibraryReads selections. Set in Australia, this novel cleverly provides a book within a book story, using a dual timeline and suspenseful gothic undertones.  Fiona’s daughters are starting their adult lives when her husband asks for a divorce and pushes her out of their shared architectural business. Desperate for a project and purpose, she returns to the family estate named Wurimbirra, intent on restoring it. But her mother, who lives nearby, actively discourages her from changing anything and several local residents insist the house is haunted. After some strange happenings, Fiona even starts to question her decision and turns to a book, called The Midnight Estate, for diversion. Readers can share in deciphering that tale of marital abuse and escape which has some surprising parallels with Fiona’s life and contains its own mysteries and adventure. Booklist recommends THE STORY KEEPER for those “who enjoy secret-filled family sagas by Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley.”

Cleanup on Aisle Five by Ann Larson

CLEANUP ON AISLE FIVE by Ann Larson is an eye-opening tale of “Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register.” We have all stood in line at the supermarket check-out, often frustrated with the wait and the poor quality of packing. Larson encourages readers to take another perspective by relating her own COVID-era experiences as a worker and those of her colleagues. She certainly made me feel more compassionate towards the frontline supermarket employees, standing in place for hours on end and repetitively swiping products past a scanner. Yet, it is worth pointing out that Larson takes an activist perspective and writes, “it was as an outsider that I saw how the supermarket as an institution is a window into larger social divisions and injustices.” She notes, for example, that “many grocery workers are food insecure” and “being perpetually too tired to cook was one of the ironies of working at the supermarket.” And her statistics on dental care, tooth pain, and missing teeth (“One-quarter of adults in the United States over the age of 65 are missing all of their teeth and our country has one of the highest rates of toothlessness in the world”) are surprising and class related. CLEANUP ON AISLE FIVE received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. This book deserves attention and could join others (e.g., Evicted, Nickel and Dimed, Maid, or even How May I Help You?) which have been part of our curriculum as students learn to appreciate the struggles of their neighbors. Extensive source notes (approximately fifteen percent of the text) are included.