The 2026 Brooklyn Book List is a selection of ten titles that capture the borough’s diverse communities, histories, and identities. Curated by Borough Historian Asad Dandia, the list spans both fiction and nonfiction texts and tell the story of Brooklyn’s immigrant communities, its shifting neighborhoods, and the generations of residents who have built and rebuilt the borough over time.
“There has never been one singular Brooklyn—this borough is thousands of stories, woven into every block, every neighborhood, every small business and park and house of worship. This book list is an invitation for Brooklynites to see themselves and their neighbors reflected on the page, and to better understand the communities that make this borough what it is,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “I’m grateful to Borough Historian Asad Dandia for helping curate a list that captures Brooklyn in all its complexity.”
“Any lover of Brooklyn will tell you that ten books can never fully encompass the Borough, which is home to more people than most American cities. When perusing this book list, think of it as ten doors that can open a thousand more. Our list contains books both classic and contemporary, fiction and nonfiction, highlighting stories from the Brooklyn of yore and the Brooklyn of now, bringing to you the ever-changing texture of a Borough that refuses any strict definitions,” said Brooklyn Borough Historian Asad Dandia.
The 2026 Brooklyn Book List
Livonia Chow Mein: A Novel
by Abigail Savitch-Lew
Brooklyn: The Once and Future City
by Thomas J. Campanella
Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough
by Prithi Kanakamedala
When Brooklyn was Queer
by Hugh Ryan
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: A Novel
by Betty Smith
Legends of the Hasidim: An Introduction to Hasidic Culture and Oral Tradition in the New World
by Jerome R. Mintz
How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America
by Moustafa Bayoumi
A Covenant with Color: Race and Social Power in Brooklyn
by Craig Steven Wilder
The Invention of Brownstone Brooklyn: Gentrification and the Search for Authenticity in Postwar New York
by Suleiman Osman
Last Night in Brooklyn: A Novel
by Xochitl Gonzalez
Commemorative Brooklyn Book List posters will be available at the 2026 Brooklyn Book Festival. The flagship Festival Day and Literary Market Place takes place at Brooklyn Borough Hall and surrounding venues on Sunday, September 27.
