Happy Friday!

This newsletter is taking a Fourth of July break — we hope you’ve been enjoying “Marketplace” on your local public radio station or podcast app though.

Today, the Marketplace staff is sharing the best books we’ve read in 2026 so far. It’s a long and diverse list with something for everyone — a few beach reads; a few door stops. Heads up: If you buy a book using our links, we earn a small commission. It’s a great way to support public media at no extra cost to you! See you next Friday for our regular newsletter.

It’s a magisterial history of soccer from its medieval roots to the late-capitalist circus that is the Premier League. I read it years ago but recently loaned it to a good friend who was asking for a history of the game to read during the World Cup. He’s loving every page of it and making me remember how much I enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading it again when he’s returned the copy I loaned him. — Noia Karr, senior editor

Not even remotely business-related but a great read. — Kai Ryssdal, host of “Marketplace” 

While I was prepping for our reporting on the Vietnamese economy, I consumed a lot of Vietnam war media including “The Women.” It gave me a deeper perspective on the war and its aftermath, which is still shaping our politics and economy today! — Maria Hollenhorst, senior producer 

Earlier this year I was reading up on the history of financial bubbles apropos of absolutely nothing.

I read “Bubbles and Crashes” (we had Kirsch on “Marketplace Tech”), “Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles” (I featured co-author William Quinn in this story ). And then, just because I felt like I needed a deep dive refresher on the details of the 2008 Financial Crisis, I read “13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown,” by Nobel Prize-winning economist Simon Johnson and James Kwak (we interviewed Johnson last year about AI and labor).

The best time to understand financial bubbles is before they happen. I’m not saying we’re in a bubble. But it’s good to understand how they happen. — Meghan McCarty Carino, senior reporter 

This book, from 1989, details the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. Like a lot of the best stories from Marketplace, it’s a very compelling, human narrative that just so happens to be set in the world of business and economics. Sure, you will learn a bit about how boardrooms work and corporate structure. But importantly you’ll also get a great story. — Alex Schroeder, producer

Nonfiction reporting from a Spanish journalist who went to Nigeria to find the romance scammer who conned his mother, but instead discovered a more complex story about economic desperation, manipulation, and loneliness. I appreciated how the author humanizes his subjects and explores moral ambiguity. We ended up having Barragán on the podcast! — Zoë Saunders, senior producer of “This Is Uncomfortable”

Two interwoven narratives set in the same deteriorating home: A young science teacher clashes with local religious leaders when he tries to teach Darwin’s new approach to natural biology. A journalist struggles to keep her multigenerational family afloat on the cusp of Trump's first term. I loved how Kingsolver connected the central characters. Despite living more than a century apart, Willa and Thatcher both struggle with familial conflict as their financial realities grow bleak. This book is about resilience under capitalism and the pursuit of truth and also ecology!  — Jordan Mangi, associate digital producer 

I read this book while on paternity leave earlier this year. It's a great combination of reporting and memoir, chronicling all the ways technology has become part of pregnancy, birth and parenting. It was a great read, plus, it got me thinking critically about how (and how not) to incorporate technology into my child's life. — Henry Epp, reporter 

So beautiful, kind of one long poem with no real plot so might not be for everyone. But I’m a sucker for space content. I loved following the Artemis II news and I cried during “Project Hail Mary” (do not get me started on “Interstellar”!!). — Hayley Hershman, senior producer 

Hell is real and it exists in Buehlman's depiction of medieval Europe. But that means God is also real...right? — Daniel Shin, producer

It’s the first of his books I’ve read, and it’s really fun. Helpful in understanding the ‘80s bond market and the attitudes traders have towards winning. Also just a very readable book about capitalism. — Stephanie Hughes, senior reporter 

If you’ve got a young adult in your life, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s a story about a young woman contending with the pressure to live up to her parents' legacy while discovering her own passions. I wish I’d had this book as a teenager, and want to hand out copies to all the young people in my life. — Alice Wilder, producer for “This Is Uncomfortable” 

A succinct, up-to-date primer that makes economic thinking feel genuinely accessible. Andrew Leigh moves briskly through the big concepts like inflation, bubbles, demand destruction and the role of central banks, and explains each one clearly without ever slipping into the dryness of a dull econ lecture. — Steve Mullis, senior editor

A re-read, shared with a group of people discovering Butler's brand of futurism for the first time. Her 1993 vision of a fractured, climate-ravaged United States circa 2024 hit a little too close to home for some members of the reading circle. What struck me most was watching Lauren Olamina’s story become a source of inspiration for new readers. — Kelly Silvera, news director 

I was looking for a travel book, and I love books about food — this is both. This is the sorta book that makes you hungry when you read. It's also got vibes of “The Princess Bride” in that the author claims to be its translator (though the English version really is translated) and the footnotes are a whole thing. — Bridget Bodnar, director of podcasts 

It’s a well-written love story that weaves together time travel, migration narratives and post-colonial discourse. It gave me a lot to chew on — but also explores one of those fun, "around the campfire" type questions: What would people from history think about the modern world we live in today? — Elizabeth Trovall, senior reporter