HR pros’ summer reading list 2026

These recommendations include books from our own summer reading lists as well as ones from HR Dive’s readers. Summer has not yet receded into the fall trees, leaving plenty of time to grab a good book and catch some sun. At HR Dive, we’ve compiled a summer reading list catered to HR professionals, featuring books exploring the world of work and the workplace. From robots with near-human levels of intelligence launching their own noodle shop to tips on how being a direct boss can empower employees, the books run the gamut. These recommendations include books from our own summer reading lists as well as ones from HR Dive’s readers. Hopefully, some of these make it onto your To Be Read lists! And please, let us know what you think. This historical fiction novel is set in the 1980s and NASA’s Space Shuttle program, following one of its first female scientists. The book explores the sexism and homophobia in the male-dominated program and the career risks the protagonist faced for living authentically.

In this sci-fi novella published last year, a group of deactivated robots wake up in a deserted ghost kitchen and decide to start their own noodle shop to serve humans in San Francisco. The robots face immigrant and transgender bias — despite having limited legal personhood — and potential deportation. Set in a massive retail store, the book centers on the struggles of low-wage workers who are held to just enough hours to keep them from qualifying for benefits. Many have to work a second job to get by and find themselves trapped in a cycle of the working poor. An obituary writer accidentally drunkenly publishes his own obituary, landing him — understandably — in a lot of trouble at work. There’s one problem: the company’s systems list him as dead, and the company can’t fire a dead person. Three newly hired employees begin work at a Japanese megacorporation known only as "The Factory." Once their onboarding paperwork has cleared, our protagonists spiral into a world of oddities as strange flocks of large birds begin to stalk the seemingly infinite corporate campus while bosses hand down increasingly more absurd tasks. Oyamada's tale probes an all-too-familiar question: How can one find meaning in modern work? In a book that has been likened to Get Out, the sole Black employee at a publishing company endures racism, microaggressions and discrimination in her quest to climb the career ladder.

With an unexpected twist, this is not an easy read. Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott Written by a former executive at Google and Apple, Radical Candor advises that in order to be a good boss, you need to care personally about your employees while also challenging them directly. The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want by David Sirota and Douglas A. Klein This book provides evidence-based insight into what leaders do wrong — and how to fix it — to foster enthusiasm among employees. Relying on the Three-Factor Theory of human motivation, it points out that workers begin jobs with high enthusiasm, which is whittled away by poor management. The insurer sued SHRM Tuesday, alleging state law prohibits it from indemnifying the organization because the jury found intentional race discrimination. Virginia is the latest to enact a statewide pay history law, which will take effect July 1, 2026. The insurer sued SHRM Tuesday, alleging state law prohibits it from indemnifying the organization because the jury found intentional race discrimination. Virginia is the latest to enact a statewide pay history law, which will take effect July 1, 2026.

⚡ Effects Interpreter