What New York's Most Competitive High Schoolers Are Reading This Summer
Plus: Shelter Island's most expensive house sale, YALE pivots on standardized testing, "med-a-terres," a Carbone expansion and more...
Happy first Summer Friday of the season. How are you all celebrating? I’m heading to Fishers Island tomorrow for a quick trip — let me know if you’re around.
JPMorgan put out a 2026 summer reading list, and when I shared it, they reshared me. I had no idea it would land the way it did on Instagram, but I’m thrilled to have so many new subscribers because of it. (Who knew my biggest traffic drivers this month would be reshares by JPMorgan and Lindsay Lohan? If that’s not range for a newsletter, I don’t know what is.)
It did make me realize how much appetite there is for curated summer reading lists from people who know what they’re talking about — and one suggestion that came in from the inbox stuck out.
Once upon a time, summer reading meant whatever your English teacher assigned. Today, many ambitious students have a second list: the one recommended by the private college counselors helping them navigate applications and think about what comes next. Sophie Sajnani, founder of River Consulting, kindly shared the list she gives her students. Sajnani works with teenagers from schools including Dalton and Spence, as well as families across New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and other major cities.
There are a lot of college counseling companies out there, but River Consulting sets itself apart with one of the first AI literacy programs designed specifically for high school students. Sajnani comes from a software engineering background — and yet she still believes reading is one of the most important habits a student can develop. The future is here whether we like it or not; it’s nice to see someone holding on to the things that still matter.
“We believe critical thinking comes first,” she says. “Strong reading and comprehension skills are the foundation that allows students to thoughtfully evaluate AI-generated output.”
The full list is below. And if you’re already fully stockpiled with books for the season, RPS has plenty of other things for you too, including Shelter Island’s most expensive house sale, YALE pivoting on standardized testing, the definition of a “med-a-terre,” a Carbone expansion for the Thompson Street location and more.
