This month, all of these titles were suggested by members of our 2026 cohort. Here’s what our group has been reading in October:

I just recently read Erase Genesis by Rebecca Gayle Howell. It’s a book-length erasure poem in which the first three chapters of Genesis are erased to retell and transform the narrative. —Erica

My six-year-old and I are reading Pests & Other Friends by Halsey Berryman. The illustrations are a delight, and we’re learning about the many ways maligned animals benefit ecosystems. —MP

Working my way through Black Angels by Maria Smilios. History of the Black nurses who helped cure TB. Not directly climate-adjacent, but talks a lot about collective justice and public health. —Meagan

Finishing Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy, which—despite being almost entirely set on another planet—is a series with really profound environmental themes. Lots about the ethics of terraforming, about what making a place habitable for humans or other life means on a spiritual level, about loving and stewarding a specific environment. —Roy

What we’re watching

I’ve been watching Avatar: Seven Havens by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Sehaj Sethi. I grew up with this franchise, being 12 when the original came out, so would talk about it for hours with anyone. It is very Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind inspired, about catastrophic imbalance in the world that resulted in a complete slate-wipe on society as it was known. The creators have talked about imparting the current environmental impacts of big tech into the story, along with themes of isolationism and resource scarcity. Their writing never shied away from intense topics presented in a way children could understand, and this one feels no different. —Melanie

Related: Avatar: Seven Havens makes the end of the world look beautiful (Polygon, October 20, 2026)

What are you reading or watching lately?