I have admitted it several times in this column, and I have mentioned it in our podcast Books, Beach, & Beyond, but I can’t really cook. I don’t have the patience for it. I can barely boil water. I love gifting cookbooks, though. I think they make the most special hostess gifts at summer soirees. I particularly love them if they are inspired by a place, and since Nantucket is my favorite place in the world, I always celebrate the release of a Nantucket inspired cookbook. Savor the Golden Hour by Adrienne Lufkin captures the essence of the island with over 60 versatile recipes for every table, every course, every palate, and every Nantucket occasion. The beautiful photos will have your mouth watering for the “foggy day” clam chowder, deviled eggs with lobster corn salad, mini crab cakes with chipotle-lime aioli, “grey lady” bouillabaisse, pesto gril led swordfish, and ginger-miso halibut with summer vegetables. Yum! The next time you are in town swing by Mitchell’s or Bookworks and pick up two copies. One for your own cookbook shelf and one as a gift for your next Nantucket party host or hostess.
Need to Read: August 2026
Tim Ehrenberg, creator of “Tim Talks Books” and president of the Nantucket Book Foundation, gives you his Top Picks for August
Chris Bohjalian is one of my auto-buy authors, meaning whenever he has a new book out, I automatically buy it right away. I first discovered him with his novel Midwives , an Oprah’s Book Club Selection in 1998, and I have read everything he has ever written since. The Amateur is a gripping literary thriller that Chris says he penned in a frenzy, keeping it secret until he finished. When a young woman, a golf prodigy, accidentally kills a caddy with a stray ball at the country club, the investigation of this freak accident reveals a dark and shocking tale of secret affairs, predatory men, and a teenager on trial. The writing is some of Chris’s best and you will read it just as quickly as he wrote it. Chris has also stated that he wrote the narrator as a female version of himself, giving the book a feeling of autobiographical fiction. One thing is certain, there is nothing amateurish about this new novel.
Richard Russo joined us at the 15th annual Nantucket Book Festival in June. Now the Pulitzer Prize winning author is back on our shelves this month with a new novel, Under the Falls. Richard Russo has quickly become the “king of the small-town story” in my book, and he delivers another perfectly told, intimate saga. The plot follows Tyler Sinclair, a famous musician, as he reluctantly returns to his hometown of Stone Mountain to perform a benefit concert for the community. For one of Russo’s smaller books, it packs a lot into its 250 pages, from confronting the past, to the friends you grew up with--those tight-knit relationships, filled with secrets and betrayals, that only a small town can produce. It’s a character- driven thriller that I read cover to cover in just one afternoon. Carve out some time this month to go Under the Falls.
Walk around Nantucket in the summer and hydrangeas are everywhere. Large puffs of floral cotton candy punctuate island homes in hues of blue, pink, white and purple. I adore hydrangeas and most of the photos I take in the summer are random photos of them that I come across. Hydrangea Happiness is a book by C.L. Fornari (also known as The Garden Lady). She digs into the many varietals of hydrangeas, tells us where they can successfully grow in different soils and conditions, reports on myths and misinformation, and delivers beautiful photos and fun, catchy poems for a book that is perfect for beginning gardeners or experienced horticulturalists. (Now if only The Garden Lady could help me with the deer who love to eat and mutilate my hydrangeas.) This would make a great gift for that Nantucketer who obsesses over their gardens and the color of their hydrangeas.
One of my most anticipated books of the year is Liane Moriarty’s sequel to Big Little Lies – Big Little Truths! Here we find all our favorite leading ladies back on the page for another gripping and juicy literary soap opera. Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Bonnie and Renata. 10 years have passed since we last met these women and their families. Their children are 15 now and the book’s flap confesses: Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems. On the first page of this highly anticipated novel, the high school principal receives a threatening package and the parents are in an uproar. You will cancel all your plans with your own group of friends to start this book immediately on publication day. I don’t want to give anything away, but if you love Liane Moriarty, you’re in for an end of summer treat!
I love recommending a good mystery in the summer. Nothing makes the pages fly faster than trying to play detective and discover the culprit before the author reveals them. This month I give you two incredible mysteries to keep you in that beach chair long after the sun sets. First up is The Unknown by Riley Sager. The author of Final Girls and The Only One Left introduces us to a movie cast on a remote Vermont island. When the cast and crew become stranded, women start disappearing exactly like the commune of mediums who vanished there a century ago. I loved the spooky deserted island vibes and the dual timeline. Karin Slaughter, whose last name was destined to be a thriller writer, returns with a sequel to We Are All Guilty Here , and second in the North Falls series. In The Secrets We Hide, we reconnect with Sheriff Emily Cliffton as she investigates the murder of an officer’s wife and tries to uncover the truths from the lies in the small town of North Falls. Karin Slaughter is truly one of the best thriller writers out there and never disappoints.
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