Palm Beach County loves its martinis, Lambourginis, and meticulously curated social calendars—but guess what else we’re obsessed with? Books. Yes, really. As the Netflix show Members Only sashays onto the scene this January 10, 2026, promising lavish estates, high drama, and enough couture to make a Hermès bag blush, locals are quick to say life here isn’t all glitz and gossip. Beneath those oversized sunglasses are some seriously sharp minds—and this year, Palm Beach’s most glamorous readers are dishing on the books that had them hooked in 2025.
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Book clubs have become hot, hot, hot, and there’s no hotter one than PR executive Lynn Aronberg’s Palm Beach Book Club. Lynn could give any Members Only cast member a run for her money. Her book club is as glamorous as it gets, with meetups in hotspots such as Sant Ambreous and the Ben Hotel. The rules of the book club are: dress to impress, no jeans, no ponytails, and no wearing the same outfit twice. One of Lynn’s favorite books is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, but her favorite books of 2025 are by Freida McFadden. If you haven’t read McFadden’s thrillers, you’re in for an addictive treat. Lynn’s favorite this year was The Intruder, but she also loves The Housemaid, which she read twice. For those of you who might want to skip the reading part, The Housemaid movie, starring “good genes” American Eagle provocateur Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, is now out in theaters.
Palm Beach trendsetter Sarah Martin is the Founder/CEO of Experience Epic, LLC, an event and marketing firm specializing in the events all of Palm Beach County looks forward to each year, such as Delray Beach’s Savor the Avenue. Sarah’s reading choices are no less epic than her brand marketing, with some of her choices clocking in at around 1000 pages, such as House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Her favorite for 2025, Outsmarting Reality by Nero Knowledge, is a nonfiction book that “reveals the spiritual science of reality creation, explaining how elite individuals shape their lives by mastering internal frequencies, beliefs, and emotions rather than relying on hustle or luck. The book provides steps to shift one’s inner state.” This book falls in the self-help genre with strong elements of spirituality and metaphysics. Sarah is also a member of the Palm Beach Book Club. This group has beauty and brains.
Chief Deputy Clerk for Palm Beach County, Shannon Chessman, loves to curl up with a good book. Her favorite genre? Serial killer thrillers! She loves everything DK Hood writes. For this year, she recommends a series featuring detectives Kane and Alton. The first book in the series is titled “Don’t Tell a Soul.” She also recommends the spinoff with Special Agent Beth Katz. Audio books are a must during long car rides. She just listened to one with her husband, The Summer House by James Patterson. They loved it. Basically, if a book involves a serial killer who has kidnapped a woman and is keeping her in a box, she’s reading it. For you, Florida Jolt readers, there are three things you can glean from Shannon’s taste in books. One, Hallmark movies don’t relax her. Two, don’t mess around with the Clerk of the Circuit Court and the Comptroller’s office. Three, if you’re a serial killer, Shannon will know.
Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Mike Caruso is also a massive fan of James Patterson. Still, his favorite book of the year was a work about the giant painting just opposite the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, The Wedding Feast of Cana by Veronese. This reading choice is proof that Caruso is the perfect mix of dashing good looks, intellect, and wit.
Editor’s Note: Florida Jolt Editor at Large Tracy Caruso is married to Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Mike Caruso, but the assessment of his good looks, intellect, and wit is an unbiased understatement, displaying her great restraint and professionalism as a journalist. According to sources familiar with the situation, Mike Caruso is actually the best-looking and most intelligent man in his household. See for yourself at the Palm Beach County Clerk website.
Susanna Livingston owns Trattoria Nonna, an Italian restaurant in Boca Raton, which boasts delicious food and fun parties, earning it a much-deserved cult following. If you’re looking for somewhere fun to go for New Year’s Eve, this is the place to be. Susanna is an avid reader and the newest member of the SDBC Book Club, started by Florida Jolt’s Editor at Large, Tracy Caruso. Susanna’s favorite book of the year is Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. You may recall Cheryl Strayed from her book “Wild,” which was also adapted into a movie.
SDBC readers had lots to say about their favorite books of the year. What really stood out was how many people are reading books that prioritize health and Longevity. Both Susanna and Erin Kreunen mentioned Peter Attia’s book, Outlive. Erin read and loved all of the Blue Zone books, which she says really inspired her to change her lifestyle, eating habits, and health habits. Other books on the top of Erin’s list were Mitch Ablom’s Twice, The Wedding People by Alison Espach, and The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore. But what else did she enjoy reading? Serial killer thrillers! This trend is really catching on! Susan LeBrun from SDBC mentioned that her favorites included Becoming Duchess Goldblatt, which she described as inspirational, and Mel Robbins’ Let Them Theory as Life-Changing. Photographer Kathy Serigio mentioned Atmosphere, Before Dorothy, and The Lies They Told.
Florida Jolt’s Lisa Furnari‘s favorite book of the year was the pulse-pounding thriller What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman. Tracy Caruso’s, by far, was The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. She says it’s in her top 20 books of all time.
For all of our readers, remember, if you’re a serial killer, Deputy Clerk Shannon Chessman will definitely find you! For the rest of you, have a very Merry Joltmas and a Jolty New Year!
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