Ask a group of Gulf Coast readers what they are reading, streaming, or listening to, and the answers will run the gamut from Pulitzer-finalist history to swamp-funk and true crime. That is exactly what happened when the newsletter asked its readers to share their favorite books, binge-worthy television shows, new music, and podcasts for the summer. The responses poured in from across Mobile and Baldwin counties, and the resulting list reads like a portrait of the coast itself: curious, eclectic, and never willing to be pinned down to a single genre.
Books: history leads the stack
One title appeared on more summer reading lists than any other: “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History” by S. C. Gwynne. Published by Scribner in 2010, the book spent 82 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. It weaves two stories together: the four-decade struggle between Comanche bands and settlers that shaped the American frontier, and the saga of Cynthia Ann Parker, abducted from the Texas frontier in 1836, and her son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Readers who picked it up for the history say they stayed for the storytelling.
Nonfiction readers also recommended “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty” by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe, the 2021 collaboration in which the CNN anchor and Harvard-trained historian traces how one of America’s great fortunes, built by railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, was spent down by his descendants within a few generations. And self-improvement readers put “The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life” by entrepreneur Sahil Bloom on the stack, a guide that argues money is only one of five currencies — time, social connection, mental and physical health also included — worth managing deliberately.
Fiction selections ranged across decades and moods. Kristin Hannah’s “The Women,” the 2024 historical novel following a young nurse who serves in the Vietnam War and returns home to a country that barely acknowledges her service, drew repeat praise from readers who finished it in a weekend. Thriller fans recommended Joy Fielding’s “See Jane Run,” the 1991 amnesia suspense novel that remains a favorite of the genre, and “The Last Mrs. Parrish,” the psychological novel by sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine about an ambitious social climber who targets a wealthy couple with secrets of their own.
Two quieter picks carried deep Alabama roots. “Theo of Golden,” a literary novel by Alabama musician and author Allen Levi, follows a mysterious stranger who arrives in the small town of Golden, Georgia, and begins quietly changing the lives of the people he meets. And “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement,” the memoir of Alabamian Bob Zellner written with Constance Curry, recounts Zellner’s journey from the son of a Methodist minister in the heart of the Confederacy to one of the first white Southerners to serve as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the civil rights movement.
Rounding out the book list was “The Professor,” a legal thriller by Robert Bailey, the Alabama attorney-turned-novelist whose courtroom dramas are set, fittingly for this readership, in the town of Pulaski, Tennessee, and draw on his years practicing law.
Television worth clearing a weekend for
When the topic turned to binge-watching, readers split into camps: those who want prestige dramas they somehow missed the first time, and those chasing the newest releases. On the “missed it the first time” side, the classics dominated. “Better Call Saul,” the 2015 “Breaking Bad” prequel that ran six seasons, earned mentions alongside “The Sopranos,” David Chase’s landmark 1999 series about a New Jersey mob boss in therapy, and “The Wire,” the five-season 2002 portrait of Baltimore that many readers called the best show ever made. “Suits,” the slick nine-season lawyer drama that found a second life in streaming, appeared repeatedly, as did “The Resident,” the six-season medical drama, and “Yellowstone,” Taylor Sheridan’s five-season modern western that has become a fixture in households across the South.
Other recent dramas readers recommended include “The Affair,” the five-season relationship drama told from dueling perspectives; “Righteous Gemstones,” the 2019 Danny McBride sitcom about a dynasty of megachurch televangelists, four seasons of which have drawn a devoted Southern audience; and “Silo,” the 2023 adaptation of Hugh Howey’s dystopian novels about the last remnants of humanity living underground. Two seasons of “Severance,” the workplace thriller about employees whose memories have been surgically divided between work and personal life, and two seasons of “House of the Dragon,” the “Game of Thrones” prequel, were also repeat picks.
Readers chasing new releases recommended “MobLand,” the 2025 crime series; “The Better Sister,” a 2025 drama adapted from the novel of the same name; and “The Studio,” the 2025 Hollywood satire. Golf fans added “Full Swing,” the documentary series that follows PGA Tour players through a season, now three seasons deep.
Music: cosmic country to swamp rock
The music recommendations were the most regionally revealing part of the entire exercise. Alabama and Gulf Coast acts appeared everywhere, starting with the Red Clay Strays, the Mobile-formed band whose blend of country, gospel, and rock and roll carried them from coastal honky-tonks to a Grand Ole Opry debut in May 2023. Their rise has become a point of local pride, and readers who recommended them noted that catching them in a small room is no longer possible.
Beyond the hometown heroes, readers pointed to Daniel Donato’s “Cosmic Country,” the Nashville guitarist’s honky-tonk-infused cosmic American music; Goose, the Connecticut jam-rock band that has become one of the live-scene’s biggest draws; and Billy Strings, the Michigan-born bluegrass guitarist and Grammy winner whose flatpicking has introduced a whole generation to the genre. Louisiana Swamp Soul singer Ric Robertson, Sturgill Simpson’s genre-hopping country rock, and Tyler Childers, the Kentucky singer-songwriter whose catalog runs from bluegrass to folk, all earned slots.
Sierra Ferrell, the West Virginia songwriter whose genre-defying blend of country, folk, and gypsy jazz has made her one of acoustic music’s most celebrated voices, was a consensus pick, as were Mountain Grass Unit, the young bluegrass band that has built a following across the Southeast; Drayton Farley, the Alabama-born country-folk songwriter; the Revivalists, the New Orleans rock band; and JJ Grey & Mofro, the Florida band whose Southern swamp rock has soundtracked countless Gulf Coast summers. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, the Denver band fusing vintage rhythm and blues with folk Americana, completed the list.
Podcasts for the road
The podcast recommendations skewed entrepreneurial, with a healthy dose of true crime and golf. Topping the business list was “The Diary of a CEO,” the interview show hosted by British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett, and “How I Built This,” NPR’s Guy Raz interviewing the founders behind well-known companies. Sports fans recommended “No Laying Up” and its companion “Trap Draw,” where a group of knowledgeable fans talk through the week in golf, and “Shutdown Fullcast,” the chaotic college football podcast. True-crime listeners put forward “People Are the Worst,” hosted by twin sisters, and “Cinephobe,” where a panel of hosts revisits poorly rated movies to see whether the bad reviews were deserved.
Alabama-specific picks included “S Town,” the 2017 investigative series from the producers of “Serial” that begins when a listener emails an Alabama journalist about a murder in his hometown and spirals into a portrait of a small Alabama town, hosted by Brian Reed; and “East Pass Podcast,” hosted by Destin fishing guide Rachel Staples. Self-improvement listeners recommended the Mel Robbins Podcast, with its research-backed advice, and “Before You Cut Your Bangs,” the storytelling show hosted by two best friends blending humor with therapeutic wisdom.
A reading list that doubles as a personality test
What emerges from the collective list is a picture of coastal Alabama’s tastes that defies stereotype. The same readers pushing through Gwynne’s 500-page Comanche history are streaming a Nashville sitcom and a dystopian drama. The bluegrass fans overlap with the true-crime podcasts. The Yellowstone devotees are the same people recommending a memoir of the civil rights movement.
That eclecticism should come as no surprise to anyone who has spent time on the Gulf Coast. This is a place where transplants from Chicago raise families next to fifth-generation locals, where the fishing guide quotes Faulkner, and where the music scene can pivot from a Puerto Rican guitarist to a steel guitarist in a single night on Dauphin Street. The reading, watching, and listening habits simply follow.
For anyone looking to borrow a neighbor’s taste for a few months, the full list above is a solid starting point. A Pulitzer finalist for the beach bag, a six-season drama for the hottest afternoons, a Mobile band for the boat playlist, and a podcast about a strange Alabama town for the drive to Point Clear — summer is long, and the neighbors have done the vetting.