Dear reader,

July is my favorite month, and I’ve truly savored some summer highs despite the heat wave, wildfire smoke, and nor’easters. July 3rd fireworks, marvelous beach days at low tide swimming in the unseasonably warm water, the first shishito pepper harvest from our paradise deck garden, riding the Ferris Wheel at the carnival, lovely outdoor sunset gatherings with family and friends, catching the bridal bouquet at a 50th wedding anniversary, even glimpsing the tall ships heading up the coast and stepping back in time seeing their masts and spars dotting Boston Harbor … all made for a glorious July!

I’ve also been devouring books set in New England! Let me know if any of the places below inspire you to make a trip, and stay tuned for more from Maine, New Hampshire, and Cape Cod!

Cheers, Haley

🃏 OFFERINGS

My weekly market season will resume in September, but if you’re itching for tarot guidance now, I’d love to help via a brief 15-20 minute consult or 75 minute reading. Either virtual or in person.

August is ripe for hosting private events! And tarot is such unique entertainment, whether for casual gatherings like ladies’ nights or milestones like a family reunion. I’m available most weekdays, nights, this weekend, and the end of August. I was born to celebrate as a Leo, so you’ll get me in my element 🦁🙃

There’s still time to squeeze into my seasonal package: four quarterly 1:1 tarot consultations at a summer solstice discount for $350. Each 75 minute, three card reading includes an opening and closing poem or song. A comprehensive way to work together throughout the year! Either virtual or in person.

📚 NEW ENGLAND STORIES TO SAVOR

I’m so excited to curate the shelves of my new Bookshop.org storefront with my favorite recommendations. Use my affiliate links below to purchase, and I’ll receive a small commission as will local independent booksellers 🙂

Last Night at the Lobster, by Stewart O’Nan … a restaurant manager runs the final shift before his franchise location closes in New Britain, Connecticut— through a nor’easter, beside the woman he loves, right before Christmas. Manny’s earnest empathy for his misfit skeleton crew and conscientious care of his beloved restaurant truly feel bittersweet. Perfect for a rainy day!

June Baby, by Shannon Garvey … Block Island comes alive in this luscious debut novel about first love and loss. The sea is everywhere, and Ruth is swimming in it. Despite some plot loopholes, the prose deftly illustrates drifting through profound grief across one’s twenties.

The Wedding People, by Alison Espach … join Lila the meticulous bride and stranger Phoebe at a grand Newport hotel for a life-affirming, luxurious weeklong celebration.

Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock, by Margo Solod … a dear friend of a dear friend’s memoir that I read on the edge of my seat! Margo soulfully served as innkeeper and chef of the isolated tiny island’s hundred-year-old Allen House for 15 years. Her anecdotes are the kind New England dreams are made of. And you must try her fresh seafood recipes, especially the swordfish sauce 🐟

The Wedding, by Dorothy West … a story of ancestry, identity, interracial marriage, intergenerational inheritance, colorism, and gender … the youngest member of the Harlem Renaissance and resident of Oak Bluffs (one of the first enclaves in America to allow Black people to purchase beachfront property), West tells the tale of the cherished light-skinned daughter of a wealthy Black doctor preparing for her wedding day on Martha’s Vineyard to a white jazz musician.

The Five-Star Weekend, my first by Elin Hilderbrand … which I selected from her 30+ titles as its premise of gathering friends from all phases and walks of life stood out to me having shared countless such weekends with close friends and strangers summer after summer on Nantucket. There’s drama, joy, revelry, dancing, and long, lingering dinners. I could see parts of myself in all the women and gasped at the plot twist. And the writing feels like pure satire of the island’s often absurd social scene. A pleasant surprise!

House, by Tracy Kidder … one of my absolute favorite books of all time! An architect, builder, and couple construct their dream Greek Revival home in western Massachusetts near Amherst. Through it all they navigate design choices, setbacks, interpersonal tension, twists and turns, foundation by frame, windows, and staircases. The fine craftsmanship oozes off the page! (And it’s a true story!)

They Could Live with Themselves, by Jodi Paloni … linked slices of everyday life set in a fictional Vermont village through the seasons. Whether enduring bullying or breaking through the initial fog of grief, this book is about honoring the still, small voice within and respecting one’s conscience. Another rainy day delight!

The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore … one of my favorite book club picks! A thriller set in an Adirondack summer camp (so technically not New England) that chronicles the extensive search for the owners’ “problem child” gone missing which seems to mirror her prized older brother’s disappearance years before. A saga of how wealth abuses power, men protect men, profound grief affects parenting, and women succumb to, or surpass, societal limitations.