Meet and mingle with the authors and find your next great beach read!
It wouldn’t be summer in New England without the classic beach read, and on Thursday, July 30 at 6 PM, Ink Fish Books will host a New England Coastal Summer Reads event with Debra Curtis (LAWS OF LOVE AND LOGIC), Julie Gerstenblatt (THE STARGAZER OF NANTUCKET), and Meg Mitchell Moore (DOWN WITH THE SHIPMANS), to discuss themes of love, place, belonging, and the complex female relationships that each of their books share.
Tickets include light refreshments, a meet-and-greet with the authors, followed by an author discussion, audience Q&A, and book signing. Books will be available for purchase at the event.
About the Books
Laws of Love and Logic - A STUNNING DEBUT NOVEL FROM JENNA BUSH HAGER’S NEW VENTURE, THOUSAND VOICES
Lily Webb has spent years trying to build a steady, predictable life, far from the hometown marred by tragedy and the sister she cannot seem to save from herself.
Jane has always been the brilliant sister: fierce, complicated, and drawn to the mysteries of the universe. But after their mother’s death, Jane’s gifts became entangled with addiction, pulling the sisters into a cycle of love, guilt, and heartbreak that neither can escape.
Lily has found comfort in a quiet marriage to a devoted scientist, one who opened her eyes to the beauty of the natural world and offered her safety and stability. But when her first love, a boy she lost under devastating circumstances, returns, Lily is forced to confront the past she thought she had buried.
As old wounds reopen, and her fragile bond with Jane grows ever more tenuous, Lily must navigate the tension between the life she’s built and the life she once imagined,
Spanning decades and rich with questions of faith, science, and the ties that hold us together, Laws of Love and Logic is a compelling, emotionally gripping novel about sisterhood, forgiveness, and the complicated nature of love.
The Stargazer of Nantucket - From award-winning author Julie Gerstenblatt, an epic tale of adventure on the high seas, a spunky stowaway, and a family confronting the past to secure their future.
Winifred Starbuck wants only one thing: to join her parents on their final merchant voyage—from Nantucket Island to bustling San Francisco, then across the glittering Pacific to the distant ports of China. Yet renowned trade captains Nell and Peter Starbuck have forbidden their daughter from coming aboard on the adventure of a lifetime. So Winnie does what any strong-willed eighteen-year-old would do: she stows away.
Once the ship sets sail, Winnie is plunged into turbulent waters, treachery, and the thrill of life on the high seas. As she drifts farther from shore, and closer to fabled Canton port, she uncovers a long-buried secret—one that reveals the truth behind her parents’ desperate fear. And as she continues to chart her own course, she’ll have to plumb the depths of her courage to take on a world far bigger—and more dangerous—than she ever imagined.
Down with the Shipmans - It’s the week after Fourth of July, and the Shipman sisters are returning to their picturesque summer home on the New Hampshire coast for what they believe is a family reunion, the first without their late mother. However, their tranquil setting quickly becomes a stage for drama when their father, Calvin, drops the bombshell news that he plans to sell the cherished beach house.
Mae, the youngest daughter, who has a newfound penchant for attracting trouble, is distraught, already dealing with her own emotional scars and a problematic rescue dog. Natalie, the middle sister and social media darling known for her seemingly idyllic life as a tradwife, is equally anxious, especially since her flawless public image is on the verge of imploding. Meanwhile, Jordan, the eldest, a high-powered crisis communications expert, is ready to be rid of the house so she can tend to her own professional disaster.
As old memories are stirred up and the sisters navigate both the packing of the house and their personal crises, the arrival of Calvin’s new wife pushes Jordan, Natalie, and Mae to decide how far they’re willing to go to preserve the Shipman bond.
A delicious summer read that explores the enduring power of family and sister connections, Down with the Shipmans is a humorous, heartfelt reminder that home is not a place, but the people who love you, no matter how imperfectly.
About the Authors
Debra Curtis - is a retired professor of cultural anthropology at Salve Regina University, where she specialized in gender and sexuality. This is her first novel. She is the mother of grown-up twin girls and lives in Rhode Island with her husband and her English bulldog, Harry, who is the star of much of her TikTok content.
Julie Gerstenblatt - Julie Gerstenblatt is the author of Daughters of Nantucket, which won the New England Society Book Award for Fiction, and The Stargazer of Nantucket, forthcoming from HarperCollins in June 2026. She holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Teachers College, Columbia University and has taught everything from middle school English to graduate studies. Her essays have appeared in Huffington Post and Grown & Flown, among others. A native New Yorker who has been visiting Nantucket since childhood, Julie now lives in coastal Rhode Island with her family and one very smart shichon poo.
Meg Mitchell Moore began writing as soon as she figured out how the cursive 'T' and 'F' were different and hasn’t stopped since. She worked for many years as a copyeditor, editor, and writer for a variety of nonfiction publications before turning to fiction, publishing her first novel in 2011. She has since published eight more novels, all but one set in New England. (The Admissions is set in Northern California., where her family moved for exactly one year before returning to the east coast.) Among her novels are national bestsellers, Indie Next picks, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. She has a B.A. in English from Providence College and a master’s degree in English Literature from New York University. She lives in the beautiful coastal town of Newburyport, Massachusetts (home of the amazing Newburyport Literary Festival, for which she is a member of the steering committee). Her busy household includes one husband, a rotating cast of three teen and young adult daughters, and two exuberantly shedding golden retrievers.