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READING GIRLS

a new collection

THE MAGAZINE SPRING / SUMMER 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAPER TRAIL ART

Letter from the Editor

Reading Girls

Collection Look Book

Hayley's Easiest Summer Pasta

Hayley's Go-To Corn Salsa

Spring/ Summer Fashion

Out in the World

LIFESTYLE

The Reading List

The Art of Needlepoint

Please note that photos and text are linked for easy access to further inspiration.

Letter from the Editor I've always thought summer is the season that epitomizes reading. I'm thinking of the girl who packs four paperbacks for a weekend trip, weighing down her carry-on much to her husband's dismay, who dog-ears a chapter at the pool and picks it back up on the porch once the sun's gone down. By the end of it, the book looks the part: pages warped and swollen from humidity, a sunscreen thumbprint ghosted across the cover, spine cracked in three places from being shoved in and out of a tote bag between the beach chair and the pool deck, corners gone soft and furred at the edges. That's not a book that's been mistreated, but one that's been loved properly, for one weekend. That version of reading, loose and a little indulgent, is what this issue is about. This collection started with a simple question: what does it actually mean to be a reading girl? Not the aesthetic of it, though obviously I️love the aesthetic of it, but the feeling.

The way a good book turns any chair into the best seat in the house. The way you can be sunburnt and sandy and still be somewhere else entirely. Summer felt like the obvious season to hold that. Beach reads exist for a reason. Nobody talks about a "winter read" with the same reverence. So this issue is bright and colorful on purpose. The girls in these pages are dressed the way I imagine a reading girl actually wants to be dressed, comfortable enough to fold her legs under her on a lounge chair, put together enough to still get stopped and asked what she's reading. I'll break the collection down piece by piece a little further in. This felt like the right place to start with the why. Thank you, as always, for reading, literally and otherwise. With warmth, Hayley 2

READING GIRLS

Left on Read

Where are My Readers?

This collection is really two in one, which felt right the moment I started sketching it out. A reading girl isn't one thing. Some days she's the woman in the color-blocked one-piece, or with a ball cap pulled low. Other days she's quieter than that, curled into a corner of the couch, so lost in the page that you almost don't want to interrupt her. Blocked & Brimmed and Still Reading are those two women. Neither is more true than the other. Most of us are both, depending on the week.

Millie

Last Hour of Sunlight Stitched Linocut "Ellie"

Katherine

Out of Office

Capped Off

Last Hour of Sunlight

Blocked & Brimmed This is the loud half of the collection, in the best way featuring simplified silhouettes and bold fields of color. A ball cap pulled low, one sun hat in the mix, just enough to obscure a face without erasing her entirely. There's a kind of anonymity here. You can't always see who she is, but that's the point: enough is left out that you fill in the rest yourself. You look at her and you see the mom at the tee-ball game killing time with her recent read, the sunbather reading just one more page, or yourself, lost in the pages of your favorite book from last summer. 5

Capped Off

Stitched Linocut "Ellie"

Out of Office

Ballcaps & Books

Still Reading If Blocked & Brimmed is the reading girls out in the world, Still Reading is who we are once the front door is closed. Quieter, curled into the corner of the couch with a blanket that doesn't match anything else in the room, hair doing whatever it wants, wearing the shirt you'd never leave the house in but would never give up either. But don't get me wrong, quieter doesn't always mean tamer. This is also the version of you that's a little funkier at home than anywhere else, the one who reads with her feet up on furniture she's not supposed to put her feet on, who talks back to the characters, who doesn't care how she looks doing it because nobody's watching. She might remind you of someone you know. More likely, she's a version of yourself you only let out once the shoes are off.

Eloise Katherine

Millie

Where are My Readers?

Where are My Readers? Bess

THE READING LIST Strangers Belle Burden

For the Book Club

Everyone’s book of the year. A true story that gives you everything to discuss — the author’s journey, her honesty, the way she tells it. Bring your notes.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women Lisa See Set in Ming dynasty China, this novel follows women whose strength and creativity exist quietly alongside the constraints placed on them. Rich, layered, and deeply satisfying to unpack.

The Many Lives of Mama Love Lara Love Hardin Another moving true story that will leave the whole book club quiet for a moment before everyone starts talking at once. The kind of book that stays with you.

Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus Elizabeth Zott is a chemist who refuses to play by the rules and she’ll make your whole book club furious and delighted in equal measure. Sharp, funny, and surprisingly moving.

The Wedding People Alison Espach

The God of the Woods Liz Moore

A satirical, tender novel about love and community and the beautiful mess of both. The kind of book that sneaks up on you.

Part literary fiction, part mystery, all atmosphere. This one keeps you turning pages late into the night and gives you plenty of thread to pull. (P.S. apparently it’s coming to Netflix)

For the Porch For the Beach

The Names Florence Knapp

The Correspondent Virginia Evans

A lovely, unhurried novel that follows three separate stories you’ll want to savor. Don’t rush it.

If you loved Theo of Golden, read this next. Same quiet beauty, same sense that something important is being said in the gentlest possible way.

Broken Country Clare Leslie Hall

This Tender Land William Kent Krueger

A powerful narrative about identity, family, and the fractures that define us. Hall asks you to look at the messy and the beautiful at the same time.

A sweeping, meditative novel about freedom and resilience and the power of story to hold us together. The kind of book you finish and sit with for a while..

Yesteryear Caro Claire Burke

Verity Colleen Hoover

Everyone is talking about this one — and they’re right to. An interesting page-turner already being turned into a movie. I devoured it. I️have lots of thoughts and I️’m sure you will too!

A dark, addictive psychological thriller with a book-within-abook format. Perfect if you want something fast, twisty, and impossible to put down.

The Paris Apartment Lucy Foley

My Husband's Wife Alice Feeney

A stylish whodunit set in a crumbling Parisian apartment building where every neighbor has something to hide. Moody, atmospheric, and completely consuming.

Fast-paced and chilling — the kind of book you’ll finish in one sitting.

The Art of Needlepoint Needlepoint has quietly taken over. From dinner parties to weeknights alone in front of the TV, it's having a fullon revival, and this time I'm not just watching from the sidelines. Grandma hobbies are back everywhere, mahjong, sourdough, gardening, knitting, and I've decided reading girls are hobby girls too. They're the kind of woman who'd rather have something in her hands than be on her phone. I've always been a crafty kid, knitting tiny animals and embroidering my Converse long before it was cool to do so. Needlepoint is grounding while also scratching that same itch now that those did then. It doesn't ask for your full attention the way painting does, and for that reason I can do it while watching TV, chatting with a friend, or listening to a podcast.

What started as a hobby for me became a fascination with design. I went from buying canvases to creating my own, because I knew other reading girls like me would find this hobby soothing, but were probably also looking for canvases that spoke to their 20- or 30something taste. From the color palette to the stitch count, every canvas felt considered before I let it go out into the world. I designed three original Reading Girl needlepoint canvases last year with the help of a very talented designer, my first real attempt at translating the paintings you already know into something you can make with your own hands. New designs are coming this fall, and if the response so far is any indication, I may never stop.

To me, needlepoint is patience disguised as a hobby, repetition and reward, focus and mindlessness, all at once. It's also just genuinely good for you, better focus, lower anxiety, a real break from the noise, and I'll take any hobby that gives me that and a finished piece to hang on the wall. Whether stitched in front of the TV, in a hotel room, or during a flight, it's a reason to slow your hands down even when your brain won't cooperate. Plus it travels easier than art supplies. How I Learned to Stitch My mom taught me over the holidays. We spent Christmas week on Kiawah, and those cool days by the ocean meant plenty of downtime to learn the ins and outs of a new skill. Beginner's Guide Start with a simple canvas, mine included. Go to a needlepoint shop, if you have one nearby, they'll get you started with everything you need. Keep it somewhere visible, the arm of the couch, your bag, the passenger seat, so it's easy to pick up in times when you'd normally grab your phone.

One of my favorite needlepoint collabs with Coco Frank & Inslee Fariss. Time to get stitching before Christmas gets here!

RECIPES

Hayley's Easiest Summer Pasta I'm a quarter Italian and I use that as license to eat pasta as often as humanly possible. My husband says I'd eat it every day if he let me, and honestly, he's not wrong. I love making fresh pasta from scratch too, but lucky for you, this recipe is just as good, maybe better, with the boxed stuff. It's easy, it's cheap (I made this weekly back when I was starting my business, who needs ramen when you can have this), and it's genuinely delicious. Serves 4 Ingredients 4 zucchini, sliced very thin Butter, don't skimp Garlic Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes A box of your favorite pasta A handful of pine nuts Parmesan, a lot of it optional additions: Lemon, fresh basil, and chicken or leftover meat Sauté the zucchini in butter and garlic over medium-high heat until it's caramelized and browned, seasoning with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes as it cooks. Meanwhile, cook your pasta in very salty water. If you think it's salted enough, salt it more, almost nobody salts their pasta water enough, and it makes a real difference. Once the zucchini is done, throw the pine nuts into the pan and toast them for about five minutes. Don't drain the pasta, instead use tongs to pull it straight from the pot into the sauté pan, so it brings a little starchy pasta water along with it (plus one less thing to wash). Stir everything together, add a generous amount of parmesan, and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. A squeeze of lemon, some fresh basil, or chicken or whatever meat you have on hand all make good additions if you want to dress it up. I'm almost embarrassed to share something this simple, but it's that good. Zucchini is at its peak all summer, and this is exactly the kind of easy I know you're all craving right now.

Hayley's Go-To Corn Salsa This is the one I make on repeat all summer. I eat it as a salad on its own, spoon it over tacos, and honestly like it best the second day, straight out of the fridge, a little more marinated and somehow even better. It's fresh, it's fast, and there's basically no way to mess it up. Plus, my husband and guests always LOVE it! Win, win! Ingredients 4 ears of corn (grilled - my fave, sautéed, already cooked, or thawed from frozen, genuinely whatever you have on hand) 2 avocados, diced A bunch of scallions, sliced Lime, to taste Cilantro, to taste, or swap in basil if you're in the cilantro-tastes-like-soap camp, or leave it out entirely Salt and pepper That's it. Cut the cooked corn off the cob, dice the avocado, chop the scallions, toss it all together, and finish with lime, salt, and pepper until it tastes right to you. I never measure, I just eyeball it based on what's in the fridge, and it's never once let me down.

Out of O ffice

Hayley’s Picks Simple layers, timeless tailoring, and a hint of shine. The kind of capsule pieces that make getting dressed feel effortless

SPIRNG SUMMER

fashion inspiration

Ciao Lucia

Doen Summer is when I let color do the talking. If you've seen my art, you already know I love a good stripe, but color took longer to win me over. I spent years as a committed black-wearing girl before I noticed certain colors actually work much better for my skin tone—lilacs, certain reds, certain blues—while others (orange, mainly) make me look truly unwell. I never got my colors done professionally, I just started paying attention. I'm also a believer in dressing for your actual body, not the body a trend was designed for. I'm short with a very short torso, and there are styles that have simply never worked on me no matter how many times I try, rompers chief among them. I️ have one romper in my closet that I just love but I can never bring myself to wear it. And of course, I know what makes me feel best now, and it's almost never anything tight. That single rule has done more for my confidence than any trend ever has. About three years ago, working from home, I started getting fully dressed every single day, and I know how that sounds, but I genuinely think it changed the trajectory of my business. It wasn't about showing you what I wore, I batch my content, so you're really only ever seeing Mondays. It was about who I became when I dressed like the person I wanted to be, an artist, a gallery owner, instead of who I thought I already was. It's a small mind trick, and it worked. Now, for better or worse, I can't get anything done if I'm not dressed. Some days I'll change an outfit mid-morning because it's not sitting right, looking at you, orange dress, and I can feel the difference in my confidence before I've even left the room. I know a lot of you reading this are artists yourselves, and I'm not telling you to ruin a good outfit in the studio, I've done that enough for both of us. But on the days you're not covered in paint, try it. Get dressed like the person you're becoming, not just the person you are today, and see how you feel in three months, six months, nine months.

Anthropologie

OUT IN THE WORLD House of Art, Atlanta Art Show In June, the whole crew from the Portugal retreat reunited in Atlanta for our inaugural House of Art show. We kicked things off with a dinner the night before that came with a torrential downpour and a full power outage, which is just a fancier way of saying that our candlelit dinner wasn't a choice, it was a requirement. Everyone picked up midconversation like no time had passed, storm and all. Lucky for us, the power came back on just in time for Friday's show, and we spent the day sharing our most recent works with Atlanta.

The Club Retreat at my House in Beaufort, SC In July, I hosted a retreat weekend for artists from The Club at my home in Beaufort, South Carolina. Creativity, rejuvenation, and a touch of business, of course, were the themes for the weekend. From cut-up magazines on moodboards to late-night dinner discussions dreaming up our next "big thing," the weekend was the perfect mix of play and growth.

Coming Soon: The Selwood Farm Intensive July's Charleston pop-up brought together an unusually good mix: old friends like Meg Indy, who I hosted Founders Society retreats with years ago, artists from The Club, women I met through The Southern C, and new Atlanta friends who made the drive over. It's rare to get that many different chapters of your life in one room at the same time, and rarer still for it to feel this easy. This event was equal parts reunion and "work," if I can even call it that.

Charleston Pop-Up July's Charleston pop-up brought together an unusually good mix: old friends like Meg Indy, who I hosted Founders Society retreats with years ago, artists from The Club, women I met through The Southern C, and new Atlanta friends who made the drive over. It's rare to get that many different chapters of your life in one room at the same time, and rarer still for it to feel this easy. This event was equal parts reunion and "work," if I can even call it that.

Thank you for being here, for following along, and for making a little room for Reading Girls in your world.Oh, and one more thing: the podcast is back. I’ll see you there. With love, Hayley Credits Photography by Kate Vischer Photography Creative direction, writing, and artwork by Hayley Price White Editing and Design Lorin Vieira Nunes