title: Game On author: Ki Stephens publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: September 9, 2025 pages: 336 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: broken arm, house fire (before story), absent and neglecting parents summary: Ella, a student at Oxford, decides to study abroad in Nashville so that she can take advantage of the amazing cheer…
Author: caritagardiner
348. Why Un-Fresh Start
For people in the real world, January first is the beginning of the year, but for those of us in academia, the transition from August to September always marks a beginning. This fall, my twenty-seventh at Hotchkiss, I am taking over as the Dean of the Class of 2027. I like the parallel numbers, but…
NetGalley Review of Love Walked In
title: Love Walked In author: Sarah Chamberlain publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: September 2, 2025 pages: 352 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: parental neglect, meanness, and death (before the story) summary: Mari loves the bookstore where she works in Northern California, but her mentor Suzanne won’t retire and turn it over to her…
347. Why Travel
I don’t make a secret of the fact that I’d probably be happy spending every vacation minute I have at our house in Maine. However, it’s not true that my daughters want to come to Maine (or Lakeville) too often to visit us, so when my boss (Hi, CB!) told me that the way he…
NetGalley Review of Here for a Good Time
title: Here for a Good Time author: Pyae Moe Thet War publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: August 26, 2025 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: gun violence, kidnapping, fire summary: When Poe’s writer’s block is out of control and her second book is nearly due, she decides to take herself and her…
NetGalley Review of Wish You Were Her
title: Wish You Were Her author: Elle McNicoll publisher: Wednesday Books publication date: August 26, 2025 pages: 352 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: vomit, overstimulation, meanness summary: Allegra, who’s an eighteen-year-old star plans to work at her father’s small-town bookstore for the summer to get out of the spotlight. Before she goes, she sends…
346. Why Listen to Your Body
I’ve probably used the photo you see for a different post, but I assure you, this essay is not that essay. The day this writing goes live will be the day after my fifty-sixth birthday. I love birthdays, so I’m probably feeling pretty grand right now (unless I over-indulged on sugary foods, which is also…
345. Why Look at Your Feet
Anyone who’s met me IRL (as the kids say, or used to say, who can keep up? Anyway, it means In Real Life rather than online) will know that if I look at my feet most days, what I’ll see is something pink and sparkly like the shoe pictured above. I’m a big fan of…
344. Why Glimmers
The word trigger (according to my Google search) to refer to activating an emotional trauma response was first used in the DSM in the 1980s. That meaning spread to common usage in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trigger warnings started to appear at the same time to help make sure that one’s students/ readers/ audience…
NetGalley Review of Well, Actually
title: Well, Actually author: Mazey Eddings publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: August 5, 2025 pages: 384 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: death of a family member (in past), divorce, alcohol summary: In a drunken fit, Eva Kitt, whose job it is to snark her way through video interviews of eating lukewarm hotdogs with…