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Author: caritagardiner

221. Why You’re Not Who You Think You Are

Posted on March 22, 2023March 21, 2023 by caritagardiner

[I found the photo above on Nystrom and Associates’ Facebook page.] In my new job as a class dean, I’ve met with many students who’ve done things they’re not proud of. Some of them lie to me, saying they didn’t do whatever it is I’m asking them about. Some seem to believe that “I wish…

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Book Review of Two Wrongs Make a Right

Posted on March 20, 2023March 19, 2023 by caritagardiner

title: Two Wrongs Make a Right author: Chloe Liese publisher: Berkley Romance (of Penguin Random House LLC) publication date: November 22, 2022 pages:320 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: abusive relationship summary: Bea and Jamie meet at a party where everything goes wrong for them. Still, her twin sister and his roommate, who are newly…

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Review of Georgie All Along

Posted on March 19, 2023March 18, 2023 by caritagardiner

title: Georgie All Along author: Kate Clayborn publisher: Kensington publication date: January 24, 2023 pages: 335 peppers: 2 warnings: vomit, birth summary: Georgie heads home to her small town after losing her job as a personal assistant to a Hollywood powerhouse. She has no idea what to do with her life except that she wants to…

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NetGalley Review of Tilly in Technicolor

Posted on March 18, 2023March 17, 2023 by caritagardiner

title: Tilly in Technicolor author: Mazey Eddings publisher: Wednesday Books publication date: August 15, 2023 pages: 320 peppers: 2 warnings: puke summary: After her high school graduation, Tilly’s parents send her on a European trip as intern to her successful sister, who’s starting an environmentally friendly nail polish line. While her parents want Tilly to…

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NetGalley Review of Plot Twist

Posted on March 17, 2023March 16, 2023 by caritagardiner

title: Plot Twist author: Erin La Rosa publisher: Canary Street Press publication date: November 14, 2023 pages: 336 peppers: 3 on this scale warnings: alcoholism, vomit summary: Sophie is a romance author who hasn’t ever been in love and is stuck trying to figure out a happy ending for her second novel. Her landlord and…

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NetGalley Review of Relative Fiction

Posted on March 16, 2023March 15, 2023 by caritagardiner

title: Relative Fiction author: Alaina Rose publisher: self-published publication date: April 12, 2023 pages: 255 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: lots, she gives a long list at the beginning of the book including vomit, a nasal cannula, lots of drinking, and a dying parent summary: Julia recently got an anonymous email informing her that her…

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220. Why I’m Making a List

Posted on March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 by caritagardiner

If I managed the navigation correctly, the photo above will bring you to a site on which you can read another mother’s hopes for her daughters. Maybe you’ve already read  the amazing Tina Fey’s viral list; if you haven’t, for goodness sake, click the link! Her poem/prayer/list works well in its humor and specificity. It…

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Review of Maggie Moves On

Posted on March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 by caritagardiner

It’s not a NetGalley review, but I thought it might be fun to post another review, while I’m on a roll. title: Maggie Moves On author: Lucy Score publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing) publication date: June 21, 2022 pages: 416 peppers: 3, some pretty graphic scenes warnings: nothing gross in this book summary: Maggie flips houses…

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NetGalley Review of Summer on Sunshine Bay

Posted on March 13, 2023March 13, 2023 by caritagardiner

I’m trying this new format for my NetGalley reviews. Please let me know what you think. Author/Title: Debbie Mason’s Summer on Sunshine Bay Publisher: Forever Publication Date: May 23, 2023 Pages: 368 Peppers: 1 (and it’s a bell pepper) Warnings: Puke Summary: Lila’s fiancé David surprises her by bringing her to her hometown, where his…

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NetGalley Review of Right Girl, Wrong Side

Posted on March 12, 2023March 11, 2023 by caritagardiner

Ginny Baird’s Right Girl, Wrong Side (400 pages, Sourcebooks Casablanca, coming out 28 March 2023) is a fun take on the Hatfields and the McCoys. This one pepper (a bell pepper at that) book has feuding families, the tightly held, white Hatfields (in case we didn’t get the connection) and the loud, Puerto Rican Machados, together…

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU

Teach                    Tutor

Revise                   Edit

Entertain             Enlighten

Follow Me

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Contact Me

  • cgardine@hotchkiss.org

Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • NetGalley Review of First and Forever
  • 384. Why The Imperfectionist
  • NetGalley Review of Burnout Summer
  • NetGally Review of How to Find a Guy in Five Weddings
  • 383. Why AI
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