title: Second Duke’s the Charm author: Kate Bateman publisher: St. Martin’s Paperback publication date: December 26, 2023 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: on-page death, mean people, someone gets drugged to fall asleep, drunkenness, lechery summary: Tess’s greedy father forced her, at nineteen-years-old, to marry an elderly duke, who died on their wedding night. It…
“Why”…Wednesdays
249. Why Pick the Second Best Time
I’ve heard that Olympic athletes who win silver medals are generally the least happy of everyone who makes it to the games. People who win gold: I’m the best in the world. People who win bronze: I got a medal! All of the other people: I made it to the Olympics! People who win silver…
NetGalley Review of Love, Just In
title: Love, Just In author: Natalie Murray publisher: Allen & Unwin publication date: January 3, 2024 pages: ? (It’s not out in paperback yet. My phone said 308, but that doesn’t always seem accurate.) peppers: (on this scale) 219. Why NetGalley warnings: car accidents with fatalities drunk drivers a house fire with fatalities vomit cancer and…
NetGalley Review of Till There Was You
title: Till There Was You author: Lindsay Hameroff publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: February 20, 2024 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: dead parent (before the book), cut fingers/blood, burns summary: New Yorker Lexi doesn’t have time for dating while she’s in culinary school pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a chef, but when…
248. Why Yellowface
For many years, I taught a Senior English elective on writers who write about writers. In the class, among other novels, we studied John Irving’s The World According to Garp, Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief, Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale. I (and I think the students, too) found the stories authors create about authors fascinating. For the past…
NetGalley Review of Love You, Mean It
title: Love You, Mean It author: Jilly Gagnon publisher: Dell publication date: April 30, 2024 pages: 304 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: dead sibling from violent accident summary: Ellie, who runs her family’s deli, is upset to learn that a rich boy she knew in high school is working to bring a giant Italian food emporium…
247. Why Now is Not the Time to Panic
I thoroughly enjoy and then immediately forget many of the books I read. I don’t mean to condemn the authors of those books because I know that writing a book someone can love reading is a huge accomplishment. Sometimes, however, I read books that are so thought-provoking that they stay with me. Kevin Wilson’s novel…
246. Why Percentages Aren’t What You Think
As you know, I’m a big fan of people who donate blood (partly because my life was saved by four of them). You can read JV’s wonderful guest post about the benefits of giving blood on this 2021 post. Still, the image above made me laugh. To start this essay, most of which is about…
NetGalley Review of Say You’ll Be Mine
title: Say You’ll Be Mine author: Naina Kumar publisher: Dell publication date: January 16, 2024 pages: 336 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Karthik’s mother has brought him to meet eight potential brides, two every weekend for a month. She has plans to keep up this pace for a year, so when he’s intrigued by…
245. Why Cone without Shame
Late every summer, Tuukka gets a hotspot that he worries with his teeth and tongue until it bleeds. We take him to the vet, who cleans the wound and prescribes necessary medications. Then, we take Tuukka home and put him into what we lovingly call his “cone of shame.” Watching him fumble around the house…