title: Never Planned on You author: Lindsay Hameroff publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: February 18, 2025 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: vomit, tattoos, drinking, hospital scare summary: During her semester abroad, Ali and Graham meet, tie in a bet, and get matching, worlds-worst tattoos. When they run into each other ten years later,…
“Why”…Wednesdays
319. Why Contemplate Your Death
The last topic in this five-part series based on Dr. Laurie Santos’ “The Happiness Lab: How Talking to a Friend Helps” (linked in the photo above) podcast is the most complicated one to broach. I would guess that Dr. Santos and I aren’t the only people who’d prefer to think about ourselves as eternal. I’m…
NetGalley Review of Can’t Help Faking in Love
title: Can’t Help Faking in Love author: Swati Hedge publisher: Dell publication date: February 11, 2025 pages: 272 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Harsha’s annoying, competitive cousin is getting married and when she sees Harsha talking with a man at a bar, she assumes the man is Harsha’s boyfriend. Unfortunately, Harsha’s family-approved-type boyfriend has…
318. Why Busy isn’t Productive
The fourth topic on Laurie Santos’ “The Happiness Lab: How Talking to a Friend Helps” episode is about how being busy can get in the way of happiness. At my school, and probably in your life, lots of people feel busy all the time. It’s true what Jim Croce sang, “There never seems to be…
317. Why Manage Stress
Today’s post is the third in my five-part series in response to Dr. Laurie Santos’ podcast episode “The Happiness Lab: How Talking to a Friend Helps,” which you can listen to by clicking on the photo above. Today’s topic is managing stress. I loved the way the podcast framed this topic in terms that reminded…
316. Why Merge Your Selves
Today’s post is the second in a five-part series inspired by “The Happiness Lab” with Dr. Laurie Santos. In the episode linked to the photo above (I recommend taking the time to listen to the whole thing, but you don’t need to do that before reading my post.), Santos discusses five happiness stumbling blocks. The…
315. Why Pay Attention to What Other People Think
This week, and for the next four weeks, I’m going to write about the five lessons explained in the “How Talking to a Friend Helps” episode of one of my favorite podcasts, The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos. The first topic she and her guest, fellow Yale professor Dr. Tamar Gendler, discuss is perfectionism….
314. Why I’ve Moved Earlier
I have a lot of thoughts about what I want to write in this post, but I should probably start by telling you that I’m writing it on January 1, 2024, a full year before I have it set to go live. I am wondering what 2024 will bring and thinking it’s cool that when…
313. Why Celebrate Broadly
If you’re Christian, Merry Christmas. Also, if you’re not Christian, Merry Christmas. I’m not Christian, but I’m a big fan of celebrating Christmas’s non-religious aspects — I love giving gifts, uniting with family and friends, and cooking and eating wonderful foods. As you can see from the photos above, I also love knitting Christmas stockings…
NetGalley Review of Better than Revenge
title: Better than Revenge author: Kasie West publisher: Delacorte Romance publication date: December 31, 2024 pages: 320 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: When Finley’s boyfriend thoughtlessly auditions for and gets the podcast spot Finley has wanted for a long time, she enlists the help of her now ex-boyfriend’s nemesis to teach her how to…