I pasted two screenshots from my Instagram account above. On the left, you’ll see my toolbar/menu, not because it’s that exciting, but because I usually ignore it completely. On the right, you’ll see some of my saved folders. That’s what I love about Instagram. It doesn’t have as much to do with what I can…
“Why”…Wednesdays
NetGalley Review of Good Joy, Bad Joy
title: Good Joy, Bad Joy author: Mikki Brammer publisher: St. Martin’s Press publication date: May 19, 2026 pages: 304 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: death, cancer, dying, theft, law-breaking, adultery summary: When her best friend of almost a century tells Joy that she’s dying, Joy examines her life and decides to make some big…
NetGalley Review of The Shippers
title: The Shippers author: Katherine Center publisher: St. Martin’s Press publication date: May 19, 2026 pages: 336 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: violence sexual harassment drunkenness summary: Jojo’s sister Ashley decides that Jojo’s unlucky-in-love curse comes from being bonded forever to the boy who first kissed her. Fortunately, he’s going to be on the…
NetGally Review of Love Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
title: Love Beyond Reasonable Doubt author: Swati Hegde publisher: Dell publication date: May 12, 2026 pages: 304 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: stabbing murder described grooming in past alcohol use, drunkenness pot smoking infidelity, in past summary: When lawyer Naina’s fiancé cheats on her so that she ends their relationship, she goes to Goa…
NetGalley Review of First and Forever
title: First and Forever author: Lynn Painter publisher: Berkley publication date: May 12, 2026 pages: 320 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: health scare of a major character football injury paintgun violence dead mother (before book) senile dimentia summary: When Duffy accidentally injures the handsy mascot of her favorite NFL team, the only person who…
384. Why The Imperfectionist
If you click the photo above, you’ll get to Oliver Burkeman’s page on which you can subscribe to his newsletter. I don’t know how to get back to the first issue I read, so I made a copy of it on this Google Doc, which you should be able to read no matter where you…
NetGalley Review of Burnout Summer
title: Burnout Summer author: Jenna Ramirez publisher: Saturday Books publication date: May 12, 2026 pages: 352 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: smoking vomit drinking alcohol summary: When Camille “Cam” Luna has the worst day of her life– first getting fired then spending the night in jail for disturbing the peace–she calls one of her…
NetGally Review of How to Find a Guy in Five Weddings
title: How to Find a Guy in Five Weddings author: Cynthia Timoti publisher: Branble publication date: May 12, 2026 pages: 320 peppers: 2.5 (on this scale) warnings: grandparental death (past) and illness/hospitalization (present) cheating fiancé controlling parents summary: Kim, who’s had no luck at all with online dating, needs to find a significant other to…
383. Why AI
Almost every morning for more than a decade, I’ve posted at least one image on Instagram with the tag #hotchkiss365. You can read my early “Why Wednesday” post about that decision by clicking this link. This morning, as I composed the hashtag for my caption, I got the same response I always do, which is…
382. Why Breakfast (GUEST POST)
Carita here: If you’ve been reading the blog for a few weeks, you got to read an earlier guest post by another one of my students. If you haven’t read that one, here’s the link that shows her essay and explains the assignment. Today, you’ll get to read an essay by Caroline Irwin ’29. I’m…