title: Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt author: Ben Reeves publisher: Avid Reader Press/ Simon & Sschuster publication date: July 7, 2026 pages: 240 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: death, lots and lots of death drug use, alcoholism suicide summary: Travis, who is death, lives across the hall from Dalia and her daughters, Layla…
“Why”…Wednesdays
392. Why Pluribus is Huxley’s
Clicking on the photo above will take you to a Google search for Pluribus, which is a show created by and aired on Apple TV. As is often the case, my husband and I were late to the party on this one, so you may have already seen it. If you haven’t, I’d say it (and…
NetGalley Review of Perverts
title: Perverts author: Mac Crane publisher: The Dial Press publication date: July 7, 2026 pages: 256 peppers: 3-4 (on this scale) (lots of interesting things going on here) warnings: violence against queer people other violence drug use boundary crossings vomit death, cremation blood, guts cheating on spouses/significan others more — if you need warnings, this…
NetGalley Review of Rewrite the Stars
title: Rewrite the Stars author: Lindsay Hameroff publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: July 7, 2026 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: rude ex-husband alcohol use summary: When former child star Marissa inherits her grandmother’s lake house, she decides that getting away from the media chaos surrounding her ex-husband will be a great…
391. Why Change the Font
Every once in a while, I realize how many emails I get each day, and I go on an unsubscribing rampage. More often, I try to opt out of contact lists the first time I receive an email from a company whose products/services I don’t anticipate needing. Recently, I got one such email and scrolled…
390. Why a Weighted Vest
If you read last week’s post, you may have thought, “Weighted vest? Why, Carita, Why?” No worries, sometimes I think the same thing. For most of my life, I thought carrying my body weight around with me everywhere I go provided enough resistance. I mean, seriously, some days, pulling my own flesh out of bed…
389. Why Soft isn’t Weak
I’m a big fan of working out. In fact, I almost never miss a day doing something physical through the Peloton App. [If you want to try out the platform–strength, yoga, cardio, rowing, etc–you can click the photo above to get a sixty-day free trial. I don’t get anything if you sign up; you’d be…
NetGalley Review of The Great Outdoors
title: The Great Outdoors author: Kayla Olson publisher: Atria Books publication date: June 16, 2026 pages: 384 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: scary moments in an outdoor adventure (everyone is fine) summary: When Sadie’s boyfriend plans a hiking adventure trip in the Sierra Mountains at the same time as their planned, luxurious Italy trip,…
NetGalley Review of Villa Coco
title: Villa Coco author: Andrew Sean Greer publisher: Doubleday publication date: June 9, 2026 pages: 288 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: frenetic pace summary: the unnamed narrator gets a job at Villa Coco. He’s supposed to be there to catalogue the contents of the house, but the quirky, ninety-two year old owner of the…
388. Why Not “Could Potentially”
The image above will bring you to the Conventions of Composition rule about repetition. It’s about redundancy and how to avoid it. If you read the rule, you’ll learn about why not to repeat yourself. The site provides a lesson in not saying the same thing more than once. I hope you see what I…