The above is a photo of me during my hockey season. Oh, don’t be silly. It’s a stock photo I found online of someone who spent a lot of time in a basement practicing to be able to shoot the puck like that. When this post goes live, I will be solidly in my off-season…
“Why”…Wednesdays
NetGalley Review of It’s All Relative
(opens in new tab) title: It’s All Relative author: Rachel Magee publisher: Thomas Nelson publication date: August 6, 2024 pages: 336 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Helena can’t stand the idea of going to her mother’s wedding to a great guy for two reasons. First, his family is annoyingly perfect. Second, she has…
284. Why Be a __ Fairy
The photo above shows the back of my computer. You might recognize the “Embrace the Quest” line as the one I offered in my Lufkin Prize speech. I had those stickers made with Hotchkiss’s Main Building, sparkles, and that catchphrase to give out after the speech. (If you’re reading this and want one, please let…
NetGalley Review of How to Fall for a Scoundrel
(opens in new tab) title: How to Fall for a Scoundrel author: Kate Bateman publisher: St. Martin’s Paperback publication date: August 20, 2024 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Ellie and her friends run a detective agency under a man’s name because many people won’t hire women, but one night at a party,…
NetGalley Review of Prime Time Romance
(opens in new tab) title: Prime Time Romance author: Kate Robb publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback publication date: September 3, 2024 pages: 336 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: vomit, drinking and binge drinking summary: After her divorce, Brynn spends as much time as possible watching her favorite teen series, Carson’s Cove, in which everything ends happily…
283. Why Getting Older Isn’t What I Expected
If you zoom in really close on the above photo of me (I’m not recommending this), you’ll see my gray hair. I didn’t have any grays at all until I became a head of the English Department at my school. Now, I have plenty of them. I am not surprised by gray hair, as I…
NetGalley Review of A Legend in the Baking
(opens in new tab) title: A Legend in the Baking author: Jamie Wesley publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: November 19, 2024 pages: 336 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Sloane Dell impulsively quits her marketing job after not getting the promotion she deserves. To prove herself for another job, she runs the social media…
282. Why Parenting is Hard 2.0
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you read the first iteration of Why Parenting is Hard in May 2020. I’m linking it here, in case you want to go back to it. Well, here we are four years later, and I have more thoughts on the topic. They’re related, to be sure,…
NetGalley Review of The Au Pair Affair
(opens in new tab) title: The Au Pair Affair author: Tessa Bailey publisher: Avon publication date: July 16, 2024 pages: 384 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: broken nose and other hockey violence; traumatic past/stalker summary: Tallulah is moving to Boston to work on her MA in Marine Biology. To be able to afford to live there,…
281. Why Convenient isn’t Better
I took the photo above when the school where I work put a fence around the dining hall, which is attached to the Main Building, which houses the library, chapel, snack bar, student center, administrative offices, office of admission and financial aid, both auditoriums (or is it auditoria?), most classrooms, and probably more I’m forgetting….