title: Baby Bank author: Sarah Robinson publisher: books by Sarah Robinson publication date: September 19, 2023 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: talk of nausea talk of past sexual assault and maternal death summary: Mila, current lawyer and up-and-coming stand-up comic decides to use an app to find a donor so that she can become…
“Why”…Wednesdays
NetGalley Review of Will They or Won’t They
title: Will They or Won’t They author: Ava Wilder publisher: Dell publication date: June 27, 2023 pages: 384 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: divorced parents mental illness panic attack drinking/hangovers summary: Nine years ago, Lilah and Shane got cast together on a television show because of their amazing chemistry. Unable to control said spark at…
234. Why Your Words Don’t Matter
I’ve devoted a lot of years of my life to teaching students that their words matter. As an English teacher, I help students expand their vocabularies and learn to produce and organize words carefully. I spent more time than I would have liked during my first year as a dean both educating and punishing people…
233. Why Our Missing Hearts
If you’ve met me, you’ve heard me talk about my love of romance novels. I don’t generally read any speculative fiction, but loving a happily-ever-after doesn’t mean I don’t find fascinating the “what if?” trope of speculative fiction. Since I first read it in middle school, I’ve loved that Ray Bradbury short story about stepping…
232. Why Wear Clean Underwear
Despite what the text in the photo above implies, I learned the expression “semper ubi sub ubi” when I took Latin in high school a few decades ago. If you click on the photo, you’ll see the website from which the I took the image; the post there seems super helpful if you want to…
Book Review of Planes, Trains, and All the Feels
title: Planes, Trains, and All the Feels author: Livy Hart publisher: Entangled Trade publication date: May 23, 2023 pages: 337 peppers: 3 of 5 (on this scale) warnings: alcohol dependency diabetes mental health issues car accident divorce summary: Cassie Bliss needs to get to her perfect sister’s wedding in California. Luke Carlisle is traveling across the…
Net Galley Review of Every Time You Go Away
title: Every Time You Go Away author: Abigail Johnson publisher: Inkyard Press publication date: December 5, 2023 pages: 368 peppers: 2 of 5 (on this scale) warnings: child abuse and neglect substance abuse vomit addiction parent death summary: When Rebecca was growing up, Joy would drop her son Ethan off at her parents’ house every time…
231. Why Keep in Touch
Every time I have an idea and run a search looking for an image, I’m reminded that other people have had the same ideas earlier and expressed them better. Well, such is life. The photo above comes from Lewi Blake’s post that offers nine strategies for keeping in touch with friends and family. The list…
Net Galley Review of The Summer Girl
title: The Summer Girl author: Elle Kennedy publisher: Avalon Bay publication date: July 18, 2023 pages: 400 peppers: 3 of 5 (on this scale) warnings: mean mothers alcohol summary: Cassie is at her grandmother’s house for the summer, hoping for a no-strings-attached fling. On her first night, she overhears Tate, getting dumped and decides he’d be…
230. Why Look Open-Mindedly
The photo above comes from a Positively Present’s website post that offers a list of six things that open-minded people do. I endorse their suggestions, which are absolutely related to my idea below. If you’ve been a CaritaGardiner.com reader for a while, you might remember that I wrote a post called “Why Look Down” (9/22/2021)…