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CARITA GARDINER

What to Read When You're Avoiding School Work

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“Why”…Wednesdays

330. Why Education isn’t Elitism

Posted on April 23, 2025April 22, 2025 by caritagardiner

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows anything about me that I’m a big advocate of learning as much as possible. I’ve been a teacher for all of my adult/professional life and I have one high school, one college, and three Master’s degrees. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been able to…

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329. Why Embrace Discomfort 2.0

Posted on April 16, 2025April 15, 2025 by caritagardiner

Four and a half years ago, I wrote a post about the importance of embracing discomfort. If you haven’t already read that one, please feel free to do so now by clicking on this link. Welcome back. I hope you found that post interesting. This one is very different. Earlier this year, I was talking…

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328. Why I’ll Stop Reading

Posted on April 9, 2025April 8, 2025 by caritagardiner

The photo above is the results I got when I did a Google image search for “romance novels”; if you click on the image, you should get transported to the complete search results. The fact is, I will read almost any romance novel with any protagonists in any setting with any heat level, but there…

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NetGalley Review of To Have and Have More

Posted on April 8, 2025February 20, 2025 by caritagardiner

title: To Have and Have More author: Sanibel publisher: Zando-8th Note Press publication date: April 15, 2025 pages: 368 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: lack of justice, micro and macro aggressions, racism summary: Emery was born in Korea and adopted by a VERY wealthy American couple. At Derrymore Academy, she meets up with Lilah,…

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NetGalley Review of What If I Never Get Over You

Posted on April 7, 2025March 3, 2025 by caritagardiner

title: What If I Never Get Over You author: Paige Toon publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons publication date: April 15, 2025 pages: 416 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: child molestation (in past), horrible parents, childhood death by accident and by drug overdose summary: Ellie is about to give up on her Euro-rail trip when she…

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327. Why Consult Future You

Posted on April 2, 2025April 1, 2025 by caritagardiner

I hope you saw the photo above and thought, “Yes, that’s exactly what Carita will look like when she’s really old.” You’re wrong, but not far off. Except for the pipe, it’s probably about right. This is actually a photo of my younger daughter’s Albert Einstein costume. When she was little, she loved dressing up…

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NetGalley Review of I Love You S’More

Posted on April 1, 2025January 21, 2025 by caritagardiner

title: I Love You S’More author: Auriane Desombre publisher: Delacorte Romance publication date: April 8, 2025 pages: 256 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: breaking up, cheating on a girlfriend summary: Ivy is happy to be back working at her childhood summer camp after getting dumped by her long-distance, television-star girlfriend. Unfortunately, what should be…

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NetGalley Review of The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits

Posted on March 31, 2025December 20, 2024 by caritagardiner

title: The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits author: Jennifer Weiner publisher: William Morrow publication date: April 8, 2025 pages: 384 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: death by car accident, unplanned pregnancy and talk of aborting, cheating on spouse, creepy stalker behavior, drug use, sexual assault summary: This amazing story has three generations of point-of-view characters….

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326. Why Out Work

Posted on March 26, 2025March 25, 2025 by caritagardiner

Above is my Peloton profile. I’ve been inspired to write lots of blog posts from Peloton, so if you’re not in the mood to read another post based on an inspirational message one of the coaches said, maybe it’s time for you to offer to write a guest post. You can base it on whatever…

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NetGalley Review of Love, The Duke

Posted on March 25, 2025April 1, 2025 by caritagardiner

title: Love, The Duke author: Amelia Grey publisher: St. Martin’s Paperback publication date: April 1, 2025 pages: 320 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: horrible father (described later), dead brother, theft summary: Ophelia’s brother’s vicarage’s priceless chalice was stolen, and now that Ophelia’s brother has died, she wants to find the chalice to save his…

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU

Teach                    Tutor

Revise                   Edit

Entertain             Enlighten

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Contact Me

  • cgardine@hotchkiss.org

Read my recent “Why” Wednesday Blog Posts

  • 338. Why Find Your People
  • NetGalley Review of Look Before You Leap
  • NetGalley Review of Sunny Side Up
  • 337. Why Not Fit In
  • 336. Why SFAH
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