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…
“Why”…Wednesdays
329. Why Embrace Discomfort 2.0
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…
328. Why I’ll Stop Reading
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…
NetGalley Review of To Have and Have More
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,…
NetGalley Review of What If I Never Get Over You
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…
327. Why Consult Future You
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…
NetGalley Review of I Love You S’More
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…
NetGalley Review of The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits
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….
326. Why Out Work
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…
NetGalley Review of Love, The Duke
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…