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…
Author: caritagardiner
325. Why More Beatles, Less Frozen
On one of the above episodes of “The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos,” I don’t remember which one, I heard a line that stuck with me: We need more Beatles and less Frozen, more “let it be” (and PS, I had no idea Billy Preston played the organ for this song. Were you aware?…
324. Why I’ll Never Buy Anything Else from Instagram
Doesn’t the photo above look like a screenshot of a shipped item from a real vendor? Turns out, it’s fake! I was getting tons of ads on Instagram for Velanico’s products for curly hair. Apparently, everyone with curls should be sleeping in a bonnet and using satin ponytail holders. After seeing the videos several times,…
NetGalley Review of the Story She Left Behind
title: The Story She Left Behind author: Patti Callahan Henry publisher: Atria Books publication date: March 18, 2025 pages: 352 peppers: 2 (on this scale) warnings: death of a father (off-page), missing mother, talk of death by smog, asthma attack, talk of bullying, theft summary: When Clara was eight years old, twenty-five years ago, her…
Net Galley Review of Nine Month Contract
title: Nine Month Contract author: Amy Daws publisher: Canary Street Press publication date: March 18, 2025 pages: 416 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: bad parenting (in the past) summary: Trista has just been turned down as a potential surrogate at an agency because she hasn’t ever had a baby and weighs too much. When…
323. Why Adults are Like Babies
I took the photo above when a family of three deer ran by our campus house. The fawn’s spots give it away as a baby even to the untrained eye. Okay, you caught me; the photo really doesn’t have anything to do with the topic of my post except that I’ve been thinking about babies’…
NetGalley Review of My Big Fat Fake Marriage
title: My Big Fat Fake Marriage author: Charlotte Stein publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin publication date: March 11, 2025 pages: 304 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: Connie/Hazel has had extraordinarily bad luck with dating, so much so that she doesn’t trust any nice men she meets, including her new neighbor Beck. He’s not just nice,…
NetGalley Review of Dream Count
title: Dream Count author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie publisher: Knopf publication date: March 4, 2025 pages: 416 peppers: 1 (on this scale) warnings: none summary: The book follows four women in their quests to find love, have families, and figure out what makes them happy. tropes: Since this book isn’t a romance, it isn’t trope-heavy. what…
322. Why Cheaters Lose
There was a morning in the fall when I woke up not in the mood to go for a jog, but I went anyway…and saw the view above and the one below. The real reward from the run wasn’t the sunrise or the rainbow, but the way I felt for having completed the run. At…
NetGalley Review of Promise Me Sunshine
title: Promise Me Sunshine author: Cara Bastone publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback publication date: March 4, 2025 pages: 416 peppers: 3 (on this scale) warnings: lots of talk of death and grieving summary: Lenny (Helen) is barely getting through since her best friend Lou died six months ago. She can’t sleep, eat, or focus, except on the…