Author: michardillo
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My February 2026 Reads
Great reads this month! Only one 5-star but it was a whopper! Can’t wait for the movie! Read my review here!
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Book Review: The Shippers by Katherine Center
The Shippers (St. Martin’s Press, May, 2026) is Katherine Center’s newest novel. I was fortunate enough to be offered an ARC by NetGalley and the publisher to read on my Kindle. In Goodreads, this soon-to-be published romcom currently has almost 2,000 reviews and over 2,500 ratings, with an average rating of 4.20 stars. This is…
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Book Review: Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith, is a Scottish legal scholar turned prolific author of fiction. He was born in present day Zimbabwe and grew up there, starting his education at Christian Brothers College, before moving to Scotland to study law at the University of Edinburgh where he earned a LLB and a PhD. He returned to Africa…
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Book Review: The Lost Husband by Katherine Center
The Lost Husband (Ballantine Books, 2013) is my 4th book by Katherine Center, having read Hello, Stranger (5 stars) in 2023, The Rom-Commers (5 stars) in 2024, and The Love Haters (4 stars) in 2025. I’ve enjoyed all four books and I will continue to make my way through her back list. There’s a lot…
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Giggling My Way Out of Trouble
Have you ever unintentionally broken the law? A very long time ago in a small town very far away I was working as a paralegal in a small real estate company. Unfortunately the salary wasn’t quite enough to allow me to live on my own. So, in order to be able to rent an apartment…
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Is Chili a Soup?
My daughter has this question she poses to people: Is the hotdog a sandwich? The responses are varied and often strongly held opinions of the respondent. (FWIW, I believe the hotdog is a sandwich, as it’s something between two layers of bread.) So, is chili a soup? It’s eaten with a spoon from a bowl.…
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How We Met
See my latest published piece, a personal essay on how my husband and I met, in the February issue of Sasee magazine. https://sasee.com/essay/love-at-first-bite/
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Book Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
I am seriously late to this party as my first book for February is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, published by Ballantine Books in May of 2021. I don’t know why it took me so long to read this stellar (lol) sci-fi novel except that I typically shy away from huge blockbuster hits that…
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My January 2026 Reads
What a spectacular reading month for me! FIVE five-star reads in one month for me! That’s a record for sure! These five five-star reads are all very different but all equally good! A brief breakdown in case you want to see if they may be of interest to you: FICTION NONFICTION Hope you find something…
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Book Review: Our Lady of Kibeho by Immaculee Ilibagiza
Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an easy read, but it is not an easy story to read. It is told in first person by Immaculee in readily accessible language. Reading it is as though she is sitting beside you telling you her…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 