Author: michardillo

• My May Reads 2026

  May was a busy reading month but not a month of all star, blockbuster reads. These were good reads, solid 3-stars. Happy Reading, everyone!!!

  michardillo

  June 6, 2026

  books

  book-review, books, Brian Platzer, C.L. Miller, fiction, food, Goodreads, Kindle, literature, MJ Soni, mystery, Nadiya Hussain, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, NetGalley, novel, reading, Shiamin Kwa, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, The Masala Chai Mystery Club, The Optimists, The Secret Menu: Chinese Food in America and How I Made It, writer, writing

• Knock Knock! Whoooo’s There?

  What jobs have you had? One summer during college I worked in the Plaquemines Parish Clerk of Court’s office near my hometown. (Yes, parish. Louisiana is the only state in the US that has parishes instead of counties.) At the time, I was an English major on a pre-law track and the courthouse job seemed…

  michardillo

  June 5, 2026

  Essay

  Clerk of Court’s office, courthouse, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1953, land records, owl, Plaquemines Parish, Sara Lee Cheesecake, summer job

• Haircuts for Becca

  Please see my latest published piece for the Catholic Standard. It was a blessing to cover this event. https://www.cathstan.org/local/st-jude-school-holds-haircuts-for-becca-fundraiser-for-childrens-hospital

  michardillo

  June 4, 2026

  Essay

  Catholic Standard, Shrine of St. Jude, SJRCS, St. Jude Regional Catholic School

• Book Review: The Masala Chai Mystery Club by MJ Soni

  This cozy mystery should get an award for inclusivity! It ticks off all the boxes: gender, ethnicity, age, disabled/abled, economic status, it’s all in there. Was it too much? Maybe. At the beginning it was a whole lot being thrown at the reader. I’ve seen reviews that say the first 20% or so was slow…

  michardillo

  June 2, 2026

  books

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, Crooked Lane Books, debut novel, fiction, food, Goodreads, HOA, India, Indian food, literature, MJ Soni, murder mystery, mystery, NetGalley, novel, reading, recipes, Richard Osman, tea, The Masala Chai Mystery Club, The Thursday Murder Club, writing

• All Nighters

  Do you remember life before the internet? We were returning from the university cafeteria, stopping and chatting with everyone we knew on campus, which was just about everyone, headed back to the sorority dorm at my small state college. Looking at us (we always traveled in a pack of 5-7 girls), you would think we…

  michardillo

  May 29, 2026

  Essay

  all-nighter, Boz Skaggs, Coma, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1951, made for TV movie, Phi Mu, procrastination, Robin Cook, screenplay, Silk Degrees, SLU

• Fits Me to a Tea

  I’m thrilled to share my essay about my love of tea and my Scottish heritage recently published in Tea Zine, a Scottish print and online publication! This one is very special to me! https://coinoperatedpress.bigcartel.com/product/the-tea-zine

  michardillo

  May 26, 2026

  Essay

  Cajun, coin-operated press, Community Coffee, English breakfast, Glasgow, lemon herbal tea, Louisiana, Maryland l, personal essay, Scottish American, Southern, tea, Tea Zine

• Book Review: The Secret Menu by Shiamin Kwa

  The Secret Menu: Chinese Food in America and How I Made It by Shiamin Kwa is more than a memoir. It is more of an anthropological study of the Chinese culture in America, where the author wasn’t Chinese enough for home and too Chinese for her new country. In fact, the subtitle itself is somewhat…

  michardillo

  May 24, 2026

  books

  appropriation, ARC, book-review, books, Bryn Mawr, Ebook, Farrah Straus and Giroux, food, Kindle, literature, Malaysia, memoir, NetGalley, nonfiction, reading, recipes, Shiamin Kwa, teacher, teaching, The Secret Menu: Chinese Food in America and How I Made It, writer, writing

• Book Review: Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain

  Do you have a Buy Nothing group in your neighborhood? If you don’t know the answer to this question, head over to Facebook and search for it! Warning: participation in the Buy Nothing world can be quite addicting! About The Buy Nothing Project: The Buy Nothing Project, the world’s largest free-goods platform, is transforming how…

  michardillo

  May 21, 2026

  books, food

  BBC, BN Group, book-review, book-reviews, books, British, Buy Nothing Project, Clarkson Potter, collection, cookbook, cooking, cornbread dog, England, facebook, family, food, Nadiya Hussain, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, paprika egg filo bake, reading, social media, soda bread, Spotted Dick, The Great British Bake Off, Time to Eat, writing

• Book Review: The Optimists by Brian Platzer

  I’ll begin this review of The Optimists by Brian Platzer with a quote from another reviewer on Goodreads: I’ll admit, when I finished this book I immediately went to Goodreads to look at some of the reviews, a few 5-star, a few 1-star, and then I turned to the 3-star reviews. Near the top I…

  michardillo

  May 15, 2026

  books

  animal cruelty, ARC, book-review, book-reviews, books, Brian Platzer, English, essays, fiction, Goodreads, literature, Little Brown and Company, middle school, NetGalley, novel, NYC, reading, teacher, teaching, The Optimists, writer, writing

• Fire and Ice, So So Nice

  List your top 5 favorite fruits: pineapple, papaya, mango, cantaloupe, and honey dew melon! Read on to see why! Trigger Warning: this essay is about 9/11 and a trip I took a month after it happened. The morning of 9/11, as normal, I dropped my girls off at school and headed to my office where…

  michardillo

  May 14, 2026

  Essay

  9-11, California, Chef Mauricio Cavazos, Colibri Grille, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1938, Fire and Ice Salsa, five favorite fruits, Palm Desert Marriott, salsa, vacation, World Trade Center