Author: michardillo

• Book Review: The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell

  NetGalley is a digital platform that provides book people with FREE advance reading copies (ARCs) of books yet to be released in exchange for a review written and posted on their site, on Goodreads, on Amazon, on your own social media. Sometimes you are offered a book, but more often you request a book that…

  michardillo

  July 9, 2025

  books

  #Currently Reading, Alexandra Bell, Amazon, Ann Napolitano, Anne Tyler, ARC, Belle Epoque, book-review, books, death, Del Rey, Elizabeth Strout, England, Eve Shaw, Evie Woods, fiction, France, Goodreads, grief, historical fiction, Kaytee Cobb, Kindle, literature, London, magical realism, Max Everly, Meredith Monday Schwartz, NetGalley, novel, octopuses, Penguin, podcast, Ray Bradbury, reading, realistic fiction, Richard Osman, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, tattoo, teacher, teaching, The Lost Bookshop, The White Octopus Hotel, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

  The Killer Question by Janice Hallett (Atria Books, September 2025) is my third book by Hallett. All of her books, those I’ve read and those I’ve yet to read, are told in epistolary style, meaning the story is told through a series of letters, or in modern terms, a series of emails, interoffice communications, text…

  michardillo

  June 30, 2025

  books

  84 Charing Cross Road, Annie Barrows, Atria Books, book-review, books, British, Catherine Called Birdy, Chat GPT, Emily Blunt, England, epistolary novels, Ewan McGregor, fiction, food, Goodreads, Helene Hanff, Janice Hallett, Karen Cushman, Kim Fay, Kindle, library, literature, Love and Saffron, Mary Ann Shaffer, middle school, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Paul Torday, reading, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Scotland, teacher, teaching, The Appeal, The Examiner, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Killer Question, writer

• My June Reads!

  michardillo

  June 30, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, reading

• Book Review: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer: A Mystery by Ragnar Jónasson

  The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer: A Mystery by Ragnar Jónasson (St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, September 2025) is my first piece of Icelandic literature. I enjoyed it very much…until the very end. To say that the ending is abrupt and unsettling is an understatement. This is the second book I’ve read THIS MONTH…

  michardillo

  June 27, 2025

  books

  Agatha Christie, Akureyi, Anthony Berkeley, book-review, books, Death at the Sanotorium, domestic abuse, domestic violence, fiction, Golden Age Mysteries, Iceland, Icelandic literature, Josephine Tey, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, novel, Ragnar Jonasson, reading, Reykjavik, sequel, St. Martin’s Press, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer, writing

• The Scent of Home

  https://open.substack.com/pub/michardillo/p/the-scent-of-home?r=etmuf&utm_medium=ios

  michardillo

  June 25, 2025

  Essay

  Louisiana

• Book Review: Rainbow Fish and the Great Escape, written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister, translated by David Henry Wilson

  NorthSouth Books, via NetGalley, graciously offered me an ARC of this children’s book, Rainbow Fish and the Great Escape by Marcus Pfister, translated from the German by David Henry Wilson. Seeing the cover of this book brought on a flood of memories for me. This is book #10 in the Rainbow Fish series, the first…

  michardillo

  June 24, 2025

  books

  ARC, author, book-review, books, children’s books, David Henry Wilson, essays, illustrator, literature, Marcus Pfister, NetGalley, NorthSouth Books, Rainbow Fish, Rainbow Fish and the Great Escape, reading, translator, writer, writing

• Book Review: My Friends by Fredrik Backman

  My Friends (Atria Books, May 6, 2025) is the second book I’ve read by Swedish author Fredrik Backman (translated by Neil Smith). In its almost two months since publication it has garnered a solid average of 4.52 stars in Goodreads with over 45,000 ratings and over 9,800 reviews. At this point, does it really matter…

  michardillo

  June 23, 2025

  books

  A Man Called Ove, abuse, Agatha Christie, AJ Pearce, Ann Patchett, ARC, art, Artist, Atria, book-review, books, death, Elinor Lipman, Elizabeth Strout, fiction, Fredrik Backman, Goodreads, grief, illustrator, Kindle, literature, My Friends, Neil Smith, NetGalley, novel, poverty, reading, translator, writer, writing

• The Tables Have Turned

  https://substack.com/@michardillo/note/p-166483719?r=etmuf&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

  michardillo

  June 21, 2025

  Essay

• What Y’all Want to Eat Tomorrow?

  substack.com/@michardillo/note/c-127746154

  michardillo

  June 20, 2025

  Essay, food

• The Beauty of the Hydrangea

  open.substack.com/pub/michardillo/p/the-beauty-of-the-hydrangea

  michardillo

  June 19, 2025

  Essay