Category: books
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Book Review – Nadiya’s British Food Adventure
I love watching British cooking shows and reading cookbooks from the UK. This particular book, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure, combines my love of all things British with a desire to learn more about other cultures. Nadiya Hussain is a breath of fresh air. No pretentiousness, no putting on airs. Just family style cooking elevated with…
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Book Review: Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer is the seventh book in a pastiche series of MG/YA novels. Set in Victorian England, Springer creates a new character all her own: Enola (which is the word “alone” spelled backwards), the much younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. And, alone she is, as her…
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Book Review: Sing Freedom! by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Mike DeSantis
What a beautiful book! The illustrations are really well done and fit the text so very well. Sing Freedom by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Mike DeSantis is a perfect book to explain how freedom, once lost, is so very difficult to regain. This book covers a major political event very well, with just enough…
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Book Review: You Had Me at Pet-Nat: A Natural Wine-Soaked Memoir by Rachel Signer
When requesting this book to read and review, I thought it was a novel, but I have since learned from Googling the author that it is a memoir. I’ve read a lot of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs over the years, and this book reads more like a novel to me. It was great learning the…
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Book Review: Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
By Anthony Doerr (Published June 12, 2007 by Scribner Book Company) I realize I am late to joining the Anthony Doerr fan club, but I tore through this piece of nonfiction in less than two days. I probably would have finished it in one day had I not stopped so frequently to admire his wide…
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Book Review: The Sweet Taste of Muscadines by Pamela Terry
This debut novel by Pamela Terry represents authentic Southern storytelling. It unfolds slowly and the reader gets to know the characters and plot as it is peeled back layer by layer like a Vidalia onion. So much of the story resonated with me as a Louisiana native whose mother was first generation Scottish-American. Lila’s descriptions…
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Tween and Teen Book Recommendations
March 12, 2021, marks the one year anniversary of the last day I was teaching in my classroom last school year. It seems like eons ago, doesn’t it? This pandemic and quarantine business has been very difficult and challenging for all of us. With the third quarter of the 2020-2021 school year almost over, we…
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Book Review: The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton by Eleanor Ray (Gallery Books, June 2021)
I’m glad I persevered with this book. When I was at 27%, I wasn’t sure I wanted to finish it. But, I hate leaving books unfinished out of respect for the author and the hard work involved in bringing a book project to fruition. The beginning of the book focuses a lot on Amy’s hidden…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 