Category: books
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Book Review — Revenge, Served Royal: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires #3) by Celeste Connally

First of all, I am a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off show and have watched each season many times. I love a good cooking show, and I’ve watched the cooking shows made by previous winners of the GBBO, like Nadiya Hussain, the 2015 winner. I also love all things British, all things…
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My July Reads
July was a busy month for me with travel, home projects, and more writing than reading. But, still a great reading month with these four books, one library book and three ARCs I read on my Kindle! Check out my reviews for all of these on my newly redesigned website http://www.michelleardillo.com! 📕 📚 #findthejoy #reading…
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Book Review: Salt in His Shoes by Deloris Jordan and Roslyn M. Jordan, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
It would be hard to find someone on this planet who has not heard of the famous NBA superstar Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Even without knowing his basketball stats, Nike made MJ a household name and his Air Jordans the envy of every kid with a basketball and a dream. However, there are things about Michael…
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Book Review: Sugar and Spite, An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton with R. W. Green
Mystery is by far my favorite genre, and within that genre I tend to gravitate toward cozy mysteries. Add to that a Scottish author and, well, I’m all in. Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to their reading life, and for me, the Agatha Raisin mystery series falls squarely in that court. With…
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Book Review: The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce
The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce was recently published on July 8, 2025 by The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House. I was offered this ARC by the publisher because of my interest in and book reviews of several other books published by Random House, such as Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, one of…
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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…
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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…