Category: Essay
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Book Review: Within Arm’s Reach by Ann Napolitano
In January this year Madison Dettlinger at Penguin Random House offered me an ARC of the reissued first novel of Ann Napolitano, Within Arm’s Reach. I was teaching and mentoring a new teacher at the time, and subsequently, my reading life was derailed. With apologies for the lateness of this review, thank you to Madison…
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You Say Tomato, I Say Creole
When my mother deemed me old enough to cross Highway 23 South alone, she would give me a $5 bill and tell me to walk to Mrs. Benandi’s house and buy a box of Creole tomatoes. I would walk there, buy the box of tomatoes, and start my walk back home. The tomatoes on the…
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Book Review: Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
Cozy murder mysteries are my favorite genre, yet somehow I missed the buzz on Finlay Donovan is Killing It when it came out in 2021. So, late to the party, I finally checked out the ebook from Libby. Well! I flew through this book in four days–even though I didn’t read for two days in-between…
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Book Review(s?): The Rom-Commers and Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center
A colleague of mine recommended a book to me at the start of this school year, Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center. She said it was one of her favorites and that I should read it. So, in December, I did. And I liked it. It was about something I didn’t know anything about, face blindness,…
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Good Friday: Behold, Your Mother
Yesterday, Good Friday, my church parish had a new liturgy at noon, The Seven Last Words of Jesus. These are phrases attributed to Jesus during his crucifixion. A string quartet played an orchestral piece composed by Joseph Haydn designed specifically for this service. More info about this piece of music is here: Seven parishioners were…
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The Arm That Embraced Our Lord
https://cathstan.org/news/local/relic-of-the-arm-that-embraced-our-lord-venerated-at-st-jude-parish
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Happy heavenly birthday to my mom
Taking a moment today to give a prayer of thanksgiving for my lovely mother, Margaret Harvey Blanchard (bottom of photo) on her birthday. She would be 91 today. I have missed her so much, especially since my dad is also gone. Today is also the Feast Day of St. Margaret of Scotland, which was so…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 