Tag: book-reviews

• Book Review: The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins

  I just finished this book last night and I am truly impressed that this is a debut novel. The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins is soon to be published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, which is one of the “Big Five” of publishing. The Big Five is…

  michardillo

  July 8, 2026

  books

  ARC, Atria Books, author, book-review, book-reviews, books, Catholic, Catholic Church, chicken cutlet, Columbia University, contemporary-fiction, cooking, debut novel, Elizabeth Wellington Rollins, family, fiction, food, food pantry, italian-american, Italy, lasagna, literature, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, NetGalley, novel, NYC, pizza slice, reading, teaching, The Three Graces of Pearl Street, type 1 diabetes, writer, writing

• Book Review: Go Gentle by Maria Semple

  First of all, thank you to Goodreads and the publisher, G. P. Putnam & Sons, for the hardback copy of this book, complete with the beautiful dust-jacket color photo of what appears to be the Venus de Milo, a stunning piece of art on display in the Louvre in Paris. Be careful, though, in this…

  michardillo

  June 26, 2026

  books

  book-review, book-reviews, books, coven, fiction, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Goodreads, grief, literature, Little Brown and Company, mystery, novel, reading, Romance, Venus de Milo, Where’d You Go Bernadette

• Book Review: Let’s Not Go Overboard Here by Erica Hendry

  First of all, many thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing Hardcover, and Erica Hendry for the ARC of this book just recently published (June 2, 2026). While I loved receiving this ARC of a debut novel, I don’t think I am the target audience for Let’s No Go Overboard Here by Erica Hendry. This book…

  michardillo

  June 9, 2026

  books

  ARC, book-review, book-reviews, books, death, debut novel, Erica Hendry, fiction, Grand Central Publishing, grief, Let’s Not Go Overboard Here, literature, mystery, NetGalley, novel, reading, 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

• Book Review-The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder: A Novel by C.L. Miller

  To use a term often used in antique appraisals, this debut novel comes with quite a provenance, as it was written by the daughter of the late Judith Miller (1951-2023), a regular specialist on the wildly popular BBC Antiques Roadshow. Antiques Roadshow, both the UK version and the American version, is a favorite of mine.…

  michardillo

  May 8, 2026

  books

  antiques, Antiques Roadshow, ARC, Atria Books, BBC Antiques Roadshow, book-review, book-reviews, books, British, C.L. Miller, Chippendale, cozy mystery, death, debut novel, Ebook, England, English, fiction, Goodreads, Judith Miller, Kindle, literature, mystery, NetGalley, novel, NPR Books We Love in 2024, reading, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Windsor Affair by Melanie Benjamin

  There’s almost constant chatter about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but long before there was a Harry and Meghan, there was a David and Wallis. While the severity of what happened during what will forever be known as the Abdication Crisis does not compare to the “spare” and his wife stepping back from royal…

  michardillo

  April 23, 2026

  books

  Abdication Crisis, ARC, Baltimore, Bertie, book-review, book-reviews, books, Britain, British, British Royal Family, David, Delacorte Press, Duchess of Windsor, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, Elizabeth II, England, fiction, Fort Belvedere, France, George V, George VI, Goodreads, Great Britain, Harry and Meghan, historical fiction, Kindle, Libby, literature, London, Melanie Benjamin, Mountbatten-Windsor, NetGalley, nonfiction, novel, Prince of Wales, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, reading, The King’s Speech, The Swans of Fifth Avenue, The Windsor Affair, Wallis Simpson, WE, Windsor Castle, writing

• Book Review: Food Person by Adam D. Roberts

  I picked this up from the Librarian’s Choice shelves at my local public library (shout out to Aspen Hill Library in Montgomery County, Maryland). Two things caught my attention. First of all, that cover is an eye catcher for sure. The second thing was the starburst blurb on the front cover, “A savory meal of…

  michardillo

  April 9, 2026

  books

  Adam Roberts, author, book-review, book-reviews, books, bookstore, contemporary-fiction, cookbook, cookbooks, cooking, debut novel, Essay, essays, fiction, food, Food Person, Goodreads, Gourmet magazine, Home Cooking, Julia Child, Knopf, Laurie Colwin, library, literature, More Home Cooking, New Yorker magazine, non-fiction, nonfiction, novel, NYC, reading, recipes, Ruth Reichl, short stories, Steven Rowley, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

  First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Random House (an imprint of Penguin Random House) for the ARC ebook of Elizabeth Strout’s newest book, The Things We Never Say (May 5, 2026, 224 pages). I lobbied hard for an ARC, and thankfully, the literature gods heard my cry, or at least someone at Random…

  michardillo

  April 6, 2026

  books

  ARC, Artemis II, book-review, book-reviews, books, Easter egg, Elizabeth Strout, English, fiction, Goodreads, High Flight, John Gillespie Magee Jr., Kindle, literature, Maine, Massachusetts Bay, middle school, NetGalley, novel, O. Henry, Olive Kitteridge, Penguin Random, President Ronald Reagan, Random House, sailboat, Shakespeare, teacher, teaching, The Gift of the Magi, The Things They Carried, The Things We Never Say, Tim O’Brien, writer, writing

• Book Review-Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs by José Andrés with Richard Wolffe

  “It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” is a saying that could be the theme of José Andrés’s latest book, Change the Recipe: Because You Can’t Build a Better World Without Breaking Some Eggs (Ecco Hardcover, April 22, 2025, 195 pages), written with Richard Wolffe. That saying is often attributed to the late Rear…

  michardillo

  April 2, 2026

  books

  author, Bethesda, book-review, book-reviews, books, Breaking Some Eggs, Change the Recipe, COBOL, cookbook, cooking, death, Ecco Publishing, Essay, essays, family, first career, food, Gaza, Grace Hopper, grease traps, Haiti, internet, Israel, Jaleo, John Steinbeck, José Andrés, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Luis Miranda, Maryland, memoir, microwave omelet, non-fiction, nonfiction, online viral sensation, paralegal, reading, recipes, rice and beans, Richard Wolffe, Russia, The Grapes of Wrath, Ukraine, World Central Kitchen, writer, writing