Tag: fiction
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Book Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth
What a wild ride of a book! I finished Mad Mabel last night and this morning I had to go back and read the last chunk of pages again. Just to be sure I had all the facts straight. This novel, the 11th by Australian author Sally Hepworth, is told in dual timelines, labeled “Then”…
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Book Review: Split Second Thirty-Two Switcheroo (Stephanie Plum #32) by Janet Evanovich
Yes, that’s right, Stephanie Plum #32, and I’ve been along for the ride ever since the summer of 2002 when I ran into a friend at my local public library who was carrying the then recently published Hard Eight, the 8th in the Stephanie Plum series. She said they were a lot of fun to…
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Book Review: The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett
If this book review sounds like I can’t make up my mind, that’s probably because I can’t. I just finished The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, and I really don’t know how I feel about it. The Calamity Club is the sophomore novel of Kathryn Stockett, whose debut novel The Help has sold over 15…
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Book Review: The Survivors Guild by Gabriella Saab
The Survivors Guild (yes, that is how it is titled, no apostrophe) by Gabriella Saab is another story based loosely upon the sinking of the Titanic. This book however is less about the Titanic, less about those lost to the sea, and less about the unsinkability of that majestic ship. It is about the survivors,…
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Book Review: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury
A lot of the recently published novels that I am reading, whether it is historical fiction, cozy mystery, or contemporary fiction, don’t seem to be particularly well-written. The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies (The Oxford Guide #1) by Kate Westbury is a paradox for me. It is well-written, but the plot and character connection…
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Booker Prize News!
Delighted to see one of my most favorite authors nominated – again – for the Booker Prize! See my review of this amazing book at https://michelleardillo.com/2026/04/06/book-review-the-things-we-never-say-by-elizabeth-strout/ Read the books longlisted for the Booker here https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/2026
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Continental Breakfast for Two, si’l vous plait…
If you could have dinner with any fictional character, who would it be? “Only in England is the coffee so atrocious. On the Continent they understand how important it is for the digestion that it should be properly made.” The Big Four, Hercule Poirot on English coffee Before I retired from teaching middle school English,…
