Tag: historical fiction

• Book Review: Daughter of Egypt by Marie Benedict

  Daughter of Egypt (St. Martin’s Press, March of 2026, 352 pages) by Marie Benedict is my 9th or 10th book by this former lawyer from Pittsburgh whose given name is Heather Terrell. Benedict takes a woman from history and brings her to life like no one else can. When I saw this work of historical…

  michardillo

  January 17, 2026

  books

  archeological digs, book-review, books, British, Carnegie’s Maid, Daughter of Egypt, Downton Abbey, dual narrative, Egyptology, England, fiction, Hatshepsut, Highclere Castle, historical fiction, Lady Clementine, Lady Evelyn Herbert, literature, Lord Carnavon, Marie Benedict, NetGalley, New Orleans Museum of Art, novel, pharaoh, reading, Senenmut, Sir Brograve Beauchamp, St. Martin’s Press, The Personal Librarian, Thutmose, Tutankhamen, writing

• Book News: Newly published!

  

  https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/784323/the-white-octopus-hotel-by-alexandra-bell/ See my book review here!

  michardillo

  November 16, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, dual timeline, fiction, historical fiction, literature, mystery, novel, Penguin Random, Random House, reading

• 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…

  michardillo

  July 9, 2025

  books

  #Currently Reading, Alexandra Bell, Amazon, Ann Napolitano, Anne Tyler, ARC, Belle Epoque, book-review, books, death, Del Rey, Elizabeth Strout, England, Eve Shaw, Evie Woods, fiction, France, Goodreads, grief, historical fiction, Kaytee Cobb, Kindle, literature, London, magical realism, Max Everly, Meredith Monday Schwartz, NetGalley, novel, octopuses, Penguin, podcast, Ray Bradbury, reading, realistic fiction, Richard Osman, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, tattoo, teacher, teaching, The Lost Bookshop, The White Octopus Hotel, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods (a/k/a Evie Gaughan)

  The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris is my second book by Evie Woods, although I am a bit confused whether #2 is the chicken or the egg. I loved her first (?) book, The Lost Bookshop. It was the perfect blend of a dual timeline, half contemporary and half historical, with a dash of…

  michardillo

  January 11, 2025

  books, Essay, food

  afternoon tea, Ann Napolitano, bakery, baking, book-review, books, bookstore, British, chocolate, coming of age, Compiegne, contemporary-fiction, cystic fibrosis, Dear Edward, dual timeline, English, Evie Gaughan, Evie Woods, fiction, food, France, Goodreads, grief, Harper 360, HarperCollins, hello-beautiful, historical fiction, Ireland, Irish, literature, magical realism, NetGalley, novel, Oprah, Paris, reading, Romance, tea, The Lost Bookshop, The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris, Within Arm’s Reach, writing

• Book Review: Love & Saffron by Kim Fay

  If books were people, and if Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin married 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and if those two book-people had a baby, it would be Love & Saffron by Kim Fay, and that baby’s godmother would be Ruth Reichl.  I devoured this book in one day. Granted I was in…

  michardillo

  April 19, 2022

  books

  cooking, epistolary, food, historical fiction, Kim Fay, Los Angeles, Mexico, Spanish, Washington, writing