Tag: Maine

• 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: Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove

  

  Murder Will Out by Jennifer K. Breedlove (St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, February 17, 2026) is described by the publisher as a “lighter, modern gothic mystery,” and I think that is pretty accurate. I only recently discovered that I like a touch of magical realism mixed in with my mysteries, thanks to Evie Woods’ books, The…

  michardillo

  December 1, 2025

  books

  book-review, book-reviews, books, contemporary-fiction, crime fiction, debut novel, diverse characters, Downeast, Elizabeth Strout, Evie Woods, fiction, gothic, inclusive, Jennifer Breedlove, Kindle, LGBTQ+, literature, Little North Island Mysteries, Loyola University of Chicago, magical realism, Maine, Minotaur Books, murder mystery, music, musician, mystery, NetGalley, novel, organist, reading, St. Martin’s Press, The Gilded Age, The Lost Bookshop, The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris, writing

• A Travel Essay…or Is It Much More?

  A former colleague of my husband’s is recently retired and is transferring his work writing skills to his personal writing. He recently created a Substack account called Into the Blue, and after just one post, I immediately subscribed. In this post, Jeff describes a “van” road trip to Portland, Maine, he and his wife took…

  michardillo

  March 22, 2025

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, dog, Essay, fiction, Into the Blue, John Steinbeck, literature, Maine, Nobel Prize for Literature, nonfiction, novel, poodle, Portland, pup, reading, retirement, social media, Substack, Travels with Charley, writing

• Book Review: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

  When I saw the news on social media that Elizabeth Strout had a new book coming out, I immediately began lobbying for an ARC, not out of greed or professional desire, but I just couldn’t wait all the way to August 13th to read another Strout work of art. Yes, I knew it would be…

  michardillo

  May 30, 2024

  books, Essay

  Bob Burgess, book-review, death, Elizabeth Strout, friendship, grief, Lucy Barton, Maine, novel, Olive Kitteridge, Oprah’s Book Club, reading, social media, suicide, unrecorded lives, writer, writing

• Book Review: Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

  Elizabeth Strout changed my life as a reader, and more importantly, as a writer. If you read my review of Strout’s Oh William, you know that I was introduced to Strout’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Olive Kitteridge by my local librarian. While reading Strout’s masterpiece of thirteen interwoven short stories, I finally (FINALLY) came up…

  michardillo

  August 19, 2022

  books

  Amgash Series, coronavirus, covid, Elizabeth Strout, Lucy Barton, Lucy by the Sea, Maine, Oh William, pandemic