Tag: NetGalley

• Book Review: The Accidental Rewrite by Milly Johnson

  First of all, since this was an offering on NetGalley I assumed this was a brand new, yet to be published book, perhaps by a debut author. Silly me, wrong on all accounts. The Accidental Rewrite was first published in February of 2024 in the UK under the title The Happiest Ever After. And, Milly…

  michardillo

  September 12, 2025

  books

  ARC, author, BBC, book-review, book-reviews, books, Britain, British, cat, debut novel, England, fiction, Fredrik Backman, Goodreads, Harper Muse, literature, Milly Johnson, My Friends, NetGalley, novel, PBS, publishing, reading, The Accidental Rewrite, The Daily Trumpet, The Happiest Ever After, UK, writer, writing, Yorkshire Cat Rescue

• Book Review—Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy by Christopher White

  As an American and a Catholic, did I ever, in my wildest dreams, imagine an American pope? Absolutely not. But, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, that is exactly what happened. My husband and I were both home (freshly retired) and were having lunch at our kitchen counter. After we finished eating, my husband was cleaning…

  michardillo

  September 5, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholic school, Christopher White, Conclave, Confirmation, Councils, Italy, Jesuits, Kindle, Loyola Press, Mass, NetGalley, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Pope John XXIII, Pope Leo XIV, social media, Society of Jesus, St. Monica, Synod, Vatican, Vatican II, writer, writing

• Book Review: Just One Gift by Linda Sue Park

  I was browsing new titles on NetGalley recently and saw a title listed that immediately caught my attention. The book was Just One Gift (HarperCollins/Clarion Books, April 2026) by Linda Sue Park. I didn’t know Linda Sue Park at all until late summer 2017 when I found out that I would be teaching one section…

  michardillo

  August 28, 2025

  books

  12th century, A Single Shard, Ancient Korea, Asian art, Asian pottery, book-review, books, Clarion, family, fiction, Freer Gallery, HarperCollins Publishers, Just One Gift, language arts, Linda Sue Park, literature, middle school, NetGalley, Newbery Medal, Peacock Room, pottery, reading, Smithsonian, teacher, teaching

• Book Review: Food Around the World by Ellen Lawrence

  I love to travel and I love to eat, so this new title jumped out for me in the listings of new books on NetGalley! Thank you NetGalley, Ruby Tuesday Books, and Ellen Lawrence for the opportunity to read this new book! First of all, the photography in this book is great. The scenes are…

  michardillo

  August 22, 2025

  books

  book-review, books, children’s book, Ellen Lawrence, food, Food Around the World, literature, middle school, NetGalley, nonfiction, photography, reading, Ruby Tuesday Books, teaching

• Book Review — Revenge, Served Royal: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires #3) by Celeste Connally

  

  First of all, I am a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off show and have watched each season many times. I love a good cooking show, and I’ve watched the cooking shows made by previous winners of the GBBO, like Nadiya Hussain, the 2015 winner. I also love all things British, all things…

  michardillo

  August 22, 2025

  books

  Act Like a Lady Think Like a Lord, Agatha Award, Agatha Christie, baking, book-review, books, Bridgerton, British, Celeste Connally, cooking, cozy mystery, England, English, fiction, food, GBBO, George III, George IV, Great British Bake Off, Lady Petra Inquires, London, Minotaur, mystery, Nadiya Hussain, Netflix, NetGalley, novel, Prince Regent, reading, Regency Era, Revenge Served Royal, St. Martin’s Press, Windsor Castle

• Book Review: Sugar and Spite, An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton with R. W. Green

  Mystery is by far my favorite genre, and within that genre I tend to gravitate toward cozy mysteries. Add to that a Scottish author and, well, I’m all in. Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to their reading life, and for me, the Agatha Raisin mystery series falls squarely in that court. With…

  michardillo

  August 1, 2025

  books

  Agatha Raisin, ARC, book-review, books, British, cozy mystery, death, England, fiction, food, Hamish MacBeth, M. C. Beaton, Macmillan Publishers, mystery, NetGalley, novel, R. W. Green, Ray Bradbury, reading, Sugar and Spite, The Homemade God, The Quiche of Death, The White Octopus Hotel, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

  The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce was recently published on July 8, 2025 by The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House. I was offered this ARC by the publisher because of my interest in and book reviews of several other books published by Random House, such as Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, one of…

  michardillo

  July 21, 2025

  books

  Ann Napolitano, ARC, art, Artist, book-review, books, debut novel, family, fiction, hello-beautiful, Italy, Kindle, Lake Orta, literature, London, Maggie O’Farrell, mystery, NetGalley, novel, painting, Rachel Joyce, Random House, reading, The Homemade God, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, writer, writing

• 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 Killer Question by Janice Hallett

  The Killer Question by Janice Hallett (Atria Books, September 2025) is my third book by Hallett. All of her books, those I’ve read and those I’ve yet to read, are told in epistolary style, meaning the story is told through a series of letters, or in modern terms, a series of emails, interoffice communications, text…

  michardillo

  June 30, 2025

  books

  84 Charing Cross Road, Annie Barrows, Atria Books, book-review, books, British, Catherine Called Birdy, Chat GPT, Emily Blunt, England, epistolary novels, Ewan McGregor, fiction, food, Goodreads, Helene Hanff, Janice Hallett, Karen Cushman, Kim Fay, Kindle, library, literature, Love and Saffron, Mary Ann Shaffer, middle school, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Paul Torday, reading, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Scotland, teacher, teaching, The Appeal, The Examiner, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Killer Question, writer

• Book Review: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer: A Mystery by Ragnar Jónasson

  The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer: A Mystery by Ragnar Jónasson (St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, September 2025) is my first piece of Icelandic literature. I enjoyed it very much…until the very end. To say that the ending is abrupt and unsettling is an understatement. This is the second book I’ve read THIS MONTH…

  michardillo

  June 27, 2025

  books

  Agatha Christie, Akureyi, Anthony Berkeley, book-review, books, Death at the Sanotorium, domestic abuse, domestic violence, fiction, Golden Age Mysteries, Iceland, Icelandic literature, Josephine Tey, Minotaur Books, NetGalley, novel, Ragnar Jonasson, reading, Reykjavik, sequel, St. Martin’s Press, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer, writing