Tag: novel

• Book Review: Booked for Murder by P. J. Nelson

  Writing under the pseudonym P. J. Nelson, the author of Booked for Murder (An Old Juniper Bookstore Mystery) said that he had done a great many things, most of which appear to involve acting and theatre, but, he has gone on to say that he has never ever run a bookstore. This was a little…

  michardillo

  June 28, 2024

  books, Essay

  acting, actress, Atlanta, book-review, books, bookstore, college orofessor, cozy mystery, death, fiction, food, literature, mystery, novel, NYC, pastor, reading, theatre, Victorian Era

• Book Review: The Gardener‘s Plot: A Mystery by Deborah J. Benoit

  First of all, when I read the author’s bio for this book, I was 100% IN and immediately requested an ARC of this new mystery from Macmillan Publishers via NetGalley. Benoit, whose debut novel The Gardener’s Plot won the First Crime Novel Competition sponsored by Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America. Prior to taking to the…

  michardillo

  June 25, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, death, debut novel, fiction, gardener, gardening, killer, mystery, novel, reading, writer, writing

• Book Review: Within Arm’s Reach by Ann Napolitano

  In January this year Madison Dettlinger at Penguin Random House offered me an ARC of the reissued first novel of Ann Napolitano, Within Arm’s Reach. I was teaching and mentoring a new teacher at the time, and subsequently, my reading life was derailed. With apologies for the lateness of this review, thank you to Madison…

  michardillo

  June 10, 2024

  books, Essay

  Ann Napolitano, book-review, book-reviews, books, Dear Edward, debut, fiction, hello-beautiful, irish-american, italian-american, novel

• 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, reading, social media, suicide, unrecorded lives, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

  If you know me at all, you will know that Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout changed me, as a reader, as a writer, and as a person. Olive Kitteridge was the first book I read that looked like a novel, but was instead a series of short stories that were woven together such that it…

  michardillo

  May 1, 2024

  books, Essay, food

  book-review, book-reviews, books, chopsticks, detectives, Elizabeth Strout, fiction, food, Hisashi Kashiwai, Japan, Japanese food, Jesse Kirkwood, mysteries, novel, Olive Kitteridge, reading, short stories, writing