Tag: novel

• 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

  michardillo

  July 28, 2026

  books

  book-review, Booker Prize, books, Elizabeth Strout, fiction, literature, novel, reading, The Things We Never Say, writing

• Book Review: The Mad Widows by Scott Moore

  I just finished The Mad Widows by Scott Moore last night and what a wild ride of a book! The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking, “It’s like I’m reading a screenplay!” I could actually picture what was going even if I couldn’t clearly put a face on any of the…

  michardillo

  July 25, 2026

  books

  ARC, Bad Moms, Bad Moms: The Novel, book-review, book-reviews, books, cozy mystery, death, debut novel, fiction, grief, grief counseling therapy, It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Okay Too), Jon Lucas, Kindle, literature, mystery, NetGalley, Nora McInerny, novel, reading, Scott Moore, Simon and Schuster, suicide, The Hangover, The Mad Widows, writer, writing

• 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,…

  michardillo

  July 24, 2026

  Essay

  Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, books, British, continental breakfast, cozy mystery, croissant, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2832, David Suchet, England, English, fiction, food, Hercule Poirot, literature, Miss Marple, Murder on the Orient Express, mystery, novel, reading, Sunday roast, tea, teacher, teaching, writing

• Book Review: The Secret Thread by Eve Chase

  Last night I finished this newly published book, The Secret Thread by Eve Chase, and I will be thinking about it for a long time. The title is quite fitting as there is a thread running through this story, invisible at first, and as the story of Jo, Mimi, Woody, Pamela, and others unfolds, that…

  michardillo

  July 20, 2026

  books

  Afghan, ARC, auction, Ballantine Books, book-review, book-reviews, books, Britain, British, Buy Nothing, contemporary-fiction, crochet, Ebook, England, English, Eve Chase, family, fiction, Goodreads, granny square, Jo O’Mara, Kindle, literature, London, love, Margareta Magnusson, Marie Kondo, Mimi Mott, mystery, NetGalley, novel, reading, Scribner, Ten Speed Press, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, The Secret Thread, writing

• Book Review: The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins

  I just finished this book last night and I am truly impressed that this is a debut novel. The Three Graces of Pearl Street by Elizabeth Wellington Rollins is soon to be published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, which is one of the “Big Five” of publishing. The Big Five is…

  michardillo

  July 8, 2026

  books

  ARC, Atria Books, author, book-review, book-reviews, books, Catholic, Catholic Church, chicken cutlet, Columbia University, contemporary-fiction, cooking, debut novel, Elizabeth Wellington Rollins, family, fiction, food, food pantry, italian-american, Italy, lasagna, literature, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, NetGalley, novel, NYC, pizza slice, reading, teaching, The Three Graces of Pearl Street, type 1 diabetes, writer, writing

• Book Review: Go Gentle by Maria Semple

  First of all, thank you to Goodreads and the publisher, G. P. Putnam & Sons, for the hardback copy of this book, complete with the beautiful dust-jacket color photo of what appears to be the Venus de Milo, a stunning piece of art on display in the Louvre in Paris. Be careful, though, in this…

  michardillo

  June 26, 2026

  books

  book-review, book-reviews, books, coven, fiction, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Goodreads, grief, literature, Little Brown and Company, mystery, novel, reading, Romance, Venus de Milo, Where’d You Go Bernadette

• Book Review: Let’s Not Go Overboard Here by Erica Hendry

  First of all, many thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing Hardcover, and Erica Hendry for the ARC of this book just recently published (June 2, 2026). While I loved receiving this ARC of a debut novel, I don’t think I am the target audience for Let’s No Go Overboard Here by Erica Hendry. This book…

  michardillo

  June 9, 2026

  books

  ARC, book-review, book-reviews, books, death, debut novel, Erica Hendry, fiction, Grand Central Publishing, grief, Let’s Not Go Overboard Here, literature, mystery, NetGalley, novel, reading, writing

• My May Reads 2026

  May was a busy reading month but not a month of all star, blockbuster reads. These were good reads, solid 3-stars. Happy Reading, everyone!!!

  michardillo

  June 6, 2026

  books

  book-review, books, Brian Platzer, C.L. Miller, fiction, food, Goodreads, Kindle, literature, MJ Soni, mystery, Nadiya Hussain, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, NetGalley, novel, reading, Shiamin Kwa, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, The Masala Chai Mystery Club, The Optimists, The Secret Menu: Chinese Food in America and How I Made It, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Masala Chai Mystery Club by MJ Soni

  This cozy mystery should get an award for inclusivity! It ticks off all the boxes: gender, ethnicity, age, disabled/abled, economic status, it’s all in there. Was it too much? Maybe. At the beginning it was a whole lot being thrown at the reader. I’ve seen reviews that say the first 20% or so was slow…

  michardillo

  June 2, 2026

  books

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, Crooked Lane Books, debut novel, fiction, food, Goodreads, HOA, India, Indian food, literature, MJ Soni, murder mystery, mystery, NetGalley, novel, reading, recipes, Richard Osman, tea, The Masala Chai Mystery Club, The Thursday Murder Club, writing

• Book Review: The Optimists by Brian Platzer

  I’ll begin this review of The Optimists by Brian Platzer with a quote from another reviewer on Goodreads: I’ll admit, when I finished this book I immediately went to Goodreads to look at some of the reviews, a few 5-star, a few 1-star, and then I turned to the 3-star reviews. Near the top I…

  michardillo

  May 15, 2026

  books

  animal cruelty, ARC, book-review, book-reviews, books, Brian Platzer, English, essays, fiction, Goodreads, literature, Little Brown and Company, middle school, NetGalley, novel, NYC, reading, teacher, teaching, The Optimists, writer, writing