Tag: novel

• 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: A Happy Catastrophe by Maddie Dawson

  Happy. Hopeful. Depressing. Sad. Melancholy. Engaging. Frenetic. Anxious. Tedious. Mad. Bored. Chaotic. These are all things I felt while reading Maddie Dawson’s 2020 novel A Happy Catastrophe, published by Lake Union Publishing. (Disclosure: I purchased this book on Amazon for my Kindle.) As is sometimes the case, I found out after I had finished it…

  michardillo

  January 5, 2025

  books, Essay

  A Happy Catastrophe, Amazon, book-review, books, chick lit, depression, family, fiction, Fritzie, grief, Kindle, Lake Union Publishing, literary fiction, literature, Maddie Dawson, magic, Marnie, Matchmaking for Beginners, mental health, novel, pain, Patrick Delaney, reading, survivor’s guilt, therapist, trauma

• My Top Ten of 2024

  With only two days of 2024 left, I think my reading stats are pretty set in stone, unless I finish off one more book before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve so I can end on an even number. I had a good reading year but my total number of books is a bit…

  michardillo

  December 29, 2024

  books

  Amazon, Ann Napolitano, ARC, audiobook, book-review, books, Deborah Serra, Diane Parrish, Ebook, Elinor Lipman, Elizabeth Strout, Evie Woods, fiction, Katherine Center, Kindle, literature, NetGalley, novel, reading, Ruth Reichl, Sophia Kinsella, Susan Rieger], top ten, writer, writing

• Book Review: Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

  A book dominated by the daily bakes of a British pensioner? Sign. Me. Up. I just finished reading Olivia Ford’s debut novel, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame. A teacher colleague of mine—an avid reader and all around dear friend—gave me two books for Christmas and when I opened the package, this one was on top.…

  michardillo

  December 28, 2024

  books, Essay, food

  baking, book-review, books, British, British pastries, chocolate, cooking, debut novel, English, family, fiction, GBBO, Great British Baking Show, literature, middle school, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, Netflix, novel, Olivia Ford, reading, social media, tea, writer

• A Very Merry Bookmas!

  It’s Christmas Day! I’ve had a wonderful Advent and now Christmas season with my family and close friends. It has to be the most relaxed Christmas I’ve ever had, having retired from teaching this January 12, 2024, I came into Advent this year without reams of papers to grade, midterms to create and then grade,…

  michardillo

  December 25, 2024

  books, Essay, faith, food

  Advent, baking, book-review, books, chocolate, Christmas, cookbooks, cooking, cozy mystery, essays, exercise, faith, family, fiction, food, friends, healthy, Judi Dench, Kate Quinn, Martha Stewart, Maryland, Mass, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, nonfiction, novel, Olivia Ford, prayer, reading, self-care, Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent, teacher, teaching, The Briar Club, The Cookbook, writer, writing

• Book Review: Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

  Years ago I picked up an early book by this author, Curtis Sittenfeld, which was a collection of short stories called You Think It, I’ll Say It, published in May, 2018. I read about half the stories in that collection and returned it to the library. This week, I decided to do the same with…

  michardillo

  December 20, 2024

  books, Essay

  American Wife, book-review, books, Curtis Sittenfeld, DNF, Eligible, NetGalley, novel, Prep, Random House, reading, Rodham, Romantic Comedy, short stories, Show Don’t Tell, writer, You Think It I’ll Say It

• Book Review: Back After This by Linda Holmes

  This yet-to-be published new book, Back After This, is about the world of podcasting, but that is not why I requested an ARC from NetGalley. When I read the description, I saw that it was by the same author as Evvie Drake Starts Over (Ballantine, 2019), a book I read in 2020 and loved. Somewhere…

  michardillo

  December 10, 2024

  books, Essay

  #Currently Reading, Back After This, blind dates, Bon Appetit, book-review, books, brand collaboration, Christopher Kimball, cooking, covid, dog, Elinor Lipman, Evvie Drake Starts Over, fiction, Flying Solo, food, Goodreads, Great Dane, Kaytee Cobb, Linda Holmes, Meredith Monday Schwartz, Milk Street Radio, NetGalley, novel, podcast, reading, rom-com, Romance, social media, teaching, Washington DC, What Should I Read Next, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn

  One of my husband’s nicknames for me is “dolphin girl.” I love the water. I love being in the water swimming laps or just relaxing. I love being on the water in a boat, a ship, a ferry, a cruiseliner, anything. And, somewhat contrary to all of that, I also have a slight obsession with…

  michardillo

  December 1, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, British, Downton Abbey, England, estate, fiction, Frances Quinn, literature, Lord Storton, NetGalley, new money, novel, Random House, reading, The Lost Passenger, Titanic, titled heir

• Book Review: Southern by Design by Grace Helena Walz

  The title of this ARC, graciously provided to me by NetGalley and HarperCollins, called to me on many levels, and I immediately requested this debut novel by Grace Helena Walz. As a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying Southerner (born and raised in southeast Louisiana), I just knew instinctively that I would enjoy this book, and I did. I…

  michardillo

  November 14, 2024

  books, Essay

  Beaufort, book-review, books, Charleston, fiction, food, Grace Helena Walz, HarperCollins, HGTV, interior design, literature, Louisiana, mystery, NetGalley, New Orleans, novel, Port Sulphur, reading, South Carolina, Southern by Design

• Book Review: A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder by Dianne Freeman (Book #1 in the Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series)

  I recently grabbed a book off of the new mysteries shelf at my local library and knew almost immediately that I was missing quite a bit of backstory, only to realize I was starting with book #7 of a series. I enjoyed An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder – albeit without the backstory…

  michardillo

  November 5, 2024

  books, Essay

  A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder, An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder, book-review, books, British, Countess of Harleigh, cozy mystery, death, Dianne Freeman, Downton Abbey, England, English, family, fiction, Libby, library, literature, MCPL, mystery, novel, parenting, reading, social media, vacation, Victorian Era