Tag: novel

• 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, Oprah’s Book Club, 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

• Book Review: Mrs. Porter Calling by A. J. Pearce

  One of my favorite books of 2019 was Dear Mrs. Bird by A. J. Pearce, which I read just before the lockdown and the horrible pandemic thing ensued. I love that book so much that my family finally did an intervention and asked me to STOP talking about Emmy and her friends. Since then, I’ve…

  michardillo

  May 14, 2023

  Essay

  A J Pearce, ARC, book-review, books, British, Cheerfully, Dear Mrs. Bird, death, dog, Emmy Lake, England, English, fiction, grief, Kindle, literature, London, NetGalley, novel, reading, writer, writing, WWII, Yours Mrs. Porter Calling