Tag: Paris

• France 🇫🇷 or Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿, which would it be?

  

  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? My maternal grandparents were Scottish immigrants, born and raised in Glasgow, who came to America for better jobs and religious freedom. My grandfather fought (and was gassed) in WWI, and never fully recovered his health after that experience. They were born Catholics living…

  michardillo

  November 18, 2025

  Essay

  Cahors, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2122, France, Glasgow, Loubressac, Operation Cadillac, OSS, parachute, Paris, Resistance Museum, Scotland, SOE

• Book Review: Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley

  

  Two years ago I read the first book in The Guncle series, and I absolutely loved it. I gave it 5 stars and wrote about it here. Last night I finished reading on my Kindle book 2 in the series, Guncle Abroad (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, May 2024) and while I loved revisiting Patrick, brother Greg,…

  michardillo

  November 13, 2025

  books

  Angelina’s, Austria, birthday, book-review, books, Coco Chanel, Europe, European travel, fiction, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, grief, hot chocolate, Kindle, Lake Como, literature, London, love, Milan, Mont Blanc, movie star, novel, Paris, Prada, reading, Steven Rowley, The Guncle, The Guncle Abroad, The Sound of Music, Venice, wedding

• Book Review: Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man] by Jesse Q. Sutanto

  After a brief hiatus of flying through books and writing reviews, I am back from a family trip and just finished this book. I absolutely loved Jesse Q. Sutanto’s first book in this newish series, Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (Berkley, 2023). It was a five-star read for me. I thought it was fresh…

  michardillo

  May 3, 2025

  books, Essay

  Berkley Publishing, book-review, books, fiction, Goodreads, Jesse Q. Sutanto, literature, murder mystery, mystery, novel, Paris, reading, social media, Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man), Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

• 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: An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder by Dianne Freeman

  The “good news:” This gorgeous cover (you had me at “art” and “Paris”) made me snatch this book right off the shelf at my local library (shout out to Aspen Hill Library, a branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries, Montgomery County, Maryland). It had been a long week and I was needing to read my…

  michardillo

  October 23, 2024

  books, Essay

  An Art Lover’s Guide to Paris and Murder, art, book-review, books, Countess of Harleigh Mystery, cozy mystery, Dianne Freeman, England, fiction, France, library, London, mistresses, murder, mystery, novel, Paris, Paris Exposition, reading, tea, Victorian Era

• Book Review: The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

  Although I just returned from a week in Ireland, and two weeks in France, we were nowhere near Paris, due to the Olympics taking over the city. While the southwest of France where we exclusively traveled on this trip was beautiful, I do wish I could get to Paris for two things: more French food…

  michardillo

  August 19, 2024

  books, Essay

  books, domestic abuse, dual timeline, Evie Woods, fairy godmother, France, institutional abuse, Ireland, magical realism, Paris, reading, Ruth Reichl, Shakespeare and Company, St. Stephen’s Green, The Lost Bookshop, The Paris Novel, Tumbleweed, writing

• Book Review: The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

  While considerable thought goes into packing clothing for an overseas vacation, especially when visiting multiple countries with differing climates, I give equally as much thought into what I will read on the trip. My Kindle is always fully loaded and downloaded and ready to go. For my recent trip to Ireland and France, I had…

  michardillo

  July 8, 2024

  books, Essay

  art, book-review, books, chef, cooking, Dior, fashion, fiction, foie gras, food, France, Gourmet, Kindle, leeks, library, literature, Manet, novel, NYT Food, Paris, Plaquemines Parish, reading, Ruth Reichl, saffron