Tag: reading

• 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 Secret Menu by Shiamin Kwa

  The Secret Menu: Chinese Food in America and How I Made It by Shiamin Kwa is more than a memoir. It is more of an anthropological study of the Chinese culture in America, where the author wasn’t Chinese enough for home and too Chinese for her new country. In fact, the subtitle itself is somewhat…

  michardillo

  May 24, 2026

  books

  appropriation, ARC, book-review, books, Bryn Mawr, Ebook, Farrah Straus and Giroux, food, Kindle, literature, Malaysia, memoir, NetGalley, nonfiction, reading, recipes, Shiamin Kwa, teacher, teaching, The Secret Menu: Chinese Food in America and How I Made It, writer, writing

• Book Review: Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain

  Do you have a Buy Nothing group in your neighborhood? If you don’t know the answer to this question, head over to Facebook and search for it! Warning: participation in the Buy Nothing world can be quite addicting! About The Buy Nothing Project: The Buy Nothing Project, the world’s largest free-goods platform, is transforming how…

  michardillo

  May 21, 2026

  books, food

  BBC, BN Group, book-review, book-reviews, books, British, Buy Nothing Project, Clarkson Potter, collection, cookbook, cooking, cornbread dog, England, facebook, family, food, Nadiya Hussain, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, paprika egg filo bake, reading, social media, soda bread, Spotted Dick, The Great British Bake Off, Time to Eat, 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

• My April 2026 Reads!

  RUN, don’t walk…to read The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout! Another Strout masterpiece! How I love her writing! So many emotions, such great pacing, beautiful prose, but not pretentious or showy. See my review here. Also, Saoirse by Charleen Hurtubise is such a great book. If you like Irish scenery, characters who have…

  michardillo

  May 8, 2026

  books

  April reads, book-review, books, Charleen Hurtubise, Elizabeth Strout, literature, reading, Saoirse, The Things We Never Say, writing

• Book Review-The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder: A Novel by C.L. Miller

  To use a term often used in antique appraisals, this debut novel comes with quite a provenance, as it was written by the daughter of the late Judith Miller (1951-2023), a regular specialist on the wildly popular BBC Antiques Roadshow. Antiques Roadshow, both the UK version and the American version, is a favorite of mine.…

  michardillo

  May 8, 2026

  books

  antiques, Antiques Roadshow, ARC, Atria Books, BBC Antiques Roadshow, book-review, book-reviews, books, British, C.L. Miller, Chippendale, cozy mystery, death, debut novel, Ebook, England, English, fiction, Goodreads, Judith Miller, Kindle, literature, mystery, NetGalley, novel, NPR Books We Love in 2024, reading, The Antique Hunter’s Guide to Murder, writer, writing