Tag: reading

• Book Review: Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

  Cozy murder mysteries are my favorite genre, yet somehow I missed the buzz on Finlay Donovan is Killing It when it came out in 2021. So, late to the party, I finally checked out the ebook from Libby. Well! I flew through this book in four days–even though I didn’t read for two days in-between…

  michardillo

  May 8, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, Elle Cosimano, fiction, Finlay Donovan, Janet Evanovich, Libby, murder mysteries, mystery, reading, Stephanie Plum, 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

• The + Side of #SocialMedia

  As a practicing Catholic, each year I spend a few weeks before Lent to think about what I want to do during this season of preparation. Some Catholics give up something they love as a sacrifice, some add some sort of charity work or almsgiving during Lent, and some fast and pray more. When I…

  michardillo

  March 23, 2024

  Essay, faith

  Bookish Friends, books, Buy Nothing, Catholic, community, Currently Reading, facebook, fasting, Holy Week, K-pop, Katrina, korea, Lent, prayer, reader, reading, sacrifice, social media, teaching

• 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

• Book Review: Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple – Smell the Soup, Cool the Soup

  I used to sleep like a log every night. I could drink a cup of tea or a cup of coffee and turn out my lamp and fall asleep before I was finished with my prayers. I would wake up whenever forced to, many hours later, often in the exact same position I was in…

  michardillo

  August 31, 2020

  books, Essay

  age, aging, Bernadette, book-review, books, faith, insomnia, Kindle, Maria Semple, menopause, pandemic, reading, sleep, stress, teaching, writing

• Goodreads = Good Reading Habits

  I’ve been tracking my reading on Goodreads since August of 2008, so this month marks twelve years of books I’ve read, books I want to read (my “TBR” list), and sometimes, my thoughts on them. I wish I were better at writing reviews of all the books I read, but maybe this is something I…

  michardillo

  August 30, 2020

  Essay

  Aspen Hill Branch, BookBub, books, Goodreads, Kindle, Libby, MCPL, Modern Mrs. Darcy, Puccini, reading, TBR, teaching

• Shielding our Differences

  The summer before my first year of full-time teaching in middle school literature and English, I looked over the textbooks I would be using. As a second-career teacher with no formal education courses behind me, I had no idea how to plan a unit, but I knew how to read and analyze a piece of…

  michardillo

  June 23, 2020

  Essay

  epistolary novel, Holocaust, Jane Yolen, literature, middle school, New York, Oswego, Prentice Hall Penguin, reading, short story, Suzy and Leah

• Silver Linings

  Today is April 11, 2020, Holy Saturday. It’s a gloriously sunny day in metropolitan Washington, DC. Spring, as they say, has sprung. The pink dogwood in my front yard is blooming, and the white dogwood in my backyard is doing the same. It’s brisk and windy, but beautiful out—out where we are not supposed to…

  michardillo

  April 11, 2020

  Essay

  COVID 19, crocheting, family, Maryland, MCPL, reading, self-isolation, social distancing

• Check it out!

  Check out this month’s Washington Family Magazine for my freelance work in their June “Father’s Day” issue: “Father of Three, Father to Many More”, a profile on University of Maryland Men’s Basketball Coach Mark Turgeon. “Squash the Summer Slump”, an article aimed at helping parents prevent their children from losing ground over the summer break…

  michardillo

  June 1, 2018

  Essay

  Coach Mark Turgeon, college basketball, education, Father’s Day, reading, summer break, summer slump, teaching, University of Maryland, writing

• Cross on Over to Nerdy Book Club!

  After teaching The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, I wrote about the experience–and and the man behind it–for Nerdy Book Club. Please read it here and let me know your thoughts!

  michardillo

  May 23, 2018

  Essay

  Booked, Kwame Alexander, middle school, reading, Rebound, reluctant readers, Solo, sports, teaching, The Crossover