Tag: short stories

• Book Review: Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith

  

  Alexander McCall Smith, is a Scottish legal scholar turned prolific author of fiction. He was born in present day Zimbabwe and grew up there, starting his education at Christian Brothers College, before moving to Scotland to study law at the University of Edinburgh where he earned a LLB and a PhD. He returned to Africa…

  michardillo

  February 20, 2026

  books

  Alexander McCall Smith, book-review, books, British, fiction, Kindle, literature, Louisiana, New Orleans, novel, Portuguese Irregular Verbs, reading, Scotland, short stories, The Lost Language of Oysters, 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: 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

• Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (And Work)!

  When I started teaching 8th grade English, I had the urge to do some writing for myself. Modeling essay structure for my students became fun, not work. I had many papers to write in my graduate courses for certification to teach, and my instructors would tell me I was a good writer. But, teaching full-time…

  michardillo

  August 14, 2018

  Essay

  Antiques Roadshow, Baltimore’s Child Magazine, essays, goals, short stories, Washington Family Magazine, writing