Tag: teacher

• Book Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

  I am seriously late to this party as my first book for February is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, published by Ballantine Books in May of 2021. I don’t know why it took me so long to read this stellar (lol) sci-fi novel except that I typically shy away from huge blockbuster hits that…

  michardillo

  February 2, 2026

  books

  Andy Weir, book-review, books, Dr. Ryland Grace, fiction, Hail Mary, junior high, literature, Mark Watney, Matt Damon, middle school, novel, Project Hail Mary, reading, sci-fi, science teacher, teacher, teaching, The Martian, writing

• Book Review: More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

  I had a solid reading month in December, with three great (4-stars each) books, and my reading year of 2025 was overall fabulous, with FIFTEEN 5-star books of fiction! so naturally, I wanted to start 2026 with a very successful read. I looked through my list of TBR books in NetGalley and decided on More…

  michardillo

  January 5, 2026

  books

  Anna Quindlen, book-review, book-reviews, books, contemporary-fiction, fiction, literature, Louisa May Alcott, More Than Enough, NetGalley, novel, Random House, reading, teacher, teaching, writing

• Poor Directions to The Great White Way

  What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail. For most of the first 25 years of my life I wanted to be an attorney. My career path seemed to be set in stone, as from an early age, I remember my father saying someday I would make a great lawyer. When…

  michardillo

  October 10, 2025

  Essay

  Button Button, Carmen Miranda, Columbia Theatre Players, community theatre, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2086, Hamlet, Lady Bracknell, LSAT, LSU Law School, paralegal, Richard Matheson, teacher, The Importance of Being Earnest, theatre

• Book Review: Just One Gift by Linda Sue Park

  I was browsing new titles on NetGalley recently and saw a title listed that immediately caught my attention. The book was Just One Gift (HarperCollins/Clarion Books, April 2026) by Linda Sue Park. I didn’t know Linda Sue Park at all until late summer 2017 when I found out that I would be teaching one section…

  michardillo

  August 28, 2025

  books

  12th century, A Single Shard, Ancient Korea, Asian art, Asian pottery, book-review, books, Clarion, family, fiction, Freer Gallery, HarperCollins Publishers, Just One Gift, language arts, Linda Sue Park, literature, middle school, NetGalley, Newbery Medal, Peacock Room, pottery, reading, Smithsonian, teacher, teaching

• Pharrell Taught Me Well

  What positive emotion do you feel most often? The lyrics of the 2013 hit “Happy” by Pharrell Williams really do answer this question for me. Clap along if you feel like a room without a roofClap along if you feel like happiness is the truthClap along if you know what happiness is to youClap along…

  michardillo

  August 17, 2025

  Essay

  classroom, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2032, findthejoy, happiness, Happy, Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana, Pharrell Williams, reading, school, social media, teacher, teaching, writing

• Teachers: Those Who Can’t Teach? Not On Your Life!

  What profession do you admire most and why? Full disclosure, I am a teacher. I taught full time from 2007 to 2020, middle school English and literature. Then covid hit and I sat out (per doctor’s orders) the 2020-2021 school year since I wasn’t old enough for the vaccine yet. A shift in administration created…

  michardillo

  August 11, 2025

  Essay

  Catholic school, certification, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-2027, education, English, essays, grad school, language arts, library, literature, middle school, reading, retirement, secondary education, teacher, teaching, writer, writing

• Book Review: The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell

  NetGalley is a digital platform that provides book people with FREE advance reading copies (ARCs) of books yet to be released in exchange for a review written and posted on their site, on Goodreads, on Amazon, on your own social media. Sometimes you are offered a book, but more often you request a book that…

  michardillo

  July 9, 2025

  books

  #Currently Reading, Alexandra Bell, Amazon, Ann Napolitano, Anne Tyler, ARC, Belle Epoque, book-review, books, death, Del Rey, Elizabeth Strout, England, Eve Shaw, Evie Woods, fiction, France, Goodreads, grief, historical fiction, Kaytee Cobb, Kindle, literature, London, magical realism, Max Everly, Meredith Monday Schwartz, NetGalley, novel, octopuses, Penguin, podcast, Ray Bradbury, reading, realistic fiction, Richard Osman, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, tattoo, teacher, teaching, The Lost Bookshop, The White Octopus Hotel, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

  The Killer Question by Janice Hallett (Atria Books, September 2025) is my third book by Hallett. All of her books, those I’ve read and those I’ve yet to read, are told in epistolary style, meaning the story is told through a series of letters, or in modern terms, a series of emails, interoffice communications, text…

  michardillo

  June 30, 2025

  books

  84 Charing Cross Road, Annie Barrows, Atria Books, book-review, books, British, Catherine Called Birdy, Chat GPT, Emily Blunt, England, epistolary novels, Ewan McGregor, fiction, food, Goodreads, Helene Hanff, Janice Hallett, Karen Cushman, Kim Fay, Kindle, library, literature, Love and Saffron, Mary Ann Shaffer, middle school, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Paul Torday, reading, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Scotland, teacher, teaching, The Appeal, The Examiner, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Killer Question, writer

• Book Review: Dear Miss Lake by AJ Pearce

  I have a love-hate relationship with book series. Part of me loves the continuity, the bond established between the reader and the characters from book to book, the story taking me on a journey and coming back full-circle. But, I also hate when the series ends. To me, after I’ve invested so much time with…

  michardillo

  June 11, 2025

  books

  AJ Pearce, Blitz, book series, book-review, books, British, Dear Miss Lake, Dear Mrs. Bird, Edelweiss, England, English, fiction, Kate Messner, Kindle, library, literature, London, Maryland, Mrs. Porter Calling, mystery, novel, reading, Scholastic Press, Scribner, Silver Jaguar, social media, teacher, teaching, writer, writing, WWII, Yours Cheerfully

• Book Review: Buzz! Boom! Bang! By Benjamin Gottwald

  This delightful children’s picture book has no words, just beautiful and colorful illustrations. It is a master class in the literary device onomatopoeia. If I were still teaching middle school language arts, I would bring this book into my 7th and 8th grade literature classroom and have students sit in small groups to “read” it…

  michardillo

  May 25, 2025

  books

  Benjamin Gottwald, book-review, books, Buzz! Boom! Bang!, education, Hamburg Picture Book Prize, Hurricane Katrina, illustrations, language arts, literary device, literature, Louisiana, middle school, Mississippi River, NetGalley, nonfiction, NorthSouth Books Inc., onomatopoeia, picture book, reading, teacher, teaching