Tag: writer

• My Top Ten of 2024

  With only two days of 2024 left, I think my reading stats are pretty set in stone, unless I finish off one more book before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve so I can end on an even number. I had a good reading year but my total number of books is a bit…

  michardillo

  December 29, 2024

  books

  Amazon, Ann Napolitano, ARC, audiobook, book-review, books, Deborah Serra, Diane Parrish, Ebook, Elinor Lipman, Elizabeth Strout, Evie Woods, fiction, Katherine Center, Kindle, literature, NetGalley, novel, reading, Ruth Reichl, Sophia Kinsella, Susan Rieger], top ten, writer, writing

• Book Review: Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

  A book dominated by the daily bakes of a British pensioner? Sign. Me. Up. I just finished reading Olivia Ford’s debut novel, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame. A teacher colleague of mine—an avid reader and all around dear friend—gave me two books for Christmas and when I opened the package, this one was on top.…

  michardillo

  December 28, 2024

  books, Essay, food

  baking, book-review, books, British, British pastries, chocolate, cooking, debut novel, English, family, fiction, GBBO, Great British Baking Show, literature, middle school, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, Netflix, novel, Olivia Ford, reading, social media, tea, writer

• A Very Merry Bookmas!

  It’s Christmas Day! I’ve had a wonderful Advent and now Christmas season with my family and close friends. It has to be the most relaxed Christmas I’ve ever had, having retired from teaching this January 12, 2024, I came into Advent this year without reams of papers to grade, midterms to create and then grade,…

  michardillo

  December 25, 2024

  books, Essay, faith, food

  Advent, baking, book-review, books, chocolate, Christmas, cookbooks, cooking, cozy mystery, essays, exercise, faith, family, fiction, food, friends, healthy, Judi Dench, Kate Quinn, Martha Stewart, Maryland, Mass, Mrs. Quinn’s Rise to Fame, nonfiction, novel, Olivia Ford, prayer, reading, self-care, Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent, teacher, teaching, The Briar Club, The Cookbook, writer, 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: Back After This by Linda Holmes

  This yet-to-be published new book, Back After This, is about the world of podcasting, but that is not why I requested an ARC from NetGalley. When I read the description, I saw that it was by the same author as Evvie Drake Starts Over (Ballantine, 2019), a book I read in 2020 and loved. Somewhere…

  michardillo

  December 10, 2024

  books, Essay

  #Currently Reading, Back After This, blind dates, Bon Appetit, book-review, books, brand collaboration, Christopher Kimball, cooking, covid, dog, Elinor Lipman, Evvie Drake Starts Over, fiction, Flying Solo, food, Goodreads, Great Dane, Kaytee Cobb, Linda Holmes, Meredith Monday Schwartz, Milk Street Radio, NetGalley, novel, podcast, reading, rom-com, Romance, social media, teaching, Washington DC, What Should I Read Next, writer, writing

• Book Review—The Paris Girl: The Young Woman Who Outwitted the Nazis and Became a WWII Hero by Francelle Bradford White

  When I look back through the list of nonfiction books I’ve read over the last few years, I am drawn to those titles where the author disseminates information about a topic in a narrative style not unlike a piece of historical fiction. At the top of that list (for me) would be: and others. These…

  michardillo

  November 21, 2024

  books, Essay

  Alain Groitteray, Andree Griotteray White, Bob Woodward, book-review, books, British, Carl Bernstein, Croix de Guerre, dementia, England, Erik Larson, Europe, France, Francelle Bradford White, Goodreads, Guy Simeon Songy, Jon Krakauer, Kensington Publishing, Legion d’honneur, liberation of Paris, Nazis, NetGalley, nonfiction, OSS, reading, Susan Orlean, The Paris Girl: The Young Woman Who Outwitted the Nazis and Became a WWII Hero, Tim O’Brien, writer, writing, WWII

• Book Review—Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones

  Most writers are also avid readers. However, not everyone who reads a lot can write, or even wants to write at all. In fact, there are some people who are great writers who don’t read much at all. This book, Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones, is by an avid…

  michardillo

  November 6, 2024

  books, Essay

  Annie B. Jones, book-review, books, bookstore, Elizabeth Strout, essays, Florida, From the Front Porch, Georgia, Gretchen Rubin, HarperOne, indie, library, NetGalley, nonfiction, NYC, Ordinary Time, reading, Southern, Tallahassee, Tell Me Everything, The Bookshelf, Thomasville, vacation, writer, writing

• Book Review: I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson

  With a busy week where I was spending a lot of time at my former school directing an adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew (written by my daughter, allow me a moment to brag), I had very little time to read, and when I did settle down after wrangling middle schoolers, I was out…

  michardillo

  October 22, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, fiction, Goodreads, Happy Rock, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Hollywood, I Only Read Murder, Ian Ferguson, middle school, Miranda Abbott, mystery, Mystery in the Title, NetGalley, Oregon, reading, theater, theatre, Will Ferguson, writer, writing

• Book Review: We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

  If you follow me, you might have noticed that I typically write my book reviews immediately after I finish reading a book, while it is still fresh in my mind. But, I finished Richard Osman’s latest book, We Solve Murders (Penguin Random House/Viking/Pamela Dorman Books, 2024), book #1 in a new series, three days ago.…

  michardillo

  September 30, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, fiction, Goodreads, Kindle, middle school, murder mystery, mystery, NetGalley, novel, Pamela Dorman, Penguin Random, publishing, Richard Osman, social media, The Thursday Murder Club, Viking, We Solve Murders, writer, writing

• Book Review: A Chest Full of Words by Rebecca Gugger and Simon Rothlisberger, translated from the German by Tim Mohr

  As an English and literature teacher for nearly 20 years, I have coached (and in some cases, coaxed) middle schoolers on essay writing, including the use of descriptive writing, more specifically the use of adjectives and adverbs. One method I used was to read with them an example of good descriptive writing, starting with Chapter…

  michardillo

  September 23, 2024

  books, Essay

  A Chest Full of Words, Annie Dillard, baking, book-review, books, British, chicken, cooking, English, essays, food, language arts, Laurie Colwin, library, literature, middle school, More Home Cooking, NetGalley, nonfiction, NorthSouth Books Inc., Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, reading, Rebecca Gugger, Simon Rothlisberger, teacher, teaching, The Metamorphisis, Tim Mohr, translated from the German, vocabulary, writer, writing