Tag: writer

• Book Review: Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott

  Murder by the Book (the novel, Kensington Cozies, 2018) by Lauren Elliott is the first in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series. I checked this book out to read on my Kindle via Libby through my local MCPL mostly because of the title and the cover. Many years ago, I directed a play by…

  michardillo

  January 29, 2025

  books, Essay

  Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series, book-review, books, cozy mystery, Craig Sodaro, death, education, fiction, Hamlet, Kensington Cozies, Kindle, Lauren Elliott, Libby, literature, middle school, Murder by the Book, mystery, New England, novel, Pioneer Drama Pulbishers, reading, teacher, theatre, writer, writing

• Book Review: You’re Not a Real Dog Owner Until … by Scott Dooley and Jason Chatfield

  As much as I love reading, I am relatively new to graphic novels, comics, manga, and other illustrated works. I requested an ARC of You’re Not a Real Dog Owner Until … by Scott Dooley and Jason Chatfield to broaden my perspective on this mixed media form of literature. (It didn’t hurt that I am…

  michardillo

  January 28, 2025

  books, Essay

  Andrew McMeel Publishing, book-review, books, cartoon, dog, dog owner, essays, graphic novel, Jason Chatfield, literature, manga, NetGalley, nonfiction, Puccini, reading, Scott Dooley, writer, writing, You’re Not a Real Dog Owner Until…

• Book Review: The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

  Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ebook ARC of this new novel, by an author new to me. Viola Shipman is the pen name for memoirist Wade Rouse. Rouse uses the pen name Viola Shipman for his fiction to honor his grandmother, and traces of that sentiment are found in this…

  michardillo

  January 20, 2025

  books, Essay

  ARC, book-review, books, cottage, Ebook, family, fiction, Goodreads, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Lake Michigan, literature, memoirist, NetGalley, nonfiction, novel, prologue, publishing, reading, The Page Turner, Viola Shipman, Wade Rouse, writer, writing

• Book Review: The Love Haters by Katherine Center

  First, thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC ebook of this new novel, soon to be published on May 20, 2025. For Katherine Center fans everywhere, I am sure this will be another smash hit! This is my third book by Katherine Center, who by her own admission is a writer…

  michardillo

  January 14, 2025

  books, Essay

  bathing suit, body image, book-review, books, dog, fiction, Goodreads, Great Dane, helicopter, Hello Stranger, hurricane, Katherine Center, literature, love story, middle school, NetGalley, novel, reading, rescue swimmer, St. Martin Press, swimming, swimsuit, teacher, The Happy Catastrophe, The Love Haters, The Rom-Commers, US Coast Guard, writer, writing

• 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