Tag: writer

• Book Review: The Gardener‘s Plot: A Mystery by Deborah J. Benoit

  First of all, when I read the author’s bio for this book, I was 100% IN and immediately requested an ARC of this new mystery from Macmillan Publishers via NetGalley. This is Deborah Benoit’s debut novel and The Gardener’s Plot won the First Crime Novel Competition sponsored by Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America. Prior to…

  michardillo

  June 25, 2024

  books, Essay

  book-review, books, cozy mystery, death, debut novel, fiction, gardener, gardening, killer, mystery, novel, reading, writer, writing

• Book Review: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

  When I saw the news on social media that Elizabeth Strout had a new book coming out, I immediately began lobbying for an ARC, not out of greed or professional desire, but I just couldn’t wait all the way to August 13th to read another Strout work of art. Yes, I knew it would be…

  michardillo

  May 30, 2024

  books, Essay

  Bob Burgess, book-review, death, Elizabeth Strout, friendship, grief, Lucy Barton, Maine, novel, Olive Kitteridge, Oprah’s Book Club, reading, social media, suicide, unrecorded lives, writer, writing

• 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(s?): The Rom-Commers and Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center

  A colleague of mine recommended a book to me at the start of this school year, Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center. She said it was one of her favorites and that I should read it. So, in December, I did. And I liked it. It was about something I didn’t know anything about, face blindness,…

  michardillo

  April 8, 2024

  books, Essay

  Artist, book-review, books, fiction, Hello Stranger, Katherine Center, middle school, Portrait Artist, Romance, Screenwriter, Spicy, teacher, teaching, The Rom-Commers, writer, writing

• 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

• Learning the “Write” Way

  On September 12, 2015, my father would have been 85 years old. On September 8, it will be four months since he passed away. I miss him. I think of him all the time, just like I think of my mother all the time and it has been eight long years since I lost her.…

  michardillo

  September 6, 2015

  Essay

  anthologies, CoCo Harris, essays, grief, Julia Child, Julie Powell, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, personal narratives, Reflections, Telling Our Stories Press, writer, writing