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The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog - Books & Literature
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TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday and #LinkParty #67 – September 4-October 1, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
What is Throwback Thursday? I've noticed many of these memes on a few book blogs. For example, Susan Loves Books does one, which is (or was originally) hosted by Renee@It’s Book Talk. I also noticed that Lorrea @ What 'Cha Readin'?, was doing this as a monthly meme, and Reading Maria does something called "Last…
From Filings to Fillings. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Julia: A Novel Inspired by the Extraordinary Life of Julia Child” by Heather B. Moore. Summary: "On the sunny shores of California, Julia McWilliams is poised to embrace a life of comfort and financial security, with a marriage proposal from a wealthy man to consider. But as World War II erupts in…
TCL’s #RandomBookishThoughts #5 – Well, Actually… – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
What are Random Bookish Thoughts? There are many different discussion memes in the book blogosphere, but most of them come up with topics that have some level of a universal appeal to most, if not all, book bloggers or readers. However, sometimes I think of things that I believe are unique to me and my…
Three Love Stories, Actually. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Atmosphere: A Love Story” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Summary: "Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That…
TCL’s #T5T – Top Five Tuesday #20 – August 26, 2025 – Freebie on Free Time! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Top Five Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. To participate, link your post back to Meeghan's blog or leave a comment on her weekly post. This week, Meeghan gave us a Freebie, so I'm going with: Favorite things I do when I'm…
A TCL #ShortStorySunday post – Three Novellas. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Hebrew Teacher: Three Novellas” by Maya Arad (translated by Jessica Cohen). Summary: "Three Israeli women, their lives altered by immigration to the United States, seek to overcome crises. Ilana is a veteran Hebrew instructor at a Midwestern college who has built her life around her career. When a young Hebrew literature…
TCL’s #LetsDiscuss2025 #8 – Changing Bookish Opinions – #LetsTalkBookish2025 #3. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
This week's #LetsTalkBookish topic is... A Change in Bookish Opinions Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact, I'm certain that many will disagree and/or even hate many of the things I've written below. Sorry about that, but you are always welcome to express…
TCL’s WWW Wednesday #20 – August 20, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
The WWW Wednesday meme This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was revived by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do an update on your reading and plans. I know lots of people do this one every week, but my being such…
All Together Now, in Crosby. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Tell Me Everything” (Amgash #5) by Elizabeth Strout. Summary: "It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy…
Scary Santa in Seal Bay. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Mince Pies and Murder” (Morwenna Mutton Mystery #4) by Judy Leigh. Summary: "As Christmas approaches in the Cornish town of Seal Bay, festive cheer fills the air. Sparkling trees and twinkling lights adorn every corner, and Morwenna Mutton, the sharp-witted sexagenarian sleuth, is eagerly counting down the days. But when local author…
TCL’s #SomethingDifferent Saturday #25 – Pottery & Kitchen Things! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Yes, I'm still taking a pottery classes, and still baking my own bread! So, here are some updates on both those fronts. Remember I promised myself I'd do more work on the wheel? So, how's that going? Well, I'm happy to announce that I've had a breakthrough! A couple weeks ago, I was working on…
TCL’s Spell the Month in Books #26 – August 2025! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Reviews From the Stacks Once again, I want to thank Jana and her blog Reviews from the Stacks, who created this fun, monthly book list meme. Now, it is true that Jana runs a link party for this which is supposed to take place on the first Saturday of every month. However, as you all…
Teaching Communications. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Happy New Years” by Maya Arad (translated by Jessica Cohen). Summary: "After emigrating to the United States in the mid-1960s, Leah maintains her connection to Israel by writing an annual letter on the Jewish new year to her old friends from a women's teaching college. Comprising five decades of correspondence, the novel…
Finding Another One of Us. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman. Summary: "Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows…
TCL’s Shelf Control #22 – Sorry or Not Sorry? – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration created by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies, of the unread books on our shelves. Lisa says: "Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more…
Small Town American Scenarios. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Something to Look Forward To: Fictions” by Fannie Flagg. Summary: "We meet Velma from Kansas, a loving great-grandmother who struggles to bridge the generational divide with her great-grandchild in California. Why, for instance, does her great-grandchild sign letters to Velma with “(they/them)”? We cheer for Helen, in Ithaca, New York, who takes…
TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for August 2, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
From "The Safekeep" by Yael Van Der Wouden, to "The Address" by Fiona Davis. This is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be…
TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday and #LinkParty #66 – July 31-August 3, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
What is Throwback Thursday? I've noticed many of these memes on a few book blogs. For example, Susan Loves Books does one, which is (or was originally) hosted by Renee@It’s Book Talk. I also noticed that Lorrea @ What 'Cha Readin'?, was doing this as a monthly meme, and Reading Maria does something called "Last…
TCL’s #RandomBookishThoughts #4 – 700! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
What are Random Bookish Thoughts? There are many different discussion memes in the book blogosphere, but most of them come up with topics that have some level of a universal appeal to most, if not all, book bloggers or readers. However, sometimes I think of things that I believe are unique to me and my…
TCL’s WWW Wednesday #19 – July 23, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
The WWW Wednesday meme This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was revived by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do an update on your reading and plans. I know lots of people do this one every week, but my being such…
I Resemble That! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Portrait” by Antoine Laurain (Translated by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce). Summary: "Pierre-François Chaumont has promised his wife that he won't spend another centime at the auction house. His collecting habit is out of hand and she refuses to let another antique through the door. With his marriage at stake, he…
TCL’s #CCSpin #41 Book Review – Bond Begins! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Casino Royale” (James Bond #1) by Ian Fleming. Summary: "British Secret Service agent James Bond, a.k.a. 007, is sent to play in a high-stakes baccarat game in an effort to take down Le Chiffre, a financier for the villainous SMERSH. Things get more complex when Bond is partnered with Vesper Lynd, a…
TCL’s #TopTenTuesday – Location, location, location (a week late) – July 29, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
The topic for my third #TTT for 2025 is actually from last week, but I wanted to do this before #ParisinJuly2025 ends: Books set in/take place during X! According to Jana's website: "Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl…
Writing the Endings. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Dear Miss Lake” (The Emmy Lake Chronicles #4) by A.J. Pearce. Summary: "London, July 1944. After nearly five years of war, the readers of Woman’s Friendmagazine are relying on the support of Emmy Lake and her team more than ever. With the city under attack, the magazine staff decamps to the countryside…
Village Missives. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Dear Hugo” by Molly Clavering. Summary: "Sara Monteith makes an ideal correspondent for Hugo Jamieson, brother of her lost love Ivo, killed in the war before they could marry. Her neighbours in the lovely Border village of Ravenskirk don't know that Sara has moved here because it's where Ivo and Hugo grew…
TCL’s #T5T – Top Five Tuesday #19 – July 15, 2025 – About Time! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Top Five Tuesday was originally created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now hosted by Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads. To participate, link your post back to Meeghan's blog or leave a comment on her weekly post. This week, Meeghan asked us to put up our top five books with Times of Day in…
TCL’s DiscussionSunday 2025 #3, #BookBloggerHop #3 – Blog Postings – #LetsDiscuss2025 #7. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Welcome to another #DiscussionSunday post. This time, the question is a Book Blogger Hop topic for the week of July 11-17, 2025: How many weekly bookish posts do you put on your blog and/or social media? Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact,…
TCL’s Spell the Month in Books #25 — July 2025! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Reviews From the Stacks Last year I discovered Jana and her blog Reviews from the Stacks. Jana created this fun, monthly book meme. Now, it is true that Jana runs a link party for this which is supposed to take place on the first Saturday of every month. However, that day is reserved for #6Degrees…
Shifting Sands and Tides. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Coastliners” by Joanne Harris. Summary: "Set on a small, blustery fishing island off the coast of France, Coastliners is the story of Mado, a young woman who returns to her childhood home to find the local community torn apart by family feuds, bad tides and murky political machinations. Passionate, stubborn Mado tries…
Writers Anonymous? – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The First Line (The French List)” by Jean-Marie Laclavetine, (Teresa Lavender Fagan - translator). Summary: "Cyril Cordouan is the beleaguered editor at Fulmen, a distinguished publishing house known for its solid but not particularly popular literary titles. Every day, Cyril faces an avalanche of subpar manuscripts, struggling to find a glimmer of…
TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for July 5, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
From "Theory & Practice" by Michelle de Krester, to "The Silver-Haired Sisterhood" by Judy Leigh. This is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be…
TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday and #LinkParty #65 – July 3 -30, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
What is Throwback Thursday? I've noticed many of these memes on a few book blogs. For example, Susan Loves Books does one, which is (or was originally) hosted by Renee@It’s Book Talk. I also noticed that Lorrea @ What 'Cha Readin'?, was doing this as a monthly meme, and Reading Maria does something called "Last…
Announcement: TCL’s #2025NewReleaseChallenge Q3 Link Party is now OPEN! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
What is New Release Reading Challenge? The New Release Reading Challenge was developed and run by (un)Conventional Bookworms, a book blog run by the talented and beautiful Bookworm Brandee and Linda Tiliagren. They've been hosting this year-long reading challenge for several years, but life has gotten in the way of their continuing. After consulting with…
Four Getting to Forget. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “All The Words We Know” by Bruce Nash. Summary: "Rose may be in her eighties and suffering from dementia, but she’s not done with life just yet. Alternately sharp as a tack and spectacularly forgetful, she spends her days roaming the corridors of her assisted living facility, musing on the staff and…
TCL’s #LetsDiscuss2025 #6 & Book Blogger Hop #2 – Whoops! – June 27-July 3, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Today's topic comes from the Book Blogger Hop for the week of June 27-July 3 The topic is... Have you ever purchased the wrong book by accident? If so, what did you do next? Did you return the book, keep it, pass it on to another reader, or donate it? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)…
TCL’s WWW Wednesday #18 – June 25, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
The WWW Wednesday meme This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was revived by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do an update on your reading and plans. I know lots of people do this one every week, but my being such…
An Agency for Death. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “An Amateur Sleuth's Guide to Murder” by Lynn Cahoon. Summary: "TIP #1: WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU COUNTS AS WORK EXPERIENCE. Meg Gates could use a guidebook for life. Indeed, she’s faced some challenges. She dropped out of college to work for a tech startup that failed—and her fiancé just took her bridesmaid…
Mum(my)s The Word! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Golden Child” by Penelope Fitzgerald. Summary: "Penelope Fitzgerald's novel, The Golden Child, combines a deft comedy of manners with a classic mystery set in London's most refined institution—the museum. When the glittering treasure of ancient Garamantia, the golden child, is delivered to the museum, a web of intrigue tightens around its…
The Classics Club Spin #CCSpin #41 pick for TCL! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Our lucky winning number for the 41st Classics Club Spin is... ELEVEN! According to my announcement post, this means I will be reading... "Casino Royale" by Ian Fleming. According to Goodreads... "British Secret Service agent James Bond, a.k.a. 007, is sent to France to play in a high-stakes baccarat game in an effort to…
TCL’s Tell Me Something Tuesday #TMST #16 – What’s Next? – June 17, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
TMST is a weekly meme with optional participation hosted by Jen Twimom @ That's What I'm Talking About. There isn't a check in and she doesn't have a linky. She does, however, encourage you to leave a link to your post on her blog if you participate so she and others can find you! Jen…