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The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog - Books & Literature
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TCL’s #LetsDiscuss2025 #2 – Freebie Week! – #LetsTalkBookish2025 #1. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Because this week's #LetsTalkBookish topic was a freebie, I decided I'll talk about something I've been thinking about lately. Therefore, my question is... Do you read memoirs? 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…
TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for February 1, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
From Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos to The First Actress by C.W. Gortner! This is a monthly link-up hosted by KateW 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 #60 – Jan 30-Feb 26, 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…
Dream Doll or Toy Monster? – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Let's Call Her Barbie” by Renée Rosen. Summary: "When Ruth Handler walks into the boardroom of the toy company she co-founded and pitches her idea for a doll unlike any other, she knows what she’s setting in motion. It might just take the world a moment to catch up. In 1956, the…
#LetsDiscuss2025 #1 – Truth in Fiction – #DiscussionSunday 2025 #1. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Welcome to another #DiscussionSunday post. This time, the question is... How much truth needs to be in Historical Fiction? 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…
The First Battle Race Book. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Secret of Chimneys” by Agatha Christie. Summary: "Little did Anthony Cade suspect that an errand for a friend would land him at the center of a deadly conspiracy. Drawn into a web of intrigue, he begins to realize that the simple favor has placed him in serious danger. As events unfold,…
Setting the Match Game. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Ace, Marvel, Spy: A Novel of Alice Marble” by Jenni L. Walsh. Summary: "Alice Marble strives to have it all. Alice tirelessly works her way up to be a #1 tennis champion, all while maintaining a growing career trajectory editing the Wonder Women comic. She enjoys her hard-earned success with her loving…
TCL’s #MustGetMonday #5! – Tyler Made! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Must Get Monday is something I found on Becca's blog @ The Becca Files (@thebeccafiles), which she's been doing for quite a while now. I've only joined in four times before, but sometimes the time is right! Becca says: Whether it’s an upcoming release, new release, or even one that has been out for ages…
TCL’s Spell the Month in Books #19 – January 2025! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Reviews From the Stacks A while back 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…
TCL’s Best of the Best List for 2013-2024! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
You've seen my yearly Top Five/Top Ten lists, and now it is time for another "best of the best" list! For those of you who have been following this blog, you’ll know that a couple years ago, I had to make the decision to stick to only 10 books, or just keep adding on. I…
Ancient Angles. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Stolen Queen” by Fiona Davis. Summary: "Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same. New York City,…
TCL’s 6th My Life in Books (aka Life According to Literature) Tag – 2024 Version. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
I started doing this book tag in 2019 which was called "Life According to Literature" with different prompts. These were done by Brona’s Books, ANZ LitLovers LitBlog, and Veronica @ The Burgeoning Book Shelf. I understand that Veronica originally found it on Theresa Smith Writes and Claire’s Reads and Reviews, among others! Then, in 2020 I…
The Quick Switch. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Muse” by Jessie Burton. Summary: "On a hot July day in 1967, Odelle Bastien climbs the stone steps of the Skelton gallery in London, knowing that her life is about to change forever. Having struggled to find her place in the city since she arrived from Trinidad five years ago, she…
TCL’s WWW Wednesday #13 – January 8, 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…
Clotted Plotting. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Cream Tea Killer” (Morwenna Mutton #3) by Judy Leigh. Summary: "After the excitement of her last investigation, amateur sleuth Morwenna is looking forward to things getting back to normal. When local DJ Irina asks to meet however, desperate to share information she has discovered regarding nefarious goings-on, Morwenna can’t resist. But…
TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for January 4, 2025. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
From Orbital by Samantha Harvey to The Boys Next Door by Dan Greenberger! This is a monthly link-up hosted by KateW 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 connected to…
TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday and #LinkParty #59 – January 2-29, 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 Q1 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…
TCL’s #TopTenTuesday – The Best Books of 2024. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
2024 was the Year of: Almost Too Many 5/5 Starred Books! This past year I read far more books than my 67 book goal (mind you, I read quite a few short stories that Goodreads counts as separate books). That had me worried that I had too many books for this list! However, the truth…
TCL’s 2025 Reading Challenge Participation Post! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Happy New Year (on Wednesday)! Once again, I'm making one participation post for a bunch of reading (and blogging) challenges in which I'm joining this year. They include: 2025 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025 New Release Reading Challenge 2025 What's In a Name Challenge #LetsDiscuss2025 I'll also be participating in the usual memes, tags, and…
Cleve Into Thee! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Knife Skills for Beginners” by Orlando Murrin. Summary: "When chef Paul Delamare agrees to help his old friend Christian by teaching at an exclusive residential cookery school in Belgravia, the only thing he expects his students to murder is his taste buds. But on the first night, the unthinkable someone turns up…
TCL’s Shelf Control #19 – Waxing Brazilian. – 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…
TCL’s #LetsDiscuss2024 #15 – Picture That – December 20-26, 2024 #LetsTalkBookish #15. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
This is a "Let's Talk Bookish" topic which is ... This week's topic is: How Do You Picture Characters When You Read? So, without any further ado… 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…
TCL’s Spell the Month in Books #18 – December 2024! – 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, once again, I'm…
19th Century Maine Stories. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories” by Sarah Orne Jewett. Summary: "Set in a small, coastal town in Maine, this enduring sequence of intimate stories has assumed its rightful place in the pantheon of American classics. A series of small, beautifully rendered sketches as a sustained narrative, perfectly evoking…
TCL’s #ReReadTandT #5 – Cold Country Curious. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Postern of Fate” by Agatha Christie. Summary: "A poisoning many years ago may not have been accidental after all... Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have just become the proud owners of an old house in an English village. Along with the property, they have inherited some worthless bric-a-brac, including a collection of antique…
#ShortStorySunday – The Pan to Pile Puzzle! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Review for “The Answer is No” a Short Story by Fredrik Backman (Translated by Elizabeth Denoma). Summary: "Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a…
Announcing TCL’s New Release Challenge for 2025! #2025NewReleaseChallenge with Sign Up Link Party. – 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…
TCL’s WWW Wednesday #12 – December 11, 2024. – 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…
Burning Rivers of Faith. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “Gabriel's Moon” by William Boyd. Summary: "Gabriel Dax is a young man haunted by the memories of a fire that took his mother’s life. Every night, when sleep finally comes, he dreams about his childhood home in flames. His days are spent on the move as an acclaimed travel writer, capturing the…
TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for December 7, 2024. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
From Sandwich by Catherine Newman to The Golden Gals' Getaway by Judy Leigh! This is a monthly link-up hosted by KateW 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 connected to…
TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday and #LinkParty #58 – December 5, 2024-January 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…
TCL’s #T5T – #TopFiveTuesday #16 for December 3, 2024 – Pretty Covers! – 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's topic: Top 5 2024 Books with Your Favorite Covers! Meeghan says: "What are some of…
The Skye Crew. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Silver-Haired Sisterhood” by Judy Leigh. Summary: " Five years after seventy-something Tess jetted off to Paris with her best friends, Jen, Rose, Della, and Pam - the Five French Hens - for Jen's hen do, a lot has changed. Prospective groom Eddie has been given the heave-ho, Tess's husband has been…
A Frigid Relationship. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “On Chesil Beach” by Ian McEwan. Summary: "It is July 1962. Edward and Florence, young innocents married that morning, arrive at a hotel on the Dorset coast. At dinner in their rooms they struggle to suppress their private fears of the wedding night to come... ." Age: Adult; Genres: Literary, Fiction; Settings:…
TCL’s #TopTenTuesday – November 26, 2024 – Thanks! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. The rules are simple: Each Tuesday, Jana assigns…
#SomethingDifferent #20 – The Great British Bake Off #BookTag Challenge! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
I'm on vacation in Italy... ...visiting my son who is part owner of this place, which is the Montino Coliving facility, but... While I'm abroad, I thought this would be a great filler post. I just left yesterday for Italy, and wanted to make sure my blog wasn't dormant in my absence. So I…
TCL’s First Lines Friday #9 for November 22, 2024! – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers that was originally hosted by Emma @ (the apparently, now defunct) Wandering Words (don't click on the link, it isn't there anymore). However, the lovely Carrie @ Reading is My Superpower not only does a similar weekly meme, she also hosts a weekly link party…
Silken Ties. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
Book Review for “The Liberty Scarf” by Aimie K. Runyan, J'nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan. Summary: "As an ambitious scarf maker, Iris Braxton spends her days surrounded by color and luxury not often seen during the dark days of war that promised to be over by Christmas. That promise has come and gone for three…
TCL’s #LetsDiscuss2024 #14 – Characters’ Ages – November 15-21, 2024 #LetsTalkBookish #14. – The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
This is a "Let's Talk Bookish" topic which is ... This week's topic is: Do You Prefer to Read Characters Your Age? So, without any further ado… 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…