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The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews
Davida Chazan's Blog for mostly book reviews and literary musings (and maybe some chocolate).
Visitation
This beautifully haunting tale looks at the era before, during and after WWII from a completely different angle - that of a plot of land in Germany. You can read my full review here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2015/02/20/a-plot-on-a-plot-of-land/
Adore
Two women and their two sons end up in convoluted relationships in Doris Lessing's novella of deception and devotion. Read my review of this fascinating story here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/10/25/the-mills-of-love/
This Should Be Written in the Present Tense
This very unusual novel is an excellent character study of a young woman at the crossroads of her life. Read my review of this fascinating work of fiction here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/10/21/what-is-and-what-is-not/
The Betrayers: A Novel
In this fascinating novel, Bezmozgis takes real-life Israeli figures, mixes them together and puts them into practically impossible situations with consequences that a lifetime. You can read my revised review here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/10/11/protections-and-professions/
White Tiger on Snow Mountain: Stories
In this collection of 13 deeply personal short stories, David Gordon delves into both the absurd and the intense sides of being just what he is, a writer. Read my review of this lovely compilation of short stories here http://drchazan.blogspot.com/2014/09/stories-that-reveal-much-but-say-little.html
The War on Women in Israel: How Religious Radicalism Is Smothering the Voice of a Nation
Sztokman's extremely compelling study of the growing worldwide phenomenon of the marginalization of women uses Israel as its test case to prove how religious fundamentalism is more insidious than we can imagine. Read my review of this excellent book here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/09/16/the-masters-of-misogyny/
Author and Me
In an attempt to prove that characters are not necessarily the mouthpieces of their authors, Eric Chevillard takes us on a highly controversial journey, where the lines of reality and fiction are constantly blurred. Read my review of this unusual novel here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/09/03/cauliflower-gratin-vs-trout-amandine/
Sweetness #9: A Novel
I've long touted that artificial sweeteners are poison. Here's a novel that takes that basic premise, brings it into the world of fiction, and watches to see what happens when one of those sweeteners is found to be a real problem. Read my review of this excellent debut novel here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/08/18/flavored-for-deception/
Henna House
The ancient tradition of Henna comes to life with all its intricacies and beauty in this story that follows one girl through her journey from childhood to maturity across Yemen and as far as Israel. Read my review of this evocative novel here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/08/03/the-painted-designs-of-yemenite-jewish-women/
Kiss Me First
What would you do to disappear from your real life, while your online persona lives on without you? That's just what Tess decides to do, with the help of Adrian's website that finds Leila to do the job. Read my review of this social networking thriller here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/07/24/oh-the-tangled-wwweb-we-weave/
The Mountaintop School for Dogs and Other Second Chances
On a whim and a hope, Evie signs up to learn how to train dogs, but the school she's going to is anything but a normal kennel. Maybe that's for the best, because nothing has been normal in Evie's short life so far. Read my review of this heartwarming story here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/07/19/a-puppy-for-your-thoughts/
The Butterfly and the Violin (Hidden Masterpiece, #1)
70 years after a painting of a woman prisoner of Auschwitz-Birkenau goes missing, a man who could lose everything by finding the original owner, joins an art gallery owner in the hunt. Read my review of this different kind of Holocaust story here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/07/15/beauty-out-of-ugliness/
 - Kristy Cambron)
A Man Called Ove
Some people lead quiet lives, and when the goodness of it ends, they only want to leave it all behind, but sometimes life itself gets in the way. Read my revised review of this heartwarming book here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/06/28/conditions-of-the-heart/
The Living
This mostly low-key thriller caught my eye because it takes place in today's peaceful Ireland where the country's past gets dredged up through an unlikely employee of a book publisher. You can read my revised review here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/10/09/that-which-was-gone-for-those-that-remain/
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
An ambitious reworking of the fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" finds a dozen girls, whose father has hidden them from the world, sneaking out to New York's speakeasies to dance during the prohibition era. You can read my full review here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/06/06/a-dazzling-dozen-of-speakeasy-sisters/
My So-Called Ruined Life
If you were only 16, your mother was murdered, and your father in jail for the crime, you probably wouldn't have a clue how to handle it, but that's exactly what Tate McCoy has to do. Read my review of this beautiful YA debut novel by Melanie Bishop, here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2014/05/07/finding-buoyancy/
