If you’re looking for the next great read, or you’ve heard of a book I’ve read and you want to know if you should read it too, you are the person I’m writing this blog for – so please, sign up to follow me using the links provided on this site.
A little bit about me:
I have been writing on-line content (reviews and articles of all kinds) since about 1998. In 2013, I began specializing in writing book reviews. Since starting this blog, I receive ARCs from NetGalley, Edelweiss, and most recently from BookBrowse (where my reviews there are exclusive to that site, and available only to site members, unless they are featured reviews. Fear not, I write new reviews for all those books here as well). Aside from this blog, and the reviews on Book Browse, I also sometimes post my reviews on my Times of Israel Blog (an English on-line newspaper originating in Israel).
Aside from my love of books and my passion for chocolate (I’m a gourmet, not an addict), I like to bake, make my own ice cream, and watch far too much television. I recently retired from my “day job” as a Resource Development writer for the non-profit sector.
I’m originally from Evanston, Illinois and moved to Israel at the tender age of 21. I started out living on a Kibbutz in the south, moved to a (then small) development town in the north, and I now live in Jerusalem. I am very happily married and have three wonderful children.
If you want to know how I got to be known as “The Chocolate Lady” you can read this post here.
NOTE TO AUTHORS:
If you have a book you want me to read and review, please take a very careful look at my Goodreads profile as well as the books I’ve reviewed here. If your book looks like something I would read, you are welcome to send me (remove the spaces to get my email address drchazan @ gmail . com) a brief summary (including genre and age group of the target audience) and if I’m interested, I can accept ARCs in all formats (PDF, unlocked ePUB), but prefer MOBI files for my Kindle!
However, if you’re willing to ship to Israel, I’ll be happy to accept an uncorrected proof copy, and your book will be read much sooner!!! Send me an email and I’ll give you my address.
NOTE: The links to books on this site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive a very (Very, VERY) small commission, but at no extra cost to you.
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The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog 
Dear Chocolate Lady,
I am just one in a long list of suitors, pleading for your favours!
Please consider reviewing my novel called ‘Spirits of the Sun’ by Sydney Philippe.
(Sydney Philippe is the pen name for Julian Sydney Wright. I live in the City of Bath, England, with Jhell and our young son called Philippe.)
It is historical fiction with strong elements of nature and romance set 3,000 years ago in Indonesia.
I published it on Amazon KIndle as an ebook and paperback on 22nd January this year.
My author website is http://www.sydneyphilippe.info which provides some irresistible reasons why the novel was written!
(I can provide an ebook in any format or a paperback posted to Isreal if you prefer.)
My best regards,
Julian Wright
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No thank you.
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Dear Davida,
I know you’re not reviewing books, but you also said “try to convince me”… so…
There’s no going back.
Fifteen years ago, Sarah was a biology student with a lot of potential. Since then, she’s been coasting and lonely, following her ambitious biologist husband around as he rises through the ranks in his own career.
As she packs up to follow her husband again, this time on a one-way mission to Mars, Sarah must face up to the choices from her past. Then, when an unknown threat jeopardizes not just the people aboard but the very viability of the Mars program, she must find the strength to finally be true to herself… or lose everything.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/56594348
GROUND CONTROL is speculative fiction, a mix of women’s fiction and science fiction. With strong female protagonists, I tried to imagine the human side of space exploration, that is, what about the families that tag along? In this case, Sarah is a wife and mother, but, after leaving everything else behind, never to return to Earth, what does she have to contribute in her new world?
I sincerely hope you’ll consider this read. Let me know if you’re even a little interested, and I can send you an ARC (it’s set to be published by Lights Out Ink in April 2021).
Cheers!
Karen
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Thanks, but April is totally full (as is May and June, and some of July and August as well). Also… sounds a bit SciFi to me, which really isn’t my thing. But best of success with this.
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Thanks for responding so quickly! (If you ever pick it up in the future, though, know that I “accidentally” set it on a spaceship — I never intended for it to be science fiction, but it kind of got away from me.
I’ll keep an eye out for your new reviews!
(and just in case you change your mind in August or so, here’s my book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yyY4uB60aw) 😉
Thanks again,
Karen
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OK, don’t read my new novel. But look at the cool video trailers:
https://bit.ly/32Iq762
https://bit.ly/3iNM3Tc
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Dear Chocolate Lady (love that title!),
I have a book I’d like to convince you to read, but not sure how, given that I can’t find your email address and somehow the Mail icon produces nothing.
My novel, Anna’s Dance: A Balkan Odyssey, to be released June 25, takes place mostly in the Balkans in 1968. Place and setting play important roles.
From the cover synopsis:
“Twenty-three-year-old Anna Rossi questions everything about her life, from her mostly Jewish heritage to her fear of intimacy. Summer in Europe with a childhood friend offers a perfect way to escape her demons. When her friend abandons her in Italy, Anna makes the rash decision to travel on with strangers. Her journey takes a perilous turn, leading her into conflict in Eastern Europe and into the heart of the Balkans. Love, Intrigue, Betrayal— Anna must find the strength to survive.”
In fact, her journey becomes a spiritual pilgrimage that helps her make sense of her Eastern European religious and familial past, and two pivotal passages take place in Sephardic synagogues, in Bulgaria and Istanbul respectively. So, too, the novel juxtaposes the suffering of African Americans, the Irish (her grandmother’s background), Balkan Jews, and Macedonians.
Anyway, I can provide a pdf should you be interested.
Thanks,
Michele Levy
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While this does sound interesting, I’m really not accepting books for review right now. Thanks for the offer.
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I love things like this and am going to consider myself tagged. It’s fun to see how much we all have in common.
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Looking forward to reading yours!
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Dear Davida Chazan,
May I request for a book review, the details of which are:
Title:
The spell of an irresistible woman: A Novella
Available at: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07P8T16YM
Abstract: Artemisia the Queen of Caria finds adventure and glory amidst the atrocities placed before her. She thrives even when she is taken as a hostage in the Persian land. This is a story that unravels a secret romance and the grace with which she handles her own folly and yet emerges brilliant.
Shall I attach the ebook, please advise.
Thanks and Regards,
D.S.Pais
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Thank you for the offer but my reading list is full through at least next April or May.
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Re: Colleen McCullough First Man in Rome
Oh my, these came out so long ago! My elderly cousin in Germany saw I was reading them. She really liked that there was a “dictionary “ in the back of each one. I left her the ones I had and eventually sent her the others as well.
My favorites of her books are “The Thorn Birds” and ”Creed for the Third Millennium “
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You read Creed? Wasn’t it wonderful? I mean, I really should re-read it again, because she essentially predicted disastrous global climate change. Also the quasi-“Elmer Gantry” element of someone with a unique idea saving the world but not wanting to be famous did have some Christian undertones, if I recall correctly. I also read her “Tim” about an older woman and a mentally deficient younger man, as well as her “Ladies of Missalonghi” for which she was accused of plagiarism.
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Davida – thanks so much for liking and following my blog. I have interviewed a number of fine writers and hope to keep doing so. I, too, am a writer. You may be interested in my novel TERRIBLE WITH RAISINS, the story of a woman’s denial of turning fifty – set in England, Scotland, Florida and the Greek Island of Symi. I have suspended the Kindle version from Amazon as I intend to re-issue it in the summer, but would be pleased to send you a PDF (the paperback is still available, though). The sequel, JIGSAW ISLAND, also featuring a Dodecanese island, is a darker novel, set against the refugee crisis. I am crowdfunding this on https://unbound.com/books/jigsaw-island/.
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You are welcome. Great title for a book (I dislike raisins in things, so…). Unfortunately right now my reading list is VERY full, but maybe later in the summer you could email me again. It sounds fun, but I have so many books I’m already committed to read, that I don’t want to make any promises.
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Understood. The title is a quote from Dorothy Parker who, waking on her fiftieth birthday, couldn’t quite recall the significance of the day and thought “I knew it was something terrible… not plain terrible, fancy terrible…terrible with raisins in it”. You are in my diary for the summer.
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Dear Chocolate Lady,
I also live and write in Israel, though originally from England. I wonder if you would be prepared to review my latest novel, ‘All Quiet on the Midwestern Plains,’ describing what happens to Avi Samuels, an Israeli academic, who takes his family to Seabrook, Nebraska, for a year of paleontological research. His encounters with a hostile head of department, friendly janitor and neighbour, the American Nazi party and the Nebraska climate leave him shaken but not stirred. The link to the book on Amazon is https://www.amazon.com/All-Quiet-Midwestern-Plains-Vindication-ebook/dp/B07HJCXJRF and the book can be downloaded for free on 1 and 2 May. If you prefer a hard copy (paperback), please let me know, or send me your address (or maybe we can meet, I live in Mevasseret, and I also love chocolate). My website is http://www.shefer-vanson.com and my blog is http://fromdorothea.wordpress.com
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Dorothea
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Dear Dorothea,
Thank you for this offer, but right now my reading list is SO full, I just can’t see adding anything to it. Also, I’m not sure that this is my “thing” to be totally honest. Still, I wish you the very best of success with your novel.
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Hi there!
I’m the owner and publicist of R&R Book Tours and I have several bookish events to fill. I am currently organizing a month-long blog tour for a Contemporary Fiction called, The Space Between Time by Charlie Laidlaw. The tour runs for the whole month of June and I am really hoping to enlist bloggers to host reviews, excusive content, interviews, and guest posts.
Here is the link to the event for more details:
https://rrbooktours.com/2019/01/09/blog-tour-sign-up-the-space-between-time-by-charlie-laidlaw/
I would love if you could participate in some way! Please let me know if you have any questions or are interested.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Shannon
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Thanks for following my blog 💖
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