TCL is Going Abroad, again!

See you later, alligators! This is just a quick post to let you all know that by the time you read this, I'll already be in the air on a trans-Atlantic trip. Where will I be? In the US - Texas and California. What will I be doing there? The primary reason is to go … Continue reading TCL is Going Abroad, again! →

The Rapid Movement of Wings.

Book Review for “No Land to Light On” by Yara Zgheib. Summary: "Hadi and Sama are a young Syrian couple flying high on a whirlwind love, dreaming up a life in the country that brought them together. She had come to Boston years before chasing dreams of a bigger life; he’d landed there as a … Continue reading The Rapid Movement of Wings. →

A Scottish James Garner?

Book Review for “The House by the Loch” by Kirsty Wark. Summary: “Walter MacMillan is bewitched by the clever, glamorous Jean Thompson and can't believe his luck when she agrees to marry him. Neither can she, for Walter represents a strong and steady and loving man who can perhaps quiet the demons inside her. Yet … Continue reading A Scottish James Garner? →

A Delicious Phoenix.

Book Review for “The Chocolate Maker’s Wife” by Karen Brooks. This is the story of Rosamund, a woman who was both literally and figuratively pulled out of a gutter only to rise up as Lady Blithman, the wife of Sir Everard Blithman, who was on the verge of opening a unique chocolate house in London … Continue reading A Delicious Phoenix. →

A Family Inventory

Judith Kratt has been living in her family home in the small town of Bound South Carolina all her life, and she’s taken care of all that it contains – every piece of furniture, both valuable and worthless.

A Founding Mother’s Story

Book Review of "I, Eliza Hamilton" by Susan Holloway Scott In order to avoid stating the obvious, I see no reason to start this review with a story synopsis. This is because I believe that even those with only a cursory knowledge of American history will have heard the name Alexander Hamilton, and immediately recognize … Continue reading A Founding Mother’s Story →

Counting on Family

Book Review of "Sisters One, Two, Three" by Nancy Star. Ginger's 13th year was as unlucky as the number. Many years after that tragic summer, it seems no one has been able to fix anything broken back then. Furthermore, there's her deteriorating relationship with her daughter Julia, and her mother Glory is no less strange … Continue reading Counting on Family →

The Scale of a Family

Book Review of "Moonglow by Michael Chabon. Readers of Michael Chabon's novels know that he has a wonderful way of mixing reality and fiction, to the extent that the lines can feel very blurred. I noticed this in his "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," which won him the Pulitzer. Although that novel, (which … Continue reading The Scale of a Family →

A Gathering of Stories

Book Review of "November Storm: A Collection of Short Stories" by Robert Oldshue. The Iowa University Press describes this Iowa Short Fiction award winner of 2016, as follows: In each of the stories in Robert Oldshue’s debut collection, the characters want to be decent but find that hard to define. In the first story, an … Continue reading A Gathering of Stories →

Eling for Healing

Book Review of "The Last Will of Moira Leahy" by Therese Walsh. Almost a decade after a tragic accident, Maeve Leahy is still trying to come to terms with what happened between her and her identical twin sister, Moira. When a Javanese knife, called a Kris, comes into Maeve's life, its mystery and magic bring … Continue reading Eling for Healing →