TCL’s #ShortStorySunday – Bowling Me Over Noodles.

Book Review for “Ramen, Existential Crisis” by Roie Oknin. Summary: "Koji is twenty-seven and one module short of a degree in Politics and Government. The missing module is Crisis Management. It feels appropriate. For six years, he has worked in a tiny ramen shop with eleven seats, one dish and a broth whose flame has not gone out in thirty-two years.

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TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday – #TopTenTuesday Edition (of August 11, 2026)!

What is this Throwback Thursday, Top Ten Tuesday Edition? I'm not going to repeat my regular opening here, because hey, this time, I'm participating, not announcing a new link party (which you can find here). Instead, I noticed that Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl had a theme for her weekly meme of that made me want to participate, albeit a bit late.

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Striking the Right Keys.

Book Review for “The Typing Lady” by Ruth Ozeki. Summary: "In this spirited and emotionally resonant collection, award-winning novelist Ruth Ozeki turns her singular gaze to the short story, exploring childhood ambition, youthful desire, midlife reinvention, and the unsparing clarity of old age. With her distinctive blend of wit, warmth, and deep humanity, she brings us twelve richly imagined stories of characters standing at life’s thresholds—grappling with faded ideals, evolving identities, and the inevitable compromises that shape a life.

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TCL’s #DiscussionSunday & #LetsDiscuss2026 #10, #LetsTalkBookish #2 – August 2026 – Mental Health & Books!

Welcome to another #LetsDiscuss. This time I'm using the prompt from the Aria @ Book Nook Bits, and her Let's Talk Bookish prompt for August, which asks about: Mental Health & Books.

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TCL’s First Lines Friday #12 for August 21, 2026!

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 to go with it! So, if you decide to do one of these yourself, you might want to join her link party as well!

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The Classics Club Spin #CCSpin #45 pick for TCL!

Hello, Classics Club Spinners... I'm here to tell you that Our lucky winning number for the 45th Classics Club Spin is...

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A Loti Mixed Nagasaki Summer.

Book Review for “Madame Chrysanthème” by Pierre Loti (Translated by Clémence Aubert). Summary: "Pierre Loti’s novel Madame Chrysanthème (1888) enjoyed great popularity during the author’s lifetime, served as a source of Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly, and remains in print to this day as a classic in Western literature. Loti’s story, cast in the form of his fictionalized diary, describes the affair between a French naval officer and Chrysanthème, a temporary "bride" purchased in Nagasaki.

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TCL Joins the Classics Club Spin #ccspin #45!

To find out more about this unique reading challenge, please visit The Classics Club Blog for the rules and link-up post.

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All the Stage is Her World!

Book Review for “Shakespeare: The Man who Pays the Rent” by Dame Judi Dench. Summary: "For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra. In a series of intimate conversations with actor & director Brendan O'Hea, she guides us through Shakespeare's plays with incisive clarity, revealing the secrets of her rehearsal process and inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans.

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Stupid Criminals Indeed!

Book Review for “The Boat House” by Fern Michaels. Summary: "An unexpected inheritance from their late uncle brought Madison (Taylor) Wainwright and her brother Lincoln to Smuggler’s Cove. But it’s the quirky, close-knit locals who’ve convinced them to stay for the summer. The little town may be worlds away from the privileged existence the siblings knew before their father was arrested for fraud, but here, they’ve found a sense of belonging.

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TCL’s Spell the Month in Books #38 – August 2026 – TBR Edition!

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 know, that day is reserved for #6Degrees of Separation, but I know Jana forgives me for being late.

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TCL’s #DNF Friday #22 – Wrong Book, Wrong Time, or Both?

Why I can't fully write a Book Review for “A Botanist's Guide to Tradition and Treachery” by Kate Khavari. Summary: "Saffron Everleigh is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets off on the adventure of a lifetime for any a research expedition. She sails to newly formed Turkey, with her fiancé, Alexander Ashton, and a bevy of fellow researchers under the watchful and reformed eye of Dr.

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TCL’s Can’t-Wait Wednesday & #WoW – Waiting on Wednesday #6 – Back to Baltimore.

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event that spotlights upcoming releases that we are all eagerly anticipating.

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Agatha Would Be Pleased!

Book Review for “Death at King's Cross” (Four Queens of Crime #2) by Rosanne Limoncelli. Summary: "1941, London. When DCI Lilian Wyles finds a young woman murdered at King's Cross Station, she needs the help of someone she can trust, but Richard Davidson, her former Scotland Yard partner, has joined MI5 and is busy tracking black market routes outside of London, so for now, she is on her own.

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TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for August 1, 2026.

From Land by Maggie O'Farrell to Doubles by Nora Gold. 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 connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

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TCL’s #ThrowbackThursday and #LinkParty #78 – July 30-September 2, 2026.

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 see Lorrea @ What 'Cha Readin'?, doing this as a monthly meme, and Reading Maria does something called "Last Year I Was Reading" where she compares what she's reading now to what she read a year ago.

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The Surveying of Soil and Skin.

Book Review for “Land” by Maggie O'Farrell. Summary: "On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one.

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TCL’s #SomethingDifferent Sunday #33 & #LetsDiscuss2026 #9 – Missing in Action!

What Happened to The Chocolate Lady on Social Media?

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She Was One of Them.

Book Review for “Suzanne” by Michael Saxton. Summary: "Painted by the great men of Paris, a teenage model secretly teaches herself to paint, determined to step out of the frame even as poverty, motherhood and scandal conspire to push her back in. Inspired by the life of Suzanne Valadon, Suzanne follows a young French woman through the studios, cafés and scandals of Belle Époque Paris as she moves from model and muse to artist in her own right.

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TCL’s WWW Wednesday #31 – July 22, 2026.

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 a slow reader, you'd all get bored seeing the same thing week after week.

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TCL’s #StackingtheShelves #3! July ARC Edition!

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical, virtual, or audio. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, audio books, books you received for review from authors or publishers, NetGalley, or Edelweiss as well as gifts you received, or books you won in a giveaway.

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TCL’s #SomethingDifferent Saturday #32 – A Trifecta of Treats!

Time for an update on my Pottery, Stained Glass, and Bread Baking.

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Gardens of Calm and Turbulence.

Book Review for “When Mikan Road Was Ours” by D.K. Furutani. Summary: "Amidst a sweltering Los Angeles heat wave, Murano, a reclusive high school English teacher, is muddling through life. Reeling from his father’s sudden death as well as his own recent cancer diagnosis, he passes time hazily grading papers and appeasing disgruntled parents while counting down each day until summer vacation.

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TCL’s #T5T – Top Five Tuesday #22 – July 14, 2026 – Aw… how sweet!

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 the topic of: Top 5 Books with Cute Covers!

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TCL’s #DiscussionSunday & #LetsDiscuss2026 #8, #LetsTalkBookish #1 – July 2026 – Getting Discussion Ready!

Welcome to another #LetsDiscuss and #DiscussionSunday post. This time I'm using the prompt from the Aria @ Book Nook Bits, and her Let's Talk Bookish prompt for July, which (aptly) asks about: Participating in Discussion Posts

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TCL’s Spell the Month in Books #37 — July 2026!

Reviews From the Stacks Ever since I discovered Jana and her blog Reviews from the Stacks, I've been doing these posts just because - they're fun. Now, Jana has been on hiatus (for a good thing - she had a baby), so we don't have a book meme for this month, but we'll just call it a "Freebie" for now.

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Treading Water or Moving Forward?

Book Review for “Man Overboard!” by Kathleen Rooney. Summary: "Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick hates the ocean. Has always been terrified of it. And now he’s in a real pickle. Drifting alone in the sea after falling (or jumping? He can’t remember as the all-inclusive drinks on the cruise he was taking with his extended family were, well, inclusive) Kick must survive.

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Race to the End of the Battle!

Book Review for “Sparkling Cyanide” by Agatha Christie (Colonel Race #4). Summary: "Six people sit down to a sumptuous meal at a table laid for seven. In front of the empty place is a sprig of rosemary- "rosemary for remembrance." A strange sentiment considering no one is likely to forget the night, exactly a year ago, that Rosemary Barton died at exactly the same table, her beautiful face unrecognizable, convulsed with pain and horror.

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TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for July 4, 2026.

From Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke to Daisy Miller by Henry James. 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 connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.

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