REVISED Book Review: The Chocolate Diaries by Karen Linamen

I am revising this review based on Karen Linamen writing a comment on my previous review, clarifying a misunderstanding.


The Chocolate Diaries by Karen Linamen starts off with an engaging introduction to the book which contains stories about people who have turned their “truffles of life” into rich, satisfying gourmet meals.

Sprinkled throughout the book are yummy recipes that will thrill chocolate lovers!  This was probably the best part of this book for me.

Overall the book was ok.  The author, Karen Linaman, relates a number of anecdotes from her own life as well as her friends and associates.  The stories are interesting and help to support her ideas.

Chapter 4, entitled Sweet Pick-Me-Ups, offers both fun and practical ways to help you get a little boost for the day.  Chapter 10, Who’s Your Daddy?, was the best chapter.  It talks about how you can become a daughter of the King.  I was glad to see this as I think that most Christian books are incomplete without a clear presentation of the Gospel.  I do not think it was a very clear presentation of the Gospel, but was an admirable effort.

One thing that bothered me was a story concerning her dog who sneaked away with her birth control device.  The author tells us that she is divorced and is dating.  The Bible makes it very clear that fornication is a sin.  This is not model behavior for a Christian and is an inappropriate detail for a Christian book.

Although I would not necessarily have personally bought this book for myself or as a gift for anyone else, it was not a bad read.  The chocolate recipes definitely make the book.

UPDATE:  Ms. Linamen wrote a very kind and gracious comment on my previous review, saying this, "And thank you for pointing out the missing detail in the dog/birth control story... my apologies to you (and to my other readers!) for not including the time-frame of that story! That story did not happen recently at all, but took place when I was married. Please forgive me for any confusion! (I'll see if my publisher can fix that on our next printing!)"

I am so glad that she clarified this.  I'm a little embarrassed that I automatically thought negatively of the situation.  It's so easy to misunderstand when one doesn't have all the facts.

Thank you, Karen, for being so very kind in your comments and for clarifying the misunderstanding!

I also updated my reviews on Amazon and Blogging for Books.  I upgraded both reviews to 4 stars.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Multnomah Press book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.