Posted on March 16, 2022 Leave a Comment
Book 1 in the Just Call Me Angel series, Angel Martin takes a job at Tetterbaum’s Pub. A distraction as she nurses a broken heart when her boyfriend, Tony, suddenly disappears. What Angel doesn’t realize is her new place of employment is a favorite hangout of members of the mafia in Chicago. In no time at all, Angel finds herself caught up in a blackmail scandal that has put her life in danger. Angel has to hurry to find answers in order to expose the truth.
Claridge creates a strong female lead who has faced a lot in her life. She’s relatable and empathetic. It took me a little while to get into the story but I appreciated the vivid and descriptive language. It is an action-packed story with a number of twists and turns.
The supporting cast in this story is, in a word, colorful. I especially appreciated Aunt Olga. The “crazy aunt” is an underappreciated role in the literary world. Claridge celebrates it in this book brilliantly.
Don’t let the mafia trope turn you off from this one; it’s a great suspense thriller. I’d like to thank Global Publishing Group for the free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
My name is Susan Claridge and I write under the name, S.R.Claridge. I’m a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a niece, an in-law and friend; but no matter what
hat I wear, I’m always the same simply, complicated woman beneath. I love autumn,moonlight and Grey Goose Vodka martinis with bleu cheese olives. I believe Friday nights were made for Mexican food and margaritas and Sunday mornings warrant an extra-spicy Bloody Mary. I love Jesus and know that any good in me comes from God. I believe in the power of prayer, in the freedom of forgiveness and that people can change. I have a terrible temper and a tender heart, and somehow they balance. At times I may appear teetering on the edge, but I’d rather walk dangerously where there’s a view than let life pass me by.
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By Marcia Falk In time for Pesach 5782 comes a new Haggadah by Marcia Falk. This new text provides the full narrative from the Exodus and provides a feminist perspective on the familiar story from the perspectives of Miriam; Shifrah and Pu’ah, the Hebrew midwives responsible for saving the lives of Hebrew babies; as well…
By Roy Hoffman Hank Weinberg, an octogenarian and survivor of the Shoah, is adjusting to new roles in life, after retiring from his law practice. That of widower and ‘Gradee’, grandfather. He suddenly finds himself in the role of primary caretaker to his grandson, with the help of his Honduran babysitter, Lupita, when his daughter…
By Olga Swan Set in 1930s Vienna, no one wants to believe the horrors of war will cross the Austrian boarder. But with the terrors of the Nazis increasing, Eva and Michael, along with showgirl, Marta, needing to find a way out. As the situation continues to grow increasingly desperate, planning their escape becomes increasingly…
Welcome to my December Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. I’ve continued to make progress on my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ list, although, a few new titles have been…
Welcome to my January Wrap-Up! I managed to cross twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already one third of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review three wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
Welcome to my February Wrap-Up! I managed to cross another twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already two-thirds of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review five wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
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Posted on March 15, 2022 Leave a Comment
There’s something a little crazy about checking your Goodreads 2022 Reading Challenge and seeing that you’re 49 books ahead of schedule. I’m only twelve titles away from completing my goal of 75 books for the year. My progress is largely due to the number of audiobooks I’ve enjoyed this year. And I’m very pleased with the progress I’ve made in getting my ‘Want to Read’ list under control.
First, on my list this week is The Resurrector by Moshe Mikanovsky. Mikanovsky explores Jewish traditions of grief, mourning, and healing family ties. Next, I’ll be reading Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto by Emmanuel Ringelblum. This journal offers an eyewitness account of life inside the wall.
I’ve also added a couple of audiobooks to my list. My reward for
completing around 60% of my ‘Want to Read’ list. I’m looking forward to Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. I’ve heard a lot about this book from other readers in the Bookstagram community. And I’ll be listening to Another Woman’s Husband. This is a duel time period story that jumps between the untimely death of Princess Diana and the life of Wallis Simpson leading up to her marriage to the Duke of Windsor. I have some mixed feelings about this one, given Simpson’s well-known sympathies with the Nazis but I’ll give it a try.
Finally, in celebration of “Middle Grade March”, I’ve added three graphic novels to my list. The first has been making headlines lately when a school board in Tennessee voted to remove it from school libraries. Maus presents the Holocaust in an accessible and age-appropriate way at a time when this period of history needs to be taught. The other two are also timely for Women’s History Month: “Nice” Jewish Girls and RBG’s Brave & Brilliant Women celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of notable Jewish women throughout history.
Join the conversation! Tell me your thoughts on any of your favorites on this week’s list in the comments.
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Can someone be brought back from the dead? Could it change the life of the living?
The Levi family is in their darkest hour. The sudden death of Nir, the middle child, launches a dark journey filled with moments of light and hope. An estranged father and son, a loving older brother, and a religiously devout but sad younger sister, are threaded together by family ties, in a religious enclave in Israel and the greater unknown. The traditions of Judaism, grief, loss, and mysticism come to life through their eyes.
At the Jewish week-long mourning period—the shiva, a mysterious stranger arrives and sets into motion a series of events that are both tangible and otherworldly. It is a journey to discover the bonds that have both broken and healed this family. It is up to the reader to decide what power the Resurrector has, but one thing is certain—it is important to heal relationships with loved ones before it is too late.
Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto is the moving account of the horror of the Warsaw Ghetto—written by the recognized archivist and historian of the area while he lived through it. Through anecdotes, stories, and notations—some as brief as was slapped today in Zlota Street,—there emerges the agonizing, eyewitness accounts of human beings caught in the furor of senseless, unrelenting brutality. In the Journal, there is the whole of life in the Ghetto, from the erection of the Wall, in November 1940, for hygienic reasons, through the brief period of deceptive calm to the eventual mass murders. It is a portrait of man tested by crisis, stained at times by the meanness of avarice and self-preservation, illumined more often by moments of nobility.
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England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on. A young Latin tutor—penniless and bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is just taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
As the world mourns the loss of Diana, Princess of Wales, one young woman uncovers a forgotten story of passion, betrayal, and a scandal surrounding the British crown in this unforgettable novel by the bestselling author of The Secret Wife.
Two women who challenged the Crown.
Divided by time. Bound by a secret…
1911: When fifteen-year-old Mary Kirk meets Wallis Warfield at summer camp, she’s immediately captivated by her fearless, brazen, and self-assured personality. And Wallis has a way with the boys who are drawn to her like moths to a flame. Though Mary’s family isn’t crazy about her new best friend, she steadfastly stands by her side—even years later when they’re adults and rumors swirl about Wallis and her reckless behavior with none other than the Prince of Wales. But when Mary’s loyalty to Wallis comes into question, their friendship will be put to the ultimate test.
1997: After a romantic proposal in Paris, Rachel and her fiancé Alex are in a cab when suddenly the car ahead crashes. They’re stunned to learn Princess Diana is in the car. By the wreckage, Alex finds a heart pendant with an engraved letter “J” and Roman numerals XVII and gives it to Rachel to hold. Haunted by the crash and Diana’s subsequent death, Rachel is intrigued when she discovers that Di had visited the last home of Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, only hours before the accident. Eventually, the revelation of a long-forgotten link to Wallis Simpson leads Rachel to the truth behind a scandal that shook the world…
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This collection of biographies of brave and brilliant Jewish female role models–selected in collaboration with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and including an introduction written by the iconic Supreme Court justice herself– provides young people with a roster of inspirational role models, all of whom are Jewish women, who will appeal not only to young people but to people of all ages, and all faiths.
The fascinating lives detailed in this collection–more than thirty exemplary female role models–were chosen by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, or RBG, as she was lovingly known to her many admirers. Working with her friend, journalist Nadine Epstein, RBG selected these trailblazers, all of whom are women and Jewish, who chose not to settle for the rules and beliefs of their time. They did not accept what the world told them they should be. Like RBG, they dreamed big, worked hard, and forged their own paths to become who they deserved to be.
Future generations will benefit from each and every one of the courageous actions and triumphs of the women profiled here. Real Wonder Women, the passion project of Justice Ginsburg in the last year of her life, will inspire readers to think about who they want to become and to make it happen, just like RBG.
Thirty-six mini biographies of groundbreaking, outspoken, odds-defying Jewish women explore their fascinating lives, as well as the ways in which they were shaped by their heritage.
Probing the lives of historic icons like Anne Frank and Emma Goldman to contemporary heroines such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Janet Yellen the book also provides an overview of modern Jewish history. Subjects ranging from Anna Freud, the founder of psychoanalytic child psychology to fashion mogul Diane von Furstenberg to comedian Sarah Silverman offer a fascinating window into the ways Jewish women have approached their fields and embraced their identities. The captivating stories of luminaries from the worlds of politics, literature, activism, the arts, business, science, and more show how these women—in many cases—overcame the obstacles of being both Jewish and female to make their unique mark, and how being Jewish impacted their journeys.
A brutally moving work of art—widely hailed as the greatest graphic novel ever written—Maus recounts the chilling experiences of the author’s father during the Holocaust, with Jews drawn as wide-eyed mice and Nazis as menacing cats.
Maus is a haunting tale within a tale, weaving the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father into an astonishing retelling of one of history’s most unspeakable tragedies. It is an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma.
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Read Along with Me My reading list this week is a mix of a little bit of everything. I’m making wonderful progress on my ‘Want to Read’ list on Goodreads and my TBR cart is down to a shelf and a half. I get a lot of the usual questions about why I read so…
Read Along with Me This week’s reading list is another lengthy one. On reaching the end of the second month of 2022, I am already two-thirds of the way to my reading goal for the year. My ‘Want to Read’ list is under fifty titles and my TBR cart is down to just the top…
Read Along with Me Well friends, I’ve reached an interesting milestone in my goal to clear my ‘Want to Read’ list on Goodreads. There are no more books on the list available in audiobook format after this week! I’m down to thirty-three titles left and am seventy-six percent of the way to my reading goal…
Posted on March 14, 2022 Leave a Comment
One of my writing goals for 2022 is to create more short stories. They’re a good creative exercise and sometimes lead to bigger ideas for novels. Or who knows, maybe an eventual collection of short stories in the form of a new book.
The story I’ve selected for this month is based on a writing prompt I was given by a friend of mine. I started working on the story. It ended up in the folder to be completed later. Then the world turned upside down and the file sat, collecting virtual dust until I finally finished the most recent round of edits on my current book-in-progress. I dusted it off in time for this month’s feature. Please considering sharing your thoughts in the comments!
Something metallic flavored her mouth as Lucy forced her eyes open, blinking but unable to focus. There was no rhythmic sway of the bus. All was quiet. As the fog in Lucy’s head started to lift, she felt something sharp piercing her side. Something was pinning her body down. She couldn’t move.
Lucy managed to turn her head, trying to make sense of the world around her. The air smelled of smoke. To her left, she could only make out a dim red glow. The bus wasn’t moving. Directly in front of her, all was black. The bright white light to the right was blinding. She squinted hard in the harsh light but Lucy couldn’t focus. Where were they? How long had they been stopped? And why was it so quiet?
Lucy drew in a deep breath as the fear and confusion started to creep in. It’s a puzzle she told herself, like the ones Ms Thomas gave them in math class. She just had to use what she knew to solve it.
“I’m on a bus,” she thought. “I am with my aunt. We are going to Haifa, to the beach. We are going to swim in the sea.” Lucy smiled at this. She loved swimming in the sea. It was a special trip she took with her aunt every year, for her birthday. Lucy shook off the thought. She needed to focus on the here and now. Something was wrong. “The bus isn’t moving. It’s dark and it’s quiet. And I can’t seem to move.” Lucy turned her head slowly from side to side. Moving to fast made it throb. This was all the information she had. She let out a little puff from her nose in frustration. If she was going to solve this puzzle, she needed more to go on. She needed to move.
Lucy tried to lift her head. A sudden wave of nausea wracked her body like nothing she had ever felt before. She laid her head back down.
“Start smaller,” she thought So she wiggled her fingers. All ten seemed to work and they didn’t hurt. Slowly, she picked up her left arm, then her right. Those were both free. Lucy held her hands out in front of her face. She could just make out her hands, in the dim light but only if she didn’t hold them too far away. Lucy moved on to her toes next. The right ones wouldn’t move. She couldn’t feel them. It was like they weren’t there. She tried to bend her right knee and shift her right leg. It wouldn’t move. She tried the toes on her left foot. Her toes wiggled, her ankle turned. Her leg felt heavy but she could move it.
Lucy raised herself up on her elbows. When had she laid down? Where was her aunt? And why was it still so quiet? Her thoughts blurred as she suddenly wretched. The sour contents of her stomach filled her mouth. Lucy managed to turn to her side, avoiding getting the mess on herself. Her head throbbed. She held herself as still as she could manage but the dizziness didn’t pass. She leaned further to the left where her shoulder met something firm, covered in a scratchy fabric. Lucy leaned against it hoping to still the rolling in her stomach. Her eyes grew heavy and she dozed.
When Lucy opened her eyes again, dawn was starting to break. She could see a little better now. The firm thing with the scratchy fabric was the side of a bus seat. Slowly, carefully, she started to glance around. Lucy’s brow knitted in confusion as she took in the scene around her. Nothing made any sense. The bus seemed to be on its side. Lucy closed her eyes again. She counted to eighteen. Her aunt always said to count to eighteen, that it was good luck. Lucy opened her eyes again, looking toward her toes as she remembered not being able to move her right leg. She wretched suddenly again. The young soldier, who was seated across from her and Aunt Nina was lying on top of her right leg. Panic rose in Lucy as she tried to pull her leg free. It wouldn’t move. Neither did the young soldier. Slowly, Lucy reached out her hand, lightly touching his
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shoulder. She pushed his shoulder. Nothing. She tried again, firmer this time. Nothing. Lucy leaned, trying to see his face. A small trail of blood ran from his ear. His eyes were open. He didn’t blink. Lucy reached out her hand again, this time touching his face. She jerked her band back, shocked. It was cold. Fear rose up in her again. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. Her head throbbed. Lucy leaned over to the side of the seat again, closing her eyes.
She must be dreaming. She would close her eyes and soon, when she woke up, everything would be as it was supposed to be again. Aunt Nina would be next to her, the bus would be swaying rhythmically as they made their way to the beach. Everything would be alright. Lucy gave herself over to sleep again.
This time, when Lucy opened her eyes, the sun was fully up. Her head hurt but it wasn’t throbbing like before. The day was growing hot but Lucy shivered as she looked back at the soldier, still on top of her leg. She tried to wiggle it, just a little. But it didn’t move.
“I’m going to be trapped here for the rest of my life if I don’t get my leg free,” Lucy thought. “I need to find Aunt Nina. I can’t stay here.”
With a new sense of urgency, Lucy summoned her strength and pulled her leg. She groaned and grunted with the effort. It started to move. Lucy sat back a minute let her breath slow. Then she screwed up her face, mustered her strength and started again. Finally, her leg came free. She collapsed back again, slowing her breath again. Her muscles ached as she tried to move.
As she tried to stand, her legs buckled underneath her and Lucy crumpled back. She tried again and managed to right herself. Holding onto the edge of a seat, Lucy finally took in the scene around her. The bus was on its side. People were scattered everywhere. They looked like dolls, discarded haphazardly, strewn this way and that. No one moved. The only sound was the wind outside. Lucy shivered.
“Hello?” she said timidly. “Hello?” louder this time. There was no response. She didn’t see Aunt Nina anywhere. Lucy looked around for a path out. The door, at the front of the bus, was up in the air and too high for Lucy to reach. She might be able to reach the emergency door in the back. She had to try.
Lucy pulled herself up onto the sides of the seats and started to crawl. It was slow going as pain shot through her as she put weight on her left leg and she had to navigate around people scattered across the seats.
Lucy finally reached the back of the bus. The handle on the emergency door wouldn’t move. Lucy started to panic. She pushed harder then she tried to raddle the handle. It still wouldn’t move. Lucy collapsed on the side of the seat and sobbed. She looked back up at the door letting out a shaky breath. Then she realized she was trying to move the handle the wrong way. Lucy wiped the tears away and took a few deep breaths. Then she stood and reached for the handle. This time it slid easily. Lucy used the top of her head and pushed with her legs to get the door open. She struggled to pull herself up and get one of her legs up. As she pulled herself through the doorway, she lost her balance, her grip slipping on the narrow wall of the bus and she tumbled to the ground.
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Lucy lay on her back, gasping to get air back into her lungs. Her arms and legs splayed around her. As she regained her breath, Lucy closed her eyes. The sun was high overhead. She lifted herself up and scooted back to rest against the back of the bus. Lucy took in the scene around her. Nothing was familiar. She made the trip with Aunt Nina before but she remembered nothing of the scene around her now. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Lucy’s stomach groaned. She wrapped her arms around herself and drifted off to sleep.
When she woke, the sun was beginning to set. The heat of the day was giving way to the cool night. Lucy shivered. Her body ached and her mouth felt like it was full of dust. She pulled her arms tighter around herself and drifted back to sleep. Lucy fell into a fitful dream, surrounded by people with jugs and jars and bottles of water. When she opened her mouth to ask for a drink, no sound would come out. She could only whimper. No one seemed to see her. Suddenly the faceless hoard started shouting but Lucy couldn’t understand the words.
“I need a medic over here. There’s a little girl. She’s still breathing,” came a gruff voice of a man. She felt someone poking and prodding her.
“Can you open your eyes for me, sweetie,” a softer woman’s voice asked.
Slowly, Lucy managed to open her eyes. As her eyes adjusted to the harsh floodlights around the bus, she recognized the IDF uniforms of the two people on either side of her.
“That’s it little one. It’s okay. You’re safe now,” assured the woman.
Monthly Short Story Feature One of my writing goals for 2022 is to create more short stories. They’re a good creative exercise and sometimes lead to bigger ideas for novels. Or who knows, maybe an eventual collection of short stories in the form of a new book. The story I’ve selected for this month is…
Monthly Short Story Feature One of my writing goals for 2022 is to create more short stories. They’re a good creative exercise and sometimes lead to bigger ideas for novels. Or who knows, maybe an eventual collection of short stories in the form of a new book. The story I’ve selected for this month is…
Visit the Contests page for this month’s theme and full contest rules.
There is an entry fee of $5.00 USD. The winning entry receives a prize based on the number of entries, not less than $25.00 USD.
Don’t wait, enter today!
Posted on March 14, 2022 Leave a Comment
Attention writers! This month’s short story contest theme is:
Entries must be received by midnight Monday, March 28th, cst. Selected stories will be featured during the month of January. Read on for further guidelines.
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Stories are to be 1,500 to 3,000 words. All genres welcome. Please keep it ‘R’ rated or less. No discriminatory themes, explicit violence, or explicit sexual content.
The winning entry will be published in a guest post the first Monday of the following month.
You retain exclusive rights to your work and are free to republish. Republished stories are welcome.
There is an entry fee of $5.00 (USD). The winning entry will be awarded a prize via PayPal. The amount of the prize is based on the number of entries, with a minimum of $25.00 (USD).
Writers must be 18 years old or over to enter. By submitting your entry, you are certifying you meet this requirement.
Please complete the form below with your submission, including a brief bio, which may include social media handles and the titles of any published works you would like to promote. Your website URL will also be included, if provided.
[contact-form-7 id=”1189″ title=”Short Story Contest Form”]
If you answered yes to both of the questions above, your entry and payment have been submitted. Thank you for participating in the contest!
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Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the December Short Story Contest. The winning entry is: Been There, Not Doing That by Ellen Scolnic and Joyce Eisenberg Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic write, speak, blog and tweet together as The Word Mavens. They’ve been award-winning writing partners for 20 years – dispensing their advice…
Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the December Short Story Contest. The winning entry is: My Joe: A Reflection by Phyllis Babrove Phyllis Babrove, a semi¬retired clinical social worker, has resided in Florida since moving there as a newlywed from Wisconsin forty-six years ago. She likes to travel with her husband and has…
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Posted on March 9, 2022 Leave a Comment
Hank Weinberg, an octogenarian and survivor of the Shoah, is adjusting to new roles in life, after retiring from his law practice. That of widower and ‘Gradee’, grandfather. He suddenly finds himself in the role of primary caretaker to his grandson, with the help of his Honduran babysitter, Lupita, when his daughter lands herself in court-ordered rehab after her second DWI. A modern-day Atticus Fitch, Hank comes out of retirement to defend Lupita’s brother, Julio, who is identified as a suspect by a witness to the murder of a prominent member of the Mobile Bay community.
Hoffman brilliantly crafts a novel that is so much more than a crime drama. This story explores generational trauma from two angles. The first, from Hank Weinberg, who as a child, was secreted out of Amsterdam, to the United States, where he was adopted and raised in southern Alabama. While still a young child, Hank is shaped by being rounded up, by the Nazis, with his family, and losing his parents, brother, and sister. He is the sole survivor of the Holocaust out of his family of five. This experience clearly shapes his relationship with his daughter, who as an adult, struggles with addiction leading to the breakup of her marriage.
The second is from the perspective of Lupita and Julio, who immigrated to the United States from Honduras, escaping extreme poverty, political turmoil, and gang violence. The sister and brother were urged to leave, in search of a better life, by their mother. Both continue to provide her with financial support but are unable to return to their homeland.
The story also explores civil rights and racial prejudice as Julio is painted as an illegal immigrant from Mexico. Hoffman’s narrative is a contemporary nod to the Harper Lee classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, as Hank’s empathy for a marginalized young man overrules his own self-doubt.
The ending, which I promise not to spoil, is beautifully moving. I truly could not put this book down. The Promise of the Pelican is easily the front runner for the number one spot on my Top Ten list this year.
I’d like to thank the author, Roy Hoffman, for the free advanced reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Roy Hoffman is author of the novels, “The Promise of the Pelican,” forthcoming March 2022, a literary crime novel of social justice in the Deep South, “Come Landfall,” a story of hurricanes and war, “Chicken Dreaming Corn,” endorsed by Harper Lee, about Romanian Jewish immigrants to the Deep South, and “Almost Family,” in a 35th Anniversary Edition, about a Black family and a Jewish family in Alabama. He’s author of two nonfiction books: “Back Home,” and “Alabama Afternoons.” A native of Mobile, Ala., Roy worked as a writer in New York for 20 years before returning south.
He’s written for the New York Times, Wall St. Journal and Washington Post, covered features for the Mobile newspaper, and received the Lillian Smith Award in fiction and Clarence Cason Award in nonfiction. A graduate of Tulane, he’s on the low-residency MFA faculty of Spalding University’s School Writing. http://www.royhoffmanwriter.com, @roybhoffman, http://www.facebook.com/royhoffmanwriter
By Roy Hoffman Set in turn of the century Mobile, Alabama, Morris Kleinman is a shop owner living among a tapestry of immigrants from across Europe and South America as well as people of color. Kleinman and his wife raise their family in the living quarters above their storefront while contending with war, the Great…
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By Evonne Marzouk When Rachel loses her grandfather, a survivor of the Shoah, during her senior year of high school, she finds herself seeking answers to questions with no one to answer them. The rest of her nuclear family is not observant of their Orthodox faith. Rachel finds herself with a large number of questions…
By Shimon Avish Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous second Temple period, we meet Daniel. At the age of 18, Daniel is abducted by Sicarii assassins. Determined to survive, Daniel finds himself forced to abandon Jewish law and to follow the ways of his captors. Daniel finds himself encountering choice after choice, shaping him…
By Marcia Falk In time for Pesach 5782 comes a new Haggadah by Marcia Falk. This new text provides the full narrative from the Exodus and provides a feminist perspective on the familiar story from the perspectives of Miriam; Shifrah and Pu’ah, the Hebrew midwives responsible for saving the lives of Hebrew babies; as well…
Welcome to my December Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. I’ve continued to make progress on my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ list, although, a few new titles have been…
Welcome to my January Wrap-Up! I managed to cross twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already one third of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review three wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
Welcome to my February Wrap-Up! I managed to cross another twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already two-thirds of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review five wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
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Posted on March 9, 2022 Leave a Comment
Set in 1930s Vienna, no one wants to believe the horrors of war will cross the Austrian boarder. But with the terrors of the Nazis increasing, Eva and Michael, along with showgirl, Marta, needing to find a way out. As the situation continues to grow increasingly desperate, planning their escape becomes increasingly difficult, until they encounter a Chinese gentleman who assists them in securing visas to Shanghai.
Swan crafts a beautifully story of love, loss, and survival. The two key characters, Marta and Eva couldn’t be more different. Marta being accustomed to the glare of the spotlight and appearing self-assured. And Eva, far more reserved and shy, struggling with the separation from her boyfriend Michael, who is left behind in Vienna. This creates an interesting conflict within a conflict to the story.
Jewish immigration to Asia, seeking freedom and safety from the turmoil and Antisemitism of Europe is an under told aspect of Jewish history. This story helps to shed further light on this path many took in their journey to flee oppression, violence, and tyranny.
The Mandarin Seed is an engaging story of hope. I look forward to reading more from this author.
For many years Olga lived in France, where she wrote her best-selling Pensioners in Paradis and Vichyssoise. B.A. Hons. (Open) in the Humanities, specialising in English language and literature.
Blog: olgaswan.blogspot.com
Twitter: @olgaolgaswan
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By Evonne Marzouk When Rachel loses her grandfather, a survivor of the Shoah, during her senior year of high school, she finds herself seeking answers to questions with no one to answer them. The rest of her nuclear family is not observant of their Orthodox faith. Rachel finds herself with a large number of questions…
By Shimon Avish Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous second Temple period, we meet Daniel. At the age of 18, Daniel is abducted by Sicarii assassins. Determined to survive, Daniel finds himself forced to abandon Jewish law and to follow the ways of his captors. Daniel finds himself encountering choice after choice, shaping him…
By Marcia Falk In time for Pesach 5782 comes a new Haggadah by Marcia Falk. This new text provides the full narrative from the Exodus and provides a feminist perspective on the familiar story from the perspectives of Miriam; Shifrah and Pu’ah, the Hebrew midwives responsible for saving the lives of Hebrew babies; as well…
Welcome to my December Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. I’ve continued to make progress on my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ list, although, a few new titles have been…
Welcome to my January Wrap-Up! I managed to cross twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already one third of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review three wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
Welcome to my February Wrap-Up! I managed to cross another twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already two-thirds of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review five wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
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Posted on March 8, 2022 Leave a Comment
Well friends, I’ve reached an interesting milestone in my goal to clear my ‘Want to Read’ list on Goodreads. There are no more books on the list available in audiobook format after this week! I’m down to thirty-three titles left and am seventy-six percent of the way to my reading goal for the year. That being said, this week’s list is a very eclectic mix!
First up is The Hidden Saint by Mark Levenson. This new release is being called Jewish mysticism meets Game of Thrones. I’m beyond intrigued and can’t wait to get started on it! I’m also looking forward to Tetterbaum’s Truth by S.R. Claridge. This is the first book in a seven book series. If mafia thrillers are your jam, I have an extra code for a free download of the book to share with a friend. Message me via the form on the Contact Me page if you’re interested.
Then there’s my very eclectic list of audiobooks. Everything from self-growth to ancient mythology to a seriously dark humor read. But it’s six more books off my list! Next week, I’ll be jumping into some titles for Middle Grade March and Women’s History Month.
Join the conversation! Tell me your thoughts on any of your favorites on this week’s list in the comments.
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THIS NEW FANTASY NOVEL TAKES READERS TO A WORLD THEY’VE NEVER ENCOUNTERED BEFORE, IN WHICH THE VAST SWEEP OF JEWISH MYTH AND MAGIC IS COMPLETELY REAL.
The historical horrors of eighteenth-century Eastern Europe are interwoven with fantastic creatures drawn from 3,500 years of Jewish myth and magic. For the first time, THE HIDDEN SAINT conjures up a very human origin story for one of the greatest superheroes of Jewish folklore: Rabbi Adam, famous for battling wizards, witches, and demons.
The story opens on a long-awaited family wedding, which turns to horror as Rabbi Adam’s children are abducted by an ancient supernatural evil.
To save them, the rabbi is joined by a golem, a man of clay pained by the burden of living among, but always apart from, humans. He’s goaded and mentored by an elderly, wisecracking housekeeper who is secretly one of the thirty-six hidden saints, or Lamed-Vavniks, upon whom the fate of the world depends.
And he’s blessed and challenged by his wife, Sarah, who leads him to a garden named Eden.
As tidal waves and fires ravage the earth and the very stars above begin to disappear, can Rabbi Adam and his companions succeed in time?
Angel Martin plans to marry Tony and live happily ever after, until Tony disappears. Nursing a broken heart, she takes a job at Tetterbaum’s Pub, unaware it is the most prestigious Mafia hangout in Chicago. She finds herself suddenly caught in the middle of a revengeful scheme from a past she’s never known and a blackmail scandal that has left several dead; and she’s next on the hit list. Racing to find answers, Angel’s life is left hanging in a twisted balance of deception and revenge, and the only way out is to expose the truth… TETTERBAUM’S TRUTH.
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STOP. You should not have touched this flyer with your bare hands. NO, don’t put it down. It’s too late. They’re watching you. My name is David. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours. You may not want to know about the things you’ll read on these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it’s too late. You touched the book. You’re in the game. You’re under the eye. The only defense is knowledge. You need to read this book, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me.
The important thing is this: The sauce is a drug, and it gives users a window into another dimension. John and I never had the chance to say no. You still do. I’m sorry to have involved you in this, I really am. But as you read about these terrible events and the very dark epoch the world is about to enter as a result, it is crucial you keep one thing in mind: None of this was my fault.
Doug Brock hasn’t had it easy since his getting shot in the line of duty as a New Jersey state police officer. Between the amnesia and having to solve two murder cases, it hasn’t been the most restful recovery.
Now, the cold-case department is checking evidence from a murder case Doug was investigating before the accident, but the DNA points to a man Doug eliminated as a suspect…and he remembers none of it.
Doug begins to reinvestigate what turns out to be a series of unsolved killings and must retrace his steps to discover why he would have let the suspect go free. What he uncovers may be more dangerous than any case he’s faced yet.
With Black and Blue, nationally best-selling author David Rosenfelt continues his thrilling new series featuring Doug Brock.
book for review, please visit Contact Me and complete the form. I’ll review your request and respond within 48 hours. I’m also happy to work with authors on interviews. To set up an interview, please use the same form.
Buckle up, folks. It’s time to jump in, embrace your inner self, and release the things that are holding you back from wholeness. Enter the Millenneagram.
The Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system that has a sneaky way of revealing who we are and why we do the things we do. Using nine types, it gets to the root of our fears and motivations, unveiling our inner-most selves.
Millenneagram reinvigorates the Enneagram by putting a modern spin on the classic nine types. Hannah Paasch, creator of the popular #millenneagream threads on Twitter, reveals how this system acts as a map toward our authentic selves. For Hannah, the Enneagram is not about changing who we are, but rather nurturing and loving our whole selves, even the pain in the ass qualities. “Only from this position of wholeness, rootedness in who we are, what we believe, and what kind of story we are writing, will we be able to act bravely for the sake of justice and humanity – to approach our f*cked-up world with the grounded courage it asks of us.”
With her trademark irreverent humor and empowering affirmations, Millenneagram reframes the classic Enneagram types with a fresh perspective and new names that cut right to the chase:
#1 The Machine
“I’m an Enneagram 1 and I Can Fix This!”
#2 The Parent
“I’m an Enneagram 2 and Can I Get You a Refill?”
#3 The Winner
“I’m an Enneagram 3 and All I Do Is Win.”
#4 The Tortured Artist
“I’m an Enneagram 4 and I’m Deeper Than You.”
#5 The Detective
“I’m an Enneagram 5 and I Read an Article About That.”
#6 The Oracle
“I’m an Enneagram 6 and I’m Loyal as Fuck.”
#7 The Party
“I’m an Enneagram 7 so This Might Be Vodka In My Mug.”
#8 The Dragon
“I’m an Enneagram 8 so Nice Try, Bitch.”
#9 The Wallflower
“I’m an Enneagram 9 so Let’s Just All Chill Out, Dude.”
A powerful tool for self-discovery (that doesn’t take itself too seriously), Millenneagram is an invitation for introspection and growth. Hannah’s revamped Enneagram goes beyond simply identifying with a type: it gives us permission to be our truest, enough-as-is, bad-ass selves.
Miraculously preserved on clay tablets dating back as much as four thousand years, the poem of Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is the world’s oldest epic, predating Homer by many centuries. The story tells of Gilgamesh’s adventures with the wild man Enkidu, and of his arduous journey to the ends of the earth in quest of the Babylonian Noah and the secret of immortality. Alongside its themes of family, friendship and the duties of kings, the Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind’s eternal struggle with the fear of death.
The Babylonian version has been known for over a century, but linguists are still deciphering new fragments in Akkadian and Sumerian. Andrew George’s award-winning translation has been revised to include many new discoveries of text, and reissued in 2019. It brilliantly combines these into a fluent narrative and will long rank as the definitive English Gilgamesh.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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Read Along with Me With thirty-eight books complete so far this year, I am now fifty-one percent of the way to my reading goal of seventy-five books. I probably should have set a higher goal for myself this year! First on my list The Prophetess by Evonne Marzouk. I normally will not accept YA literature…
Read Along with Me My reading list this week is a mix of a little bit of everything. I’m making wonderful progress on my ‘Want to Read’ list on Goodreads and my TBR cart is down to a shelf and a half. I get a lot of the usual questions about why I read so…
Read Along with Me This week’s reading list is another lengthy one. On reaching the end of the second month of 2022, I am already two-thirds of the way to my reading goal for the year. My ‘Want to Read’ list is under fifty titles and my TBR cart is down to just the top…
Posted on March 7, 2022 Leave a Comment
Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the February Short Story Contest. The winning entry is:
Lindsey’s entry was in response to the writing prompt: Unconventional Love. I enjoy the double meaning of the title.
Even in my boyfriend’s shower, I don’t take off all my makeup. Don’t get me wrong, I still get clean. I wash off the concealer under my eyes and my blush. I even use my index finger and thumb to pinch off some of the non waterproof mascara. That’s a product that needs to be reapplied to get the proper effect. I lather the facewash on my cheeks, chin, and forehead, and of course, I wash my hair, and shave my legs etcetera, but I almost always leave a faint filament of eyeliner on my upper lids.
Securing slipping makeup onto perspiring features is challenging. No windows in that bathroom, and I make it my mission to come out of there with a proper face and outfit. I’d like to look this good all the time, but almost as good is him thinking I do. I find the application is easier, quicker, if I already have the most important part, my eyes, partially done. Think of it like an incomplete retaining wall, or some of the letters on a neon sign already lit. Of course, there is always the chance that my boyfriend might come into the bathroom while I’m showering. When that happens, I feel almost smug in my foresight: he’s spared my naked eyes at first, but in that wet ending I’ll have to start the eyeliner from scratch.
If I really want to clean everything, eyeliner and all, I have to wait to jump into his shower when he’s at the office. I flip on the water heater at least 20 minutes before, and then I can scrub my face off to my heart’s content, until the hot water runs out. Because of the water shortage though, I hurry anyway. Only when he’s gone can I get out of the shower, get dressed and apply makeup anywhere in the apartment without the time pressure of the hot bathroom or my boyfriend seeing behind the curtain. Although I am adept, even in that bathroom, at simultaneously making myself up, toweling off, and upholstering myself with a modestly provocative outfit chosen earlier from my suitcase, it’s a treat to do the routine in the peace of my own company, like taking an untimed test that I’m well prepared for.
Though I often study from his apartment while he’s at work, I rarely have the inclination to shower midday. I used to shower after a run, which I would take preferably in the evening as the summer heat would start to dissipate and the sun would crawl toward the Mediterranean. I would jog through the streets, never taking the same route twice. I liked looking at the salt-damaged apartment buildings, sixties architecture mixing with newer buildings, cats sauntering between chairs at sidewalk cafes. I would run rhythmically, panting, tight chested, listening to yoga podcasts. We’re not allowed to run anymore. Anxiety, like the war, is no longer maintained beneath the surface.
With the war, my university attendance has become spotty. Classes continue, my favorite campus bakery still serves hot dripping pain au chocolate, and the fluorescent pink, orange, and purple Bougainvillea flowers still spill over walls like overpermed 80s rockstars. The people carry on as always, and my recent preference to stay indoors is my tell that I am not from here.
When I do ride the bus to campus, I scan the scene with military precision, but stripped of power. Another suspicious looking man climbs deliberately onto the bus. Will he be the one? He looks like one of them. Or one of us. The way he gazes at his phone though, clears him. The man is too disengaged to be strapped with explosives. If these were the last moments of his earthly life, and if he were wasting those precious last breaths of air looking at his mobile device, he would probably be reviewing instructions or typing intently to his family or social media followers. Unlikely that he’d be playing Snake absentmindedly. Danger averted.
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I always sit next to other women anyway though. It’s far from a sure bet, but it seems like a statistically astute move at least in the case the fighter had a knife instead of explosives. For obvious reasons, I must eventually turn my thoughts to my homework, which is both boring and hard to do on the bumpy ride, or my boyfriend, who is very handsome.
I do not like the commute anymore, and I have not liked rushing to the bomb shelter with my classmates multiple times a day or speaking about the war in a foreign language. When the sirens go off, there is a protocol. Everyone walks briskly or runs to a designated shelter. Every building has at least one. There is no shame in running, which is incongruous from otherwise acceptable daily behavior during the war. Once in the shelter, you listen for the boom. Sometimes it shakes the building; other times it’s faint, like a more substantial heartbeat. After that, you wait another minute for falling debris. The sirens are so accurate that they only ring for the particular neighborhood in the rocket’s path, not for the whole city. When you hear that high pitched wail, it’s personal.
Every person in the country must stifle his or her emotions into the appropriate range. Crying, fear, declining invitations – none of these would be patriotic behaviors. Likewise expressions of icarian joy aren’t appropriate when our boys are dying; getting engaged would be in poor taste. Laughing and jokes are fine, but only with close friends. Bars and coffee shops are open, but watch for suspicious loiterers, and always make sure you know where the bomb shelter is. I prefer house parties to bars; always, but now in particular.
Before he gets home from work, I like to sit on my boyfriend’s balcony and talk to friends back home. As the soldier sun begins his retreat, stunning orange and purple sparkles in the water’s mirror. I hear sirens in different parts of the city, rockets coming for someone else. So my friends back home shouldn’t worry, I tell them I might have to hang up suddenly, and that if it happens, I’ll call them back. I don’t say it would be because of an attack.
The first time I heard the siren go off was before the ground invasion; my boyfriend and I were walking at night. There had been raids after the kidnappings, vigils and arrests. The air was dense with nationalism and resigned anticipation, but you could still jog outdoors or meander, hands in each other’s pockets. We were near the garish fountain, talking, looking into the night sky. Two stars shooting. “Run.” Hand in hand we raced away. The siren moaned, and he pulled me into an Italian restaurant. Before we descended the stairs to the storage room, the ground shook, and we steadied ourselves against giant cans of olives, continuing downward. Once in the shelter, quiet. Some patrons checked phones. My boyfriend asked if I was scared. I shrugged because there is no right answer for that. He pulled me close, and the thrill of the danger and the smell of him were almost unbearable. After the wait, he asked if I wanted to stay and split Tiramisu. “Yes.” During the days I try to study but end up mostly refreshing news sites and composing posts agreeing or arguing with the more rational extremists. Sirens go off four or five times a day, but in the south it’s sometimes a hundred rockets. Our geography means when the sirens ring, we have about 30 seconds to get to shelter before the explosion, and in my boyfriend’s apartment, the shelter is in the stairwell. I get to know the neighbors by face. A couple in their forties, an elderly Russian woman who always wears house
dresses and plastic sandals, a strikingly calm mother with her silent sad toddler. None of us speak to each other though, except as we leave, we deliver casual, friendly have-a-good-days.
Back in the apartment, I make myself useful. I squeegee wash the floor and watch the bubbly gray water swirl inevitably down the drain. I make salad, rice, and chicken for dinner on the stovetop since I can’t figure out my boyfriend’s oven. Exhilaration alternates with mind numbing waiting and it seeps into my skin and dries me out from the inside.
Sunset on the balcony, and my boyfriend texts that he’s biking home from his office and would I like to go to a friend’s for dinner? The world is in color again. Forty minutes. I flip on the water heater, drop dinner into tupperware, and choose an outfit. Twenty minutes. Water runs down my face, my shoulders, stomach, legs. I arch my back in a stretch. Bubbles mixing with facewash, I close my eyes and rub off all of my makeup.
Like a whimper the lament starts, and I step out of the shower naked.
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Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the December Short Story Contest. The winning entry is: Been There, Not Doing That by Ellen Scolnic and Joyce Eisenberg Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic write, speak, blog and tweet together as The Word Mavens. They’ve been award-winning writing partners for 20 years – dispensing their advice…
Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the December Short Story Contest. The winning entry is: My Joe: A Reflection by Phyllis Babrove Phyllis Babrove, a semi¬retired clinical social worker, has resided in Florida since moving there as a newlywed from Wisconsin forty-six years ago. She likes to travel with her husband and has…
Visit the Contests page for this month’s theme and full contest rules.
There is an entry fee of $5.00 USD. The winning entry receives a prize based on the number of entries, not less than $25.00 USD.
Don’t wait, enter today!
Posted on March 7, 2022 Leave a Comment
Attention writers! This month’s short story contest theme is:
Entries must be received by midnight Monday, March 28th, cst. Selected stories will be featured during the month of January. Read on for further guidelines.
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Stories are to be 1,500 to 3,000 words. All genres welcome. Please keep it ‘R’ rated or less. No discriminatory themes, explicit violence, or explicit sexual content.
The winning entry will be published in a guest post the first Monday of the following month.
You retain exclusive rights to your work and are free to republish. Republished stories are welcome.
There is an entry fee of $5.00 (USD). The winning entry will be awarded a prize via PayPal. The amount of the prize is based on the number of entries, with a minimum of $25.00 (USD).
Writers must be 18 years old or over to enter. By submitting your entry, you are certifying you meet this requirement.
Please complete the form below with your submission, including a brief bio, which may include social media handles and the titles of any published works you would like to promote. Your website URL will also be included, if provided.
[contact-form-7 id=”1189″ title=”Short Story Contest Form”]
If you answered yes to both of the questions above, your entry and payment have been submitted. Thank you for participating in the contest!
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Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the December Short Story Contest. The winning entry is: Been There, Not Doing That by Ellen Scolnic and Joyce Eisenberg Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic write, speak, blog and tweet together as The Word Mavens. They’ve been award-winning writing partners for 20 years – dispensing their advice…
Thank you to everyone who submitted work for the December Short Story Contest. The winning entry is: My Joe: A Reflection by Phyllis Babrove Phyllis Babrove, a semi¬retired clinical social worker, has resided in Florida since moving there as a newlywed from Wisconsin forty-six years ago. She likes to travel with her husband and has…
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As a thank you for registering for our email list, you’ll receive free printable reading journal templates and a bonus 100 book reading list! Members of the email list also receive an exclusive discount code for my Etsy store: MapleStreetStudioHRS.
Posted on March 2, 2022 Leave a Comment
Welcome to my February Wrap-Up! I managed to cross another twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already two-thirds of the way to my reading goal for the year.
I’ve had the opportunity to review five wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation. Comment on your favorites and make suggestions of books I should consider for my list.
Authors, are you interested in having your book reviewed? Interested in an interview about your work? Visit the Contact Me page and complete the form. Guest posts are also welcome. Visit the Contests page for submission guidelines. Requests receive a response within 48 hours.
This page contains affiliate links. This means for any purchases made, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Based in part on real events, Roni Robbins’ novel follows the life of Sam Fox, a character based on a Hungarian grandfather as he navigates a tumultuous life in the early 20th century. Sam and his wife Hannah’s lives a filled with secrets from their past which they’ve kept from their children. The book focuses on Sam’s efforts to come to grips with his history and finding silver linings in his tumultuous past.
Robbins is a brilliant storyteller, incorporating detailed and moving scenes throughout the narrative. The book is an intimate look at her large extended family while remaining relatable to anyone who is a descendant of immigrants. Each character is a distinctive thread woven into the whole of this story. I especially enjoyed the description of the romance between Sam and his wife, which led to a marriage spanning six decades.
I was engrossed from beginning to end. This is a truly inspiring story of triumph over tragedy and a life well lived.
I’d like to thank the author for the free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Kate Butler maintains her investigative journalism career by freelancing. Her latest project, focused on the discovery of a tomb in the Arizona desert, is near Flagstaff. Artifacts found at the site indicate the individual buried was a magician. When inconsistencies in the magician’s appearance raise questions about his origins, Butler is carried back in time to when a volcano changed the landscape of the high desert. But her investigation is not without its perils as she faces the black market world of antiquities sales.
Montgomery crafts a very well-researched narrative with some interesting twists and turns. I found myself getting increasingly invested in the story through the duel storyline, incorporating elements of tribal life into the modern investigation of Kate Butler and the archeological team.
Kate Butler’s character has a nicely layered complexity. The story is very well-paced, reaching a page-turning, action-packed climax to the end. I enjoyed the relationship between Kate and Cooper.
This story has all the elements of a great suspense drama centered around a historical mystery. I’d like to thank the author for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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Seven decades after arriving in New York from war-torn Europe, Jay Sommer is losing his memory, erasing stories of his family, his escape from a labor camp, the important memories of his past. This has his son, Jason Sommer, reflecting on the trip he took with his father in 2001 to retrace his father’s steps across Eastern Europe and to visit the place where members of his family were murdered, Auschwitz.
This is an incredibly touching memoir that seeks to serve two purposes. The first is to preserve the story of Jay Sommer, a survivor the Holocaust. The second is a son’s search for understanding of and connection to his father. A relationship made more complex as the result of generational trauma.
It was very moving to see the growth in connection between father and son as they made their way across Eastern Europe, as they made discoveries and recovered Jay’s buried memories of lost family members.
I’d like to thank the author for the free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. Shmuel’s Bridge is scheduled for release on March 15, 2022.
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Let’s start with the back cover description of this book: “The fundamentals of Judaism in one book! The Foundation of Judaism deals with the basics of Judaism ― Jewish thought, Jewish history, Jewish year and more, in one succinct yet comprehensive book. Written in a clear and readable style, with a wealth of maps and charts, it has been widely acclaimed as an essential teaching aid and a vital asset in every Jewish home and school.”
My first thought was, that’s a lot of information to pack into a single volume! This book must be twice the length of Seltzer’s Jewish People, Jewish Thought (which is well over 700 pages). So I was even more intrigued when I received a very neat, compact volume of about two hundred pages.
This book more than lived up to its description. If you’ve been looking for an easy to understand reference to all things Judaism, here it is. Complete with maps of key journeys in the biblical narrative, timelines approximating the dates and associated authors of the books of the Writings and the Prophets, timelines of key events in Jewish history. Even the basics of reading Hebrew.
This is a book that is perfect for any Jewish library, from Hebrew school students to those studying for conversion to a Rabbinic library. I highly recommend this book and look forward to continuing to use it as a quick reference guide during my own studies.
I’d like to thank publicist Stuart Schnee for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
When Rachel loses her grandfather, a survivor of the Shoah, during her senior year of high school, she finds herself seeking answers to questions with no one to answer them. The rest of her nuclear family is not observant of their Orthodox faith. Rachel finds herself with a large number of questions and no teacher from whom to seek answers. That is until she meets Yonatan at High Holidays service. This chance meeting changes the shape of her life.
Rachel’s story encompasses a number of themes within this coming of age tale. It’s a story of love, grief, and self-discovery. It is primarily geared toward young adults but given it deals with some very big emotions and life-shaping events I felt it resonated well, as an adult reader. Marzouk does a nice job of interweaving concepts of Jewish mysticism at an introductory level.
This book would make for an interesting discussion in a confirmation or youth group setting. It presents thought-provoking themes about finding personal meaning in ritual and the individual soul’s purpose in this world, with the protagonist gaining understanding of her abilities as a prophetess. While it’s not explicitly discussed in the narrative, I appreciated the underlying elements of the principle of Tikkun Olam.
I’d like to thank the author for a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
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Monthly Short Story Feature One of my writing goals for 2022 is to create more short stories. They’re a good creative exercise and sometimes lead to bigger ideas for novels. Or who knows, maybe an eventual collection of short stories in the form of a new book. The story I’ve selected for this month is…
This month, in honor of Black History Month, I wanted to bring you a reading list featuring books by Black Jewish Writers. The Jewish community is a rich tapestry of many diverse voices and our literature is reflective of that. I’m looking forward to adding these books to my own reading list and learning more…
This month, I’ve continued my goal to incorporate more stories and articles. My short story feature this month, entitled “Closing Time”, features a female bartender locking up for the night when something unexpected occurs. Or does it? Also, in celebration of Black History Month, I compiled a list of books by Black Jewish authors. Links…
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Welcome to my November Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. It has been a fantastic month of books. I’ve enjoyed some of the best books of the year this…
Welcome to my December Wrap-Up! I’ve exceeded my 2021 Goodreads reading goal and discovered some wonderful new authors. If you’ve missed any of my weekly reading lists or reviews, here is your chance to catch up. I’ve continued to make progress on my Goodreads ‘Want to Read’ list, although, a few new titles have been…
Welcome to my January Wrap-Up! I managed to cross twenty-five titles off my reading list and am already one third of the way to my reading goal for the year. I’ve had the opportunity to review three wonderful books this month and have included links to my weekly reading lists as well. Join the conversation.…
Heidi Slowinski 