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[Book Review] A New Memoir by Sarah Birnbach
Posted on August 3, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Sarah Birnbach The Mourner’s Kaddish is a traditional Jewish prayer, written in Aramaic. At the loss of a parent, child, or spouse, it is traditional to recite the prayer for eleven months. After the loss of her father, Sarah Birnbach commits to reciting the Kaddish, twice daily, in synagogue, for eleven months. Birnbach describes […]
[Book Review] The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Posted on July 27, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Jodi Picoult I first discovered Jodi Picoult through her more recent release, The Book of Two Ways. Since then, I’ve picked up Wish You Were Here and today, I’m reviewing The Storyteller. Needless to say, I’m becoming a big fan. The Storyteller is a duel timeline novel, exploring grief and generational trauma. Picoult also […]
[Book Review] The Anticipated New Release from Sherry V. Ostroff
Posted on July 27, 2022 1 Comment
By Sherry V. Ostroff The much anticipated new release from Sherry V. Ostroff is here! And it is everything I hoped it would be. Ostroff sets her newest historical fiction work at a perilous time in Jewish history, the Spanish Inquisition. Like her previous works, this story is impeccably well-researched. Ostroff subtly historical details, adding […]
[Book Review] A New Veronica Rosenthal Mystery by Sergio Olguin
Posted on June 29, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Sergio OlguÃn (author), Miranda France (translator) Sergio Olguin brings us book three of his Veronica Rosenthal Mystery series. Currently available in Spanish, the English translation is currently scheduled for release on September 20, 2022. I was delighted to receive an advanced copy for review. Olguin sets the third installment in this series in Buenos […]
[Book Review] Love, Guns, & God in America by Christian Fennell
Posted on June 29, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Christian Fennell The third installment in his trilogy, Christian Fennell delivers what feels more like a stand-alone novel in its own right. This coming of age story follows two youngsters seeking to escape their southern, white-nationalist upbringing. But their story will take a horrific, racial turn that will shape their future. While I did […]
[Book Review] An Interesting Twist on the Familiar Story: The Book of V. by Anna Solomon
Posted on June 29, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Anna Solomon Anna Solomon takes inspiration from the familiar biblical story of Esther for her novel. But rather than focusing on the familiar Jewish heroine, Solomon focuses instead on characters based on the banished Persian Queen Vashti. The story shifts between two time periods, 1970s Washington DC and ancient Persia. Solomon manages to draw […]
[Book Review] Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt
Posted on June 8, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Joachim B. Schmidt Set in a village in northern Iceland, Kalmann Odinsson, a neurodiverse hunter and fisherman, serves as the self-appointed sheriff of Raufarhöfn. Kalmann’s desire to find a wife are suddenly put on hold when he discovers a pool of blood frozen in the snow after well-known resident, Robert McKenzie, goes missing. He […]
[Book Review] Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda
Posted on June 8, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Riku Onda Set over the course of one night, in Tokyo, Aki and Hiro are in a troubled relationship. As the two are reflecting on a hiking trip they took the year before where their guide fell to his death, each becomes increasingly suspicious the other may have had a hand in the guide’s […]
[Book Review] The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith and The Talmud by Maggie Anton
Posted on June 8, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Maggie Anton Maggie Anton’s new release was inspired by Chaim Potock’s classic writings. Anton re-imagines Potock’s characters as young adults, living in Brooklyn, in the 1950s. This time, the storyline tackles gender equality in Judaism as journalist, Hannah Eisin seeks instruction in the Talmud from Rabbi Nathan Mandel, a text considered forbidden to women. […]
[Book Review] Tears Over Russia: A Search for Family and the Legacy of Ukraine’s Pogroms by Lisa Brahin
Posted on June 8, 2022 Leave a Comment
By Lisa Brahin Set in the early 20th century, Brahin provides an account of her grandmother, Channa’s accounts of escaping the perils Ukraine as pogroms across the country took the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews. traveling first through Russia and then Romania, Channa’s family traveled over the course of three years in a […]
