Poll

Over on the nominations discussion, you can see what our authors said about the books they nominated.

Authors, if you'd like, use the comment space below to say something succinct about your book (sometimes less is more!) and tell us where they can be purchased and whether you were able to arrange a discount. And thanks for participating!

Addendum added April. 23: this poll closed to members who have joined since the poll began (April 21). Subsequent votes will not count, except that the participants may vote. Explanation below.

Hi, all!

If you're looking for fun dystopian sci-fi, check out Wayfarers! Years ago, when I pitched it as a Hollywood screenplay, I described it as "Mad Max meets Moses" - it's a post-Apocalyptic Exodus adventure!

In a desolate future where the totalitarian New Dominion has outlawed all religious practice, a group of Jewish refugees embarks on a perilous journey to the coast, seeking safety aboard a waiting freighter. Led by the courageous Rabbi Moshe and the skeptical yet resourceful Abe Katz, the group must navigate hostile landscapes, evade relentless pursuit, and confront internal doubts about faith and survival. Central to their mission is the protection of "the Ark," a digital archive preserving thousands of years of Jewish tradition. As threats from both outside forces and internal conflicts mount, Wayfarers explores themes of cultural resilience, identity, and the complex relationship between past and future.

It's available in paperback, hardcover and e-book on Amazon. (Search for "Wayfarers Arnon" to get past all the sunglasses)

But if you're on Smashwords, you can get it there for 25% off with this coupon code: PSWCZ - just for JBC members!

I'm so excited for you to read it!
-Arnon

The best synopsis of my book, The Last Dekrepitzer, is by David Stern, Harry Starr Professor of Classical and Modern Hebrew and Jewish Literature, Harvard University :

The Last Dekrepitzer is a remarkable novel about faith lost and regained in the aftermath of the Holocaust. In telling this story of the last surviving rebbe of a Hasidic dynasty passing as a Black street-fiddler, Howard Langer has discovered a new idiom of American Jewish writing. A brilliant re-imagining of the legend of the hidden righteous soul told as though the melodies of Hasidic niggunim were blues.


There is also a good more detailed synopsis on the website of the Jewish Book Council.

Should the book be selected I will endeavor to issue a less expensvie paperback version for a limited time on the publisher's website. Otherwise the book in hardcover and eBook is available at all the usual on-line vendors and through local bookstores.

I sent this message to Brina this morning, and she suggested I share it in the comments here as well. So, (with Brina's blessing!) here it is:

Hi, Brina!

I'm excited and honored that "Wayfarers" is on the list for June's book!

One suggestion:

In your message, you suggested that self-published books will not be available in libraries...

This is actually a great opportunity to remind JBC members that one of the best ways to improve Jewish representation on library shelves is to request the books that they want to read (even if they're planning on getting the book elsewhere).

All of my self-published titles are available to libraries through the Ingram catalog, and several of them are already available on some library shelves and in library e-book systems because fans have requested that their local libraries order them.

So - particularly for this author-centric month - I think it would be amazing if you sent out another note encouraging JBC members to share this month's list with their local libraries, and to request that the books be stocked. It makes a HUGE difference for self-published authors!

Thanks!
-Arnon

Note to authors and members:

We're disqualifying votes from anybody who's joined the group since Apr. 21, the reason being that the purpose of the poll is to discover which book members prefer.

Some kinds of elections are about bringing in new voters for the purpose of the election, but this isn't that sort of election and would distort finding out the membership's preferred book.

So welcome to all new members. We hope you'll jump in next month with votes and more.

Members, be aware our winner will be based on the poll numbers minus a few disqualified votes.

Thanks to all who nominate, participate, and write books,
Jan

About my book, Stories My Father Told Me ...
Rafał Feliks Buszejkin was born in Warsaw in 1912 to a Jewish family that left Warsaw in 1914 for Moscow to escape the Germans, and then returned to Warsaw in 1917 to escape the Bolsheviks.
He was a man who, in his youth, boxed, raced bicycles, rode horses, and sometimes got into fights. As a teenager in Warsaw in 1930, he played poker and hooky with a band of truants and failed his last year of high school. In fall of 1932 he went to Algeria to study agronomy and while there he spent time with a community of Sephardic Jews in a small desert town where he established a Maccabi sports club. During the war, while exiled to Kazakhstan, he was put in charge of the agriculture of five kolkhozes and slept in a yurt. Surprisingly, many people do not know that approximately 230,000, the largest number of surviving Polish Jews, survived the Holocaust because they escaped and were trapped in the Soviet Union for the duration of the war. The description of life during that relatively neglected chapter of Jewish and Holocaust history is told in engaging detail.
After the war, he spent six months on the French Riviera, then lived for two years in a Jewish farming collective in Sosua, Dominican Republic. He spoke five languages, but preferred to swear in Russian. He was a master of resilience and told some good stories.
Based on a memoir he wrote for me late in his life (his manuscript is now at the YIVO archive), I have written a book about him: Stories My Father Told Me: From Warsaw, Moscow, Algeria, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Dominican Republic. It is available at Amazon, other online retailers, and bookships. The Kindle version is available for purchase at Amazon or for free with Kindle Unlimited.

About me:
I was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in Los Angeles, lived much of my adult life in Berkeley where I worked at the university until I moved to Barcelona. For the past 24 years I have been living in Catalonia, Spain.

Thank you for the opportunity to share this book with our members!

Dvora wrote: "About my book, Stories My Father Told Me ...
Rafał Feliks Buszejkin was born in Warsaw in 1912 to a Jewish family that left Warsaw in 1914 for Moscow to escape the Germans, and then returned to War..."

Thanks, Dvora, and thanks to our other authors for their comments and for their participation.

If any of the authors would like to message me, I believe I'm set up to receive private messages. If not, let me know here. I cannot contact an author privately unless we're already friends on Goodreads, as Goodreads in their wisdom has protected you from private messages.

Will check my messages and respond after Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jan

Ash on the vine seems very interesting, good luck to all authors.

All of these look great! Im looking forward to reading whichever is selected 😀

Hi All, I hope I'm not too late to vote. I would like to read Stories My Father Told Me. Not sure how to access the poll though.

Michelle wrote: "Hi All, I hope I'm not too late to vote. I would like to read Stories My Father Told Me. Not sure how to access the poll though."

Michelle, thanks for your interest. The poll closed on Apr. 28, but please read that one -- and review it and tell us what you thought under WHAT ARE YOU READING?
(And whenever you comment of review, check that "notify me" box so you'll know when somebody replies! :)

To all the above authors whose books were candidates in the poll: okay to talk about your books here under the poll if you'd like (as well as on the usual author threads). Under the circumstances, why not? 😆