Jewish Genre Reading Challenge discussion

Use this thread to talk about your current and upcoming reading, your planning process for the challenge, and anything else book or reading related. You can discuss all your March reading here, not just books you are reading for the Jewish Genre Challenge.

The Jewish Genre Challenge's March "genre of the month" is Mystery & Crime in honor of Purim this month. A murder plot, secret identities, and a femme fatale? Sounds like a month for reading mystery & crime!

Our database contains Jewish noir, cozy mysteries, historical mysteries, true crime, and even mystery stories with a tinge of the supernatural. You'll find stories about Jewish gangsters, con men, rabbis, ex-spies, and even a mom who keeps stumbling onto local murders. Inspire others with your favorites in this genre in the Mystery, Crime, and True Crime thread!

Happy March! I'm currently reading Deborah Wilde's Death & Desire, the second book in her urban fantasy series The Jezebel Files.

I'd like to read a mystery or crime book this month. I'm considering The Fifth Servant, set in 1600s Prague, The Deadly Scrolls, which seems to be a "Jewish Da Vinci Code" set in Jerusalem, Fax Me a Bagel, a cozy mystery and the first book in the 6 book long "Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife" mystery series, and Tempest in the Tea Room, about a crime wave in Regency London's Jewish community.

I've also been on a romance kick and am especially looking forward to reading Marry Me by Midnight and Thank You for Sharing, and Till There Was You and Love, Me when my library holds for them finally come in.

Since this month's theme is mystery I'd love to recommend a great mystery with a Jewish lead that I've read recently. It's called Death of a Dancing Queen and it was such a great read. I loved how it was Jewish in a way that wasn't just an afterthought. Plus, it has Jewish mobsters! How cool is that! It really leans into the noir vibes that it draws inspiration from yet it is subversive in that the PI is a young Jewish woman. I also love that it takes place in NJ in a community I engage with so it feels very familiar.

I also read Marry Me by Midnight and loved it! The history felt so well researched and the romance was spot on. I love a good Cinderella retelling and having the boy take on the role of Cinderella is just perfect in my opinion. I 'm eagerly awaiting the next book and just saw that there will be three more books in the series so far. I also picked up Unorthodox Love recently but haven't gotten too far into it yet. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm in the right mood for it right now.

Ooh, theme of the month is fun! I'll try to get to my mystery pick this month then. I think I'm going to read The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz, I really liked one of his other books, Magpie Murders.

Update: I finished The Word is Murder, and while it was a propulsive, well-written mystery, there was some really explosive homophobia from one character that was half-heartedly called out but then dropped like it never happened. That character is supposed to be somewhat unlikeable, but clearly you are supposed to just kind of shake your head and go, well, he may be an asshole, but he's brilliant! As far as the Jewish main character, the Horowitz character/narrator alluded to Jewish funeral practices with regards to his father's funeral, but there wasn't any other discussion of his identity throughout the rest of this book, maybe later in the series?

Karen wrote: "As far as the Jewish main character, the Horowitz character/narrator alluded to Jewish funeral practices with regards to his father's funeral, but there wasn't any other discussion of his identity throughout the rest of this book, maybe later in the series?"

It's been interesting as I start to dive into Jewish bookstagram to see how "Jewish rep" means different things to different readers. One person said about a book, "The book just mentions she's Jewish and then it never comes up again," and another person said, "Yes, that means the main character is Jewish," and the first person said, "When I'm looking for Jewish rep I'm looking for more in-depth on-the-page Jewishness." (I'm paraphrasing the whole thing but you get the idea.)

The standard I'm using for adding books to the database is simply "Jewish main character." That means if it's mentioned once, the book counts. But I did get into an interesting fringe case with the Ravenfall series, where in the first book the main character uses Celtic magic from her mother's side, and then in second book, Hollowthorn, she uses Jewish magic from her father's side. I'm not sure Jewishness is even mentioned in the first book - in traditional Judaism you're only considered Jewish if your mother is, though that is changing in recent times. I ended up adding Hollowthorn to the database with a note explaining why I only added book 2.

Also wow, Karen, you are reading really fast these days!

chysodema wrote: "Karen wrote: "As far as the Jewish main character, the Horowitz character/narrator alluded to Jewish funeral practices with regards to his father's funeral, but there wasn't any other discussion of..."

I just finished reading Ravenfall! It was a good book but the Jewish aspect is only mentioned a few times and it's pretty superficial at that. I'm hoping Hollowthorn explores not just Jewish magic but her personal relationship with Judaism. Her father's side are Jewish magic artifact hunters, which I think is pretty cool. Maybe they can stage a heist and steal back the menorah from the Vatican.

Hi! I've just joined you and I'm excited about this challenge (and the list of Jewish MC books all compiled together).

The majority of my Jewish reading lately has been children's books from PJ Library (getting a bit sick of Not For All The Hamentaschen In Town). My synagogue has been clearing out some old books from its libraries, so I've picked up Jerusalem: The Biography. Fascinating history but very dense, especially since I'm not very familiar with a lot of it - sometimes I lose track of all the characters or who's conquered where. Anyway I'm calling that my non-fiction history book. I just ordered 4 books from 4 different genres and I'm really excited! I can't see how to link books though - can someone help? I'm on the mobile app and don't see an "add book" thingy anywhere.

Rebecca wrote: "I can't see how to link books though - can someone help? I'm on the mobile app and don't see an "add book" thingy anywhere."

Welcome! We're so glad you're here! Unfortunately there are a bunch of Goodreads groups features that can only be done in a browser and not through the mobile app. You can do it on your phone by opening Goodreads in your phone browser rather than the app.

What books and genres did you order? I would love to hear!

(I am also on the Purim books train with you. My kid is currently loving Meet the Hamentaschen, which I have to say is actually a fabulous noir mystery featuring baked good detectives. That author's weird humor lands really well for my 3.5 year old.)

Rebecca wrote: "I just finished reading Ravenfall! It was a good book but the Jewish aspect is only mentioned a few times and it's pretty superficial at that. "

Thanks for reporting back about Ravenfall! My standard for JMCs is super basic - if the book says once that the MC is Jewish, it qualifies for the database. My loose take on it is that I don't know what "feels Jewish" to every Jewish person, so who am I to say a certain character *written by a Jewish author* isn't representative even if I don't recognize any markers in the story that reflect my own Jewish experience? I haven't come across a book yet written by a non-Jewish author that does the thing of just mentioning it. Usually when non-Jewish authors write a Jew into their story that Jew is there to be Jewish for a reason, if you know what I mean.

Hmm, perhaps I'm missing something but even in my mobile browser I'm not seeing the option? So apologies, there will be no links here.

I picked up
- poetry: 40 WEEKS. I started following her ages ago (on Instagram, not irl creepy stalker!) and love her work, so I've been meaning to get this for a while. I have also personally written a TON of poetry about pregnancy and motherhood. Really looking forward to this one.

- fantasy: The Hidden Palace I absolutely loved The Golem and the Djinni and actually hesitated over getting this because that book was so perfect (and ended in such a good way) that I almost didn't want a sequel? Hopefully it lives up to the first one

- sci fi(?): Eternal Life. I saw someone else list this as sci fi though don't know if it is perhaps really fantasy - but I've been enjoying the niche sub-genre of stories about immortal people so it seemed like a good bet.

- romance: Marry Me by Midnight. I NEVER read romance but I guess that's part of the point, and I do tend to enjoy fairytale retellings.

Also nabbed a book on the Dead Sea Scrolls at synagogue today. Can I have credit for the book that heavily features another language for that one? 🤣

Also I love the conversation about what makes a book or character Jewish. For example, does The Lions of Al-Rassan count? Alternate-world historical fantasy with clear analogues for Christianity, Islam and Judaism - the religions are different but culturally there's real resonance. Meanwhile the same author's Tigana very clearly draws on Jewish history in featuring a land which is renamed by its conquerors in an effort to deny its people's connection to it - although that's a weaker one. And I can't put my finger on exactly why but I felt Jewish threads in The Starless Sea. At one point a character uses part of the priestly blessing? She frequently refers to the MC by his full name, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, and okay Rawlins isn't your typical Jewish surname but the rest is pretty Jewish? Idk, it just felt Jewish-ish. A very scientific term. But I love finding those resonances in subtle ways, even though they aren't Jewish MC books.

Rebecca wrote: "Hmm, perhaps I'm missing something but even in my mobile browser I'm not seeing the option? So apologies, there will be no links here."

Phooey. Sorry about that. I investigated and there's one more step you need to take. I use Chrome as my phone browser and there's an option to "Request Desktop Site." When I do that I get the same comment box that I see on the computer, which has a little green link right above it that says add book/author. Goodreads is so unfriendly to groups on mobile!

Wow, how frustrating! I've gone back and edited so the books are linked properly.

Update: the books arrived yesterday and between now and then I have devoured 3 of them 😳 I can see this getting quite expensive quite quickly 😂

I enjoyed 40 WEEKS, although didn't love it quite as much as I was expecting to. Also not quite as Jewish a feel as I'd hoped. Still, poetry does often need a bit more time and I anticipate coming back to it a few more times, plus getting something else of hers in the not-too-distant future.

As for Marry Me by Midnight, well, romance just isn't my genre. I found the context of why she had to marry hard to get my head around for a while, and there's plenty that felt quite contrived (but I guess that's not unusual for romance books). At the risk of sounding like "I read Playboy for the articles", I was fascinated learning about Jewish history in London in the 19th century and definitely want to look for more Jewish historical fiction in unfamiliar time periods. Overall it was enjoyable and an easy read. I probably won't get any more romance books (I think this may be the first I've ever bought?), but if I do I'd probably look for more by Felicia Grossman.

And Eternal Life...I am absolutely in love. I want every book she's ever written. It was beautiful, different (and I've read a lot of spins on "human who lives forever"), and so very very Jewish. Can't recommend it highly enough and have already told multiple people it's a must-read.