Jewish Book Carnival discussion

Reading Mrs. Kaputnik's Matzah Ball Emporium (the title is longer and more complicated than that but I don't remember it), a middle grade chapter book. It's cute but not scintillating. Classic immigration story with a twist - the kids have a pet dragon.

Just read an ARC of Hereville, a graphic novel which apparently began as a webcomic, with an 11-year-old Orthodox troll-fighting heroine as protagonist. I loved it! Now I have to check out the webcomic...

It's at http://www.hereville.com.

Reading and admiring Jacob Paul's Sarah/Sara, which is featured in the new (July/August) Poets & Writers section on First Fiction. I received a review copy from Ig Publishing--hope to finish reading it soon (this weekend?) and get started on a review. (By the way, Goodreads is off on the page count: it's 250 pages, not 200.)

Arrrgh!

Envy!

I'm still waiting for my Hereville ARC to arrive. Mind you, I'll want to finish reading my autographed copy of Graphic Therapy (by Emily Steinberg) first --- and I'm only on chapter 2 of that one. Online version of that is at http://www.smithmag.net/graphictherapy/

I was considering posting about Hereville for the Carnival, but I'll choose something else if Heidi's already discussing that one on her blog.

Steven wrote: "I was considering posting about Hereville for the Carnival, but I'll choose something else if Heidi's already discussing that one on her blog."

Steven, go ahead and blog about Hereville. I wasn't planning to, plus you are the graphic novel expert!

The review of Sarah, Sara is now live on the Fiction Writers Review website.

I just finished Ruchama King's Seven Blessings last night -- and learned of this group and the event this morning. Talk about signs trying to tell me something!

I'm excited to see this group. My book club focuses almost exclusively on Jewish lit and I'm always searching for new titles to bring them. Which means I like to talk about Jewish lit.

Edith Stein
Life in a Jewish Family
1891-1916

Very belatedly beginning a review copy received of Andrew Sanger's The J-Word.

I am reading Sima's Undergarments for Women and Loving each page. I can't put it down. There are parts that are hard to swallow. But interesting character study.

Susan wrote: "I am reading Sima's Undergarments for Women and Loving each page. I can't put it down. There are parts that are hard to swallow. But interesting character study."

Susan wrote: "I just finished Ruchama King's Seven Blessings last night -- and learned of this group and the event this morning. Talk about signs trying to tell me something!

I'm excited to see this group. My b..."
I read this book a few years ago. I did not like it particularly. Every book is not for everyone.

Happy reading.

I read Sima's Undergarments for Women about a month ago and I found it really moving. Not happy, but meaningful. I think if I hadn't found stuff that related to my own feelings, I would have just found it depressing, though.

Just now reading Jon Papernick's There Is No Other. Very well written, but confusing to me, as short stories often are. I feel like I don't understand the point of a lot of them. I am often mystified by short stories.

BookOfLife wrote: "I read Sima's Undergarments for Women about a month ago and I found it really moving. Not happy, but meaningful. I think if I hadn't found stuff that related to my own feelings, I would have just f..."

I need to add Sima's Undergarments to my tbr list (I think the Papernick is already there). But I'm very curious about your comments re: short stories. Can you say some more about what makes them confusing/mystifying to you? (As the author of a forthcoming short story collection, I'm especially interested in your thoughts!)

I have to say I am amazed how she was able to get into Sima's head and understand her feeling. Most young people under the age of 50 most likely would not understand this. Since menopause started for me I have not been able to express myself. The book was a catharsis for me. I know I probably should not have said anything untill I posted on my blog. But I could not help myself.

Hi All,

I'm new to the group...glad to be here! I recently reread Are You There God, It's Me Margaret. I loved that book so much as a kid. It was the first time I remember finding myself inside a story.

To answer Erika's question about short stories: I often find when I read short stories written for adults that the characters act in weird or cruel ways, that I don't understand their motivations, and I don't understand why the author would want to make me think about people acting so weird or cruel. I'm a kidlit person so maybe I'm just used to having things made a little more obvious; also, I'm used to stories with a more hopeful flavor. Adult lit is often too cynical or sad for me, and this seems to be especially true in short story format.

BookOfLife wrote: "To answer Erika's question about short stories: I often find when I read short stories written for adults that the characters act in weird or cruel ways, that I don't understand their motivations, ..."
Thank you so much for that thoughtful response, Heidi. I hope that my characters don't necessarily act in weird or cruel ways, but it's true that a lot of the literary fiction that I'm familiar with can veer toward the sad.

You might find this blog post relevant/interesting: http://practicing-writing.blogspot.co...

I'm going to go ahead and resurrect this thread.

The book I'm reading now, which I'm really enjoying, is:

Nicole thanks for the resurrection. I am reading a Book that a member of the tribe told me to read not once,but twice. This guy came into the book store a few monthes back and told me about this book, came in again a few weeks ago and asked me if I read it yet,I said no and felt sheepish. I ordered it that day and have started it.
"Exile" by Richard North Patterson, not Jewish.
But the book is about Jewish issues.

Did anybody read Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin? It's fantasy with a mild Jewish theme. We have far too little Jewish fantasy, IMHO, and I found this story quite compelling.

BookOfLife wrote: "Did anybody read Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin? It's fantasy with a mild Jewish theme. We have far too little Jewish fantasy, IMHO, and I found this story quite compelling."
Have not read it--I'm usually not a big fantasy fan
--but my publisher just suggested a new book that does look pretty interesting: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/people-book-decade-jewish-science-fiction-and-fantasy.

I just finished David Grossman's TO THE END OF THE LAND (trans. Jessica Cohen). Not an easy read. But I'm glad I stuck with it.

Marie wrote: "What Jewish book are you reading? How do you like it?"

I just finished Confessions of a Closet Catholic by Sarah Darer Littman. I thought it was a wonderful book about a young Jewish girl "testing" her ideas of religion and discovering what it all means to her.

Funny, I think of a Jewish book as being a book about Jewish people and/or a book by a Jewish author. How about you? Anyway, I'm reading an oldie: Alice Hoffman's The Drowning Season.

BookOfLife wrote: "Just read an ARC of Hereville, a graphic novel which apparently began as a webcomic, with an 11-year-old Orthodox troll-fighting heroine as protagonist. I loved it! Now I have to check out the webc..."

I've heard great things about this book...looking forward to reading it!

Marie wrote: "Shirley, Confessions of a Closet Catholic is about a Jewish girl struggling with her faith."

YES! But I wonder now if that title caused confusion for people and kept some Jewish kids from finding the book. That would be a shame.

Treblinka Survivor: The Life and Death of Hershl Sperling

http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/prod...

Just finished (last night) Johanna Adorján's memoir of her grandparents (and their suicide, when the author was 20), AN EXCLUSIVE LOVE (translated by Anthea Bell). Adorján's paternal grandfather was a camp survivor; her grandmother survived the Nazi takeover of Hungary in hiding (circumstances remain somewhat mysterious).

I am still sorting out all of my thoughts. But it is an extraordinary book. I am grateful to the German Book Office for my free copy.

Hereville is fantastic...look forward to more graphic novels from that author.

Susan, glad you liked Seven Blessings by Ruchama King. I loved the book, too, and Ruchama is a friend of mine.

I'm reading Natan Sharansky's Fear No Evil. I just finished Gertruda's Oath - a true Holocaust tale, so worth reading.

Just finished The Tenth Song by Naomi Ragen. It was predictable and oddly comfortable, sort of like eating a piece of sponge cake. Recommended for a public library.
A much more stimulating book is The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. That book had amazing philosophical insights and a beautiful plot.

Recently finished Good Eggs, a graphic memoir by Phoebe Potts, as part of a work-related assignment. It's a fascinating, funny, poignant, and incredibly honest book about topics many of us don't like to talk about. In one fell swoop, Phoebe Potts tackles infertility, interfaith marriage, depression, and conflicts with parents. It's a quick read that makes you think.

Just finished, Dara Horn's All Other Nights. Historical southern Jewish fiction, during the Civil War.Full of suspense, the punches don't stop. Feels like you are on a roller coaster ride. You would emensely enjoy this novel if you live in the south. Not a character study though, more suspenseful than any thing else. This is a different kind of novel, than Dara Horn's other novels.
Still a good read.

Just finished On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz by Arthur Kurzweil. An enjoyable book. I will go on to read The Thirteen Petalled Rose.

I read All Other Nights last summer. It was quite exciting, but by the end I was wrung out. I felt like "why does the author want to torture these characters, and by extension, me?" LOL, I guess that's why I'm a fan of children's literature, it's never as dark and hopeless as adult fiction.

My book club read All Other Nights last month. To a woman, we loved it.

As for why the characters were so tortured, I found that to be part of the point. Jacob goes through hell, literally. His appearance is altered, and he is forced to watch people turn away from him. He's not a glorious soldier, doing his duty for his country. He's broken, and people -- including his own parents -- shun him.

Yet at the end, there's incredible love and redemption.

It's a beautiful message.

Susan wrote: "My book club read All Other Nights last month. To a woman, we loved it.

As for why the characters were so tortured, I found that to be part of the point. Jacob goes through hell, literally. His a..."

I hadn't read her other books, but I was eager to read this one in part because it explored an element of American Jewish history I didn't know much about. I'm now looking forward to a new novel by Alan Cheuse (Song of Slaves in the Desert) that appears to cover some similar territory. Jonathan Kirsch's review has sold me.

I agree with book of life, though at the end the story was getting dragged out, enough already. What bothered me the most. He was a wimp he did what he was ordered, and told by his family. He could not stand up for himself and dissappoint them, so instead he runs away to join the military. That was the start of his trouble.

What I enjoyed the most about the novel, was the historical background. Dara Horn did alot of research to cover about Jews and Civil war. If you have a paperback edition, she did a very interested interview in the back of the book. I enjoy reading a book, when I want to learn about the historical facts, and do my own research.

Susan wrote: "I agree with book of life, though at the end the story was getting dragged out, enough already. What bothered me the most. He was a wimp he did what he was ordered, and told by his family. He could..."

Horn also participated in an online chat about a year ago for the Jewish Book Council's Twitter Book Club. All of the archived chat transcripts are available at http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/page... (and you'll notice my particular interest in the upcoming chat!).

I'm sure you're all aware that it's National Poetry Month. The poetry book I'm currently reading is Jehanne Dubrow's The Hardship Post. Anyone else reading poetry?

I'm reading
Whitethorn: Poems
and so should you!
Adam Kirsch had a great review of this book, too, in Tablet:
http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-cul...

My book group recently read Erik Larson's In the Garden of Beasts, which we received as advanced copies in a publisher's giveaway. We were featured online with our review, which you can read here:
http://read-it-forward.crownpublishin...
Lots of food for thought in this book In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

I am taking the plunge, the thread has not been commented since May. The book I just finished was Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner. It was a slow, novel that takes place before Israel's independence, about a ultra orthodox girl coming of age. She has a passion for her art. Does she follow her passion or follow the ways of the ultra orthodox. That is the basis of the story. It is based on the author's grandmother. I am a Jewish feminist so of course this is a good book to discuss with other Jewish women. It was a slow read, but liked the history. I have written my review on the link should be there, and should be posted this weekend.

I am not reading a Jewish book at the moment, but I have written one. Please take a look. It is a History-fiction book, based on my family story.

www.revital-sh.com

http://www.amazon.com/Daughters-of-Ir...

I've just started an advance copy of Anna Solomon's The Little Bride, a debut novel (historical fiction) being published by Riverhead. I've been eager to read it, and I'm looking forward to interviewing Anna for my newsletter.

Revital wrote: "I am not reading a Jewish book at the moment, but I have written one. Please take a look. It is a History-fiction book, based on my family story.

www.revital-sh.com

http://www.amazon.com/Daughter..."
Congratulations, Revital, and congrats on the excellent reviews, too.

Thanks Erica, how nice of you. Hope you will have a chance to read my book. If you are in the Bay area (Berkley), I will be giving a lecture next Thursday evening, and you are welcome to join.

Erica, looking forward to your review.

Susan wrote: "Erica, looking forward to your review."
That's kind of you, Susan!