Kressel's profile

219 ratings (3.90 avg)
217 reviews
0 trivia answers
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Kressel's bookshelves

read ‎(219)
currently-reading ‎(1)
to-read ‎(75)
fiction ‎(119)
jewish ‎(53)
non-fiction ‎(49)
fantasy ‎(44)

torah ‎(39)
read-aloud-to-kids ‎(34)
classics ‎(34)
young-adult ‎(34)
memoir-biography ‎(30)
psychology ‎(27)
historical-fiction ‎(25)

history ‎(24)
israel ‎(19)
all-time-favorite ‎(16)
holocaust ‎(15)
humor ‎(13)
unfinished ‎(11)
writing ‎(11)

parenting ‎(9)
world-culture ‎(8)
audio-book ‎(4)
horror ‎(3)
business-economics ‎(2)

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Kressel is currently reading

	06/29 Kressel is currently reading: Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life (Paperback) by Lis Wiehl bookshelves: currently-reading	my rating:
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Kressel's recent updates (rss)

June 30

Kressel made a comment on Skylar Burris's review of To Play With Fire: One Woman's Remarkable Odyssey

Kressel wrote: "She didn't convert; she was a born Jew, which is a big part of her attraction. But the Church - corr...more "

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June 29

Kressel is currently reading:
Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life (Paperback)
by Lis Wiehl
bookshelves: currently-reading

my rating:

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Kressel gave

to:
To Play With Fire: One Woman's Remarkable Odyssey (Paperback)
by Tova Mordechai
bookshelves: israel, jewish, memoir-biography, non-fiction, torah

my rating:

read in June, 2009

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June 24

Kressel made a comment on Kressel's review of The Attack of the Two-Inch Teacher (Sixth Grade Alien, #2)

Kressel wrote: "That one's my FAVORITE! (There's a line in it about a "first period," though. It went right over my ...more "

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June 23

Kressel gave

to:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Mass Market Paperback)
by Betty Smith
bookshelves: all-time-favorite, classics, fiction, historical-fiction, writing, young-adult

my rating:

recommended for: teenagers girls who want to write
read in January, 1982

Kressel said: "When I was 14 years old, this classic was on my "lifetime favorites" list, and though it's since given way to others, it's still a beautiful book. It's the story of Francie, a sensitive soul in a poor family. There's a lot of sadness in the...more "

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Kressel gave

to:
Joy in the Morning (Perennial Classics)
by Betty Smith
bookshelves: classics, fiction, historical-fiction, writing, young-adult

my rating:

read in January, 1982

Kressel said: "What amazed me the most about Betty Smith in the stage when I was devouring all her books was that she weaved together such different plots in the same setting: amongst Irish immigrants in Great Depression era New York. The heroine of this book is ol...more "

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June 16

Kressel gave

to:
The Attack of the Two-Inch Teacher (Sixth Grade Alien, #2)
by Bruce Coville
bookshelves: fantasy, fiction, humor, read-aloud-to-kids

my rating:

read in May, 2009

Kressel said: "It gets a bit tiresome for me to review every single Bruce Coville book I read with my kids, but this one contains the most hilarious physics lesson I've ever read, so I just have to review it.

The book is the sequel to I Was A Sixth Grad...more "

4 comments

June 15

Kressel gave

to:
Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project (Hardcover)
by Dave Isay
bookshelves: memoir-biography, non-fiction

my rating:

read in June, 2009

Kressel said: "To understand this book, you first have to understand StoryCorps, an oral history project, which has been going on across America since 2003. It was modeled after a similar project done by the WPA in the Great Depression, in which out of work histori...more To understand this book, you first have to understand StoryCorps, an oral history project, which has been going on across America since 2003. It was modeled after a similar project done by the WPA in the Great Depression, in which out of work historians and writers interviewed ordinary Americans about their lives. The purpose of that project was to create a record for posterity so that we could understand life during the Depression. But the current StoryCorps is slightly different. The interviewers are not professionals; usually a friend or relative brings another to the StoryCorps booth for the interview. And while part of the goal is to create a record for history - every recording is stored in the Library of Congress - the main goal is determined by the interviewer and interviewee. Some may want to explain their lives, some want to remember a loved one, and some just think it's fun.

This book is a collection of what StoryCorps' founder considered the best interviews. I'd heard some of them before because the best of the week is aired on Fridays on NPR's "Morning Edition." But most were completely new to me, and they really captured the broad spectrum of America: farm life during the Depression, a black woman and the struggle to vote, a Holocaust survivor and his daughter, a nurse whose brother died of AIDS, two men in jail, a 9/11 survivor, and Katrina survivors. Of all the stories, I was most moved by the Katrina survivors. The one that made me laugh the most was Dr. Richard Collins, the second interview in the book. He's a senior citizen, as are many of the interviewees. But all the stories were wonderful, and I'm hoping they'll come out with a sequel.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that my sister was employed by StoryCorps for a while. In fact, her name appears amongst the acknowledgments at the end of the book. While she worked there, she was always urging me to do an interview with her, but it was never convenient. Now that I've read the book, I'm more gung-ho than ever. Who knows? Maybe the world at large needs to know more about the teshuva movement. (less) "

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June 10

Kressel marked as to-read:
Reflections On Life After Life: More Important Discoveries In The Ongoing Investigation Of Survival Of Life After Bodily Death (Mass Market Paperback)
by Raymond Moody
bookshelves: to-read

my rating:

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Kressel gave

to:
Real Power (Hardcover)
by David Lieberman
bookshelves: jewish, non-fiction, psychology, torah

my rating:

read in June, 2009

Kressel said: "I heard the author of this book speak at a parenting lecture, and he was fabulous. What stage presence! He could have been a stand-up comedian! So I figured that anyone who can get up in front of a crowd of people so confidently must really know how ...more "

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More of Kressel's books…

Kressel's favorite quotes

"I saw that "success," "failure," "poverty", "riches," were price tags, money values of the market place which had mesmerized and sidetracked me for years."
— Anzia Yezierska

1 person liked it

"Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?"
— Charlotte Brontë

6 people liked it

"persuading himself that he was a most
conscientious and glorious martyr, [he] nobly resolved to do what, if he had examined his own heart a little more carefully, he would have found he could not resist. Such is the sleight of hand by which we juggle with ourselves, and change our very weaknesses into stanch
and most magnanimous virtues!"
— Charles Dickens

1 person liked it

"If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example. "
— Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)

tags: inspirational, jewish

12 people liked it

"I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to G-d for this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me. I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear; my courage is reborn. But, and that is the great question, will I ever be able to write anything great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?"
— Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl)

tags: 197, page

4 people liked it

More of Kressel's favorite quotes…

Kressel's writing

Rowena's Quill (Science Fiction & Fantasy)

3 chapters — updated 06/15/2008 11:13AM

description: This full-length novel was written before the release of "Deathly Hallows" and contains my predictions of the Ravenclaw horcrux. "Deathly Hallows" proved me wrong, but I put a year's effort into writing this, so enjoy! <strong>Disclaimer</strong>:Except for a few exceptions, the characters and magic in this story are borrowed from J.K. Rowling and I am in no way making money from this. If I am at all able to copy her creations, it is only because she has breathed such life into them herself.

Twisted Trees (Literature & Fiction)

0 chapters — updated 06/11/2008 09:57AM

description: Marianne looks to nature for echoes of her romantic sensibilities, not suspecting that Brandon does the same.

Kressel's groups (recent posts)

Judaism — 29 members — last activity 12/12/2008 03:34AM
This group is for anyone interested in reading literature related to Judaism.

Writers Wanted!!! — 116 members — last activity 05/24/2009 04:15PM
This group is dedicated to all goodreads members who love to write. We discuss our personal writing and review. This is also a place to start writing ...more

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