Jewish Book Carnival discussion
Authors Announcing Their Books
My book has been included in the "SNEAK PEEK" category on Indies Unlimited. Check it out and look into submitting your own project:http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2013/0...
Any readers of contemporary poetry in this group?My recently published book of poetry, The Light and the Light, is an encounter with the writing of Paul Celan in the presence of the Book of Ezekiel and the place of the Temple in Jerusalem. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16... You can also read excerpts and learn more about my books at www.courtneydruz.com
I am currently participating in a Goodreads Giveaway of
Shlemiel Crooks,
a picture book illustrated by Paula Goodman Koz, and set in the Yiddish community of my great-grandparents in the early 20th century. The book introduces young readers to the history of Passover, as Pharaoh and a town of Jewish immigrants play tug-of-war with wine made from grapes left over from the Exodus from Egypt. As one reviewer said, it's a combination of shtetl humor and magic realism.
Shlemiel Crooks
is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and PJ Library Book. A family musical based on the book premiered at Merkin Concert Hall in New York. You can read more at the website www.ShlemielCrooks.com. I'm happy to answer questions!
Over-the-top review for novella One More Vicitm, Jewish literature genre http://www.randyattwood.blogspot.com/
Goodreads Book Giveaway for The Name of His Fathers:A young Jewish man from Texas, Eric Jacobs, moves toward Orthodox belief and practice while at college in New Orleans. Eric's father, Alan, is a no-nonsense lawyer who fears that this newfound religious outlook threatens Eric's chances for mainstream success. Meanwhile, Eric's explorations stir similar impulses within his mother, Margo, breeding resentment toward Alan and his rigidly businesslike approach to life. As tensions grow within the family, Eric makes an impulsive -- and fateful -- decision that undermines the family's most basic sense of its own identity. At the other end of the religious spectrum, Simon Belofsky, the dynamic rabbi of the Hasidic campus organization that sparks Eric's change of direction, suffers a profound personal and spiritual crisis that leads him to seek answers in unexpected quarters.
The Name of His Fathers is a story about spiritual journeys -- beginning them, resisting them, joining them, nurturing and repairing them. And it is about the humor, grace, and good cheer that can be found along the way.
The Name of His Fathers
I'm Thelma Zirkelbach, a new member of this group. My memoir, Stumbling Through the Dark, follows me and my husband, an interfaith couple, on his journey through acute myelogenous leukemia. Jewish and Christian, happily married for 34 years, our differences became Differences as we faced life's greatest spiritual challenge. It follows me through the first months of widowhood when I learned to follow a Yiddish proverb that translates to "When one must, one can." I'd be happy to send a review copy if anyone would like to post a review on Amazon after reading. Thanks, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about everyone's books.
I have just published an eBook version of The Battle for Jerusalem, a non-fiction account of the Six Day War battle based on 300 interviews and my own coverage as an American reporter. This revised and expanded edition offers a broader political context and a broader depiction of the Arab side than in the original book, which was published by the Jewish Publication Society. It has a new sub-title, An Unintended Conquest, reflecting the initial reluctance of most government ministers to capture the Old City for fear that the international community would not accept Jewish rule over the Christian and Moslem holy sites."Extraordinarily dramatic. He was there.” Prof. Edward N. Luttwak, author of Stategy: The Logic of War and Peace.
"Prose that is as graphic as it is lucid. The Battle for Jerusalem is deservedly acclaimed as a classic of its genre." Prof. Howard M. Sachar, author of A History of Israel.
Let me give you the dearest gift that I canDo not refuse me, for my story began
With passion at heart, guilt down at the gut
And sentences that I weave, then turn and cut
Now I give it to you, and this is my plea
Hold my book in your hand, it is yours, it is free!
All three ebooks will be FREE!!!
When?
Saturday, March 30, 2013
What?
Home
A Favorite Son
Apart From Love
David wrote: "Goodreads Book Giveaway for The Name of His Fathers:A young Jewish man from Texas, Eric Jacobs, moves toward Orthodox belief and practice while at college in New Orleans. Eric's father, Alan, is ..."
Sounds fascinating.
My book, Looking Up: A Memoir of Sisters, Survivors and Skokie, was recently awarded the Grand Prize in the Writer's Digest 20th Annual Self-Published Book Contest! Writer's Digest called Looking Up, "A memoir that is truly memorable."
Kirkus Reviews said, "Humor and tragedy blend seamlessly in this memoir of childhood upbringing and family trauma."
An excerpt is available via the Look Inside feature on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Up-Memo...
Thank you!
BookOfLife wrote: "Several members of this group have recently asked whether it's okay for them, as authors, to promote their own work here. Generally speaking, we don't want the Jewish Book Carnival to be an adverti..."Blessings on your initiativve but I believe the cause would be better served if this string could be broken down into categories. For someone like me who is interested mainly in history or current affairs, I would not use this as a source of information if it means going through scores of fiction or memoir titles. And vice-versa, I expect.
Abraham wrote: "BookOfLife wrote: "Several members of this group have recently asked whether it's okay for them, as authors, to promote their own work here. Generally speaking, we don't want the Jewish Book Carniv..."Abraham, if you keep up with the string, you won't need to go through scores of titles: you'll simply see each new one as it appears. But if the suggestion is to create 2-3 genre-specific threads for Authors Announcing Their Own Books, perhaps the moderator will go ahead and do that. The point is that authors should NOT start one (or multiple) threads of their own specifically to tout their own books.
The Goodreads Book Giveaway for
The Name of His Fathers
ends on Apr. 8. Two copies to be given away. Please consider entering.
Where in Texas does your daughter live?
I've resisted blogging because I didn't want to be self-serving and superficial, but I finally had something I wanted to say, and suspect I might have more to say in the future about books and Jewishness, so here I am:http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
Thanks for sharing.
Anna Olswanger
Thanks for this opportunity to share both a new literary identity AND a new book. Hotel Noir, a tale of Tikkun gone berserk, probes the limits of altruism. It is my first book published under the pseudonym Casper Silk.Enjoy!
Hotel Noir
Susan wrote: "Hello, Readers of Jewish Books,I hope you will consider my new book, YOU SAVED ME, TOO: WHAT A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR TAUGHT ME ABOUT LIVING, DYING, LOVING, FIGHTING AND SWEARING IN YIDDISH, which jus..."
Read my review of this wonderful book at The New York Journal of Books http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/revie...,
How would you feel if, at age seventeen, the government removed you and your lover from school, evicted you from your home, took all of your family's possessions and deported you and your loved ones to a concentration camp run by brutal taskmasters? How would you feel if you suddenly lost contact with everyone that you know and love, including your true love and soul mate? How would you feel if you were sent to the most frightening place in history, and then forced to perform unspeakable acts of horror in order to remain alive? Jacob's Courage It is a tender love story of two young adults living in Salzburg at the time when the Nazi war machine enters Austria. This thrilling novel explores the dazzling beauty of young love, powerful faith and enduring bravery in a lurid world where the innocent are murdered. It is a commanding coming-of-age love story. Review samples and the video trailer are here: http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/.
Jacob’s Courage is available through all major book sellers in print and as an e-book, as well as from my publisher, Mazo Publishers.
Ranked #6 at Amazon under "products tagged for Holocaust and popularity,” the novel resides in Holocaust museums throughout the world. Reviews include Jewish Book World and the Association of Jewish Libraries. Jacob's Courage
If you are looking for a fast meaningful read, try the book I wrote with my father, The Golden Medina. Pitting a chess prodigy wanting to be a rabbi against an ambitious Italian street thug wanting to in the mafia elite, this historical fiction reads like a high stakes chess match.
Compelling as a coming of age story, powerful as an immigrant experience, reflective of real mafia action, and provacative look at whether ethical choices have shades of gray.
I am offering this on raffle and it is currently in the Kindle Lending Library.
The Golden Medina by Reuben and Reuben
Thank you for allowing me to share news of my book BURY THE HOT. It is the true story of a boy who hid from Hitler, but could never escape the memories. I've known Sal Wainberg as long as I've known my parents. But when he called me out of the blue and asked if I knew his story, I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn't know that he was once a boy named Szulim living in a Polish shtetl. Or that he narrowly missed being herded onto a train bound for Treblinka. I didn't know he hid underground for nearly two years, then wandered barefoot through fields of rye.
There was a reason I didn't know. He hadn't even told his wife the details of his childhood.
BURY THE HOT is the Holocaust story few have the tenacity or courage to share, and explores both a traumatized childhood, and how the repression of it impacts a marriage. It is a heartbreaking account of evading murder, and a brutally honest reflection of a life lived trying to escape the memories.
Please share with others and let the world know that we're not done reading about, and learning from, those who suffered during the Holocaust.
Thank you.
Nancy wrote: "If you are looking for a fast meaningful read, try the book I wrote with my father, The Golden Medina."Nancy, what a great experience that must have been. Good luck! BTW, I remember having met you here in Dallas several years ago when you attended services at Tiferet Israel.
Deb wrote: "Thank you for allowing me to share news of my book BURY THE HOT. It is the true story of a boy who hid from Hitler, but could never escape the memories. I've known Sal Wainberg as long as I've kn..."
Deb,
Out of curiosity, what shtetl was Sal from?
Best,
Barbara
David wrote: "Nancy wrote: "If you are looking for a fast meaningful read, try the book I wrote with my father, The Golden Medina."Nancy, what a great experience that must have been. Good luck! BTW, I remember..."
Yes I remember you too! Congratulations on your book too!
Barbara wrote: "Deb wrote: "Thank you for allowing me to share news of my book BURY THE HOT. It is the true story of a boy who hid from Hitler, but could never escape the memories. I've known Sal Wainberg as lon..."
Hi Barbara -
Sal was from Zelechow, Poland. The closest town with a train was Sobelow. Do you know someone from there?
best,
Deb
My novel Jo Joe was published yesterday! Here's the basic synopsis: As a child, Judith Ormand was the only Black – and the only Jew – in a small insular Pennsylvania mountain village where she was raised by her white Christian grandparents. Now, she must reluctantly break her vow to never return to the town she learned to hate. During the one week visit, she buries and mourns her beloved grandmother, is forced to deal with the white boy who cruelly broke her heart, and is menaced by an old enemy. But with her traumatic discovery of a long-buried secret, Judith finds more questions than answers about the prejudice that scarred her childhood.
You can download a free excerpt from: http://tinyurl.com/cknrr8a. If you read the excerpt (or the book), I'd love to hear what you think.
To celebrate, Pixel Hall Press has given me ARCs to autograph and giveaway. This version of the ARC is very, very close to the final book. (I think there were a couple of typos that were fixed.)
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
The eBook & trade paperback editions will be published in June.
Congratulations, Sally! I'm really hoping to get to this book soon.
Deb wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Deb wrote: "Thank you for allowing me to share news of my book BURY THE HOT. It is the true story of a boy who hid from Hitler, but could never escape the memories. I've known Sal..."
Congratulations!
Thanks, David. By the way, I like your last name. My maiden name is Wiener. But my Uncle Ike, my grandfather's older brother who was the first of our family to come from Russia, spelled it Weiner.
Sally, not only am I a Weiner (phon. Winer), but I married a Weiner (also Winer). My father was from Poland; my wife's father was from Lithuania.
Names are so fascinating to me. Our Wiener is phonetically WEEner. The original name is Viprinsky, from Cherkas, Kiev. My Dad's uncle Ike was the first to come over, and the immigration folks simply tacked on the name Weiner for him. When my grandfather came, somehow that became Wiener. Neither have any relationship to our place of origin or family roots. Yet, it has now defined me for a lifetime.
When my characters are born in my head, they usually come already named. It is who they are. In another novel (not "Jo Joe" which was just published), I explore the "primitive" concept of how individuals have different names depending on who they are with, and/or what their role is at the time.
You’re invited to the launch party for To Sing Away the Darkest Days – Poems Re-imagined from Yiddish Folksongs. London Jewish Cultural Centre, Ivy House, 94-96 North End Road, London NW11 7SX
Tuesday 11 June at 7pm
Norbert Hirschhorn will read some of the poems in his own inimitable style and while we listen to some of the original Yiddish folksongs, drinks and nibbles will be served. You will be able to purchase your own copy of the book and get it signed by the author.
This is a free event but please RSVP bernadette@hollandparkpress.co.uk so that we can put you on the guest list
To Sing Away the Darkest Days is the culmination of a five-year project which saw Norbert Hirschhorn source more than one thousand Yiddish songs. Some of the songs ‘spoke’ to him as a poet and begged for a new translation, or ‘re-imagining’ as he calls it, into English poems. The resulting collection tells the story of the emigrant, the Jew in the Diaspora, while drawing on the poet’s own experience.
Norbert Hirschhorn is a physician specializing in international public health, commended in 1993 by President Bill Clinton as an ‘American Health Hero’. His poems have been published in over three dozen journals and won a number of prizes in the US and UK. To Sing Away the Darkest Days is his fourth full collection.
More information is available from http://hollandparkpress.co.uk/book_de...
Sounds like great fun, Bernadette. Too bad I'm on the other side of the pond. Enjoy!
Sally wrote: "My Dad's uncle Ike was the first to come over, and the immigration folks simply tacked on the name Weiner for him..."Sally, are you sure about this? Or is it possibly now-unquestioned family lore? A lot of people, including me, have, at one time or another, believed that immigration clerks changed names. It turns out that isn't true. Any one of a number of reputable Jewish genealogical sites debunks this myth. Names were not changed at Ellis Island or other points of entry for the simple reason that the names were written down on ship manifests, so there really wasn't any occasion for changing a name based upon the way it was heard. Slight errors, perhaps, but not wholesale changes.
When I learned that name-changing at Ellis Island did not really happen, I made an important change in my novel just before it was published to reflect how the main character's family name might actually have been changed (by an employer, and for his own convenience,after the immigrant's arrival, rather than by an immigration clerk).
No, I am not sure about it. I have no solid knowledge of why or how Uncle Ike got Weiner from Viprinsky. Maybe he just thought it sounded more American.
Sally wrote: "Sounds like great fun, Bernadette. Too bad I'm on the other side of the pond. Enjoy!"Thanks Sally. I would like to organise an event for this book on your side of the pond as well. I’ll keep you posted.
Please do, Bernadette. And thank you for the friend request. I'll look forward to staying in touch with you.
I am having a Mother's Day sale on all of my books - e-books and paperbacks. You will need coupon codes, so go to http://whatthetorahteachesusaboutsurv...Enjoy!!!!
The clock is now ticking, time to set the alarmBe super careful and you'll come to no harm
Head over to Amazon at the stroke of midnight
To find my book free! Oh what a delight...
Get Apart From Love, A Favorite Son
Get Home, and let the yarn be spun...
Check out the details here: All three will be FREE
I'll be sure to download them, Uvi. Good luck!
My maiden name was Dochen and whenever we traveled, my father would look at the telephone directories to see if he could find another Dochen but never could. A few years ago my cousin found someone in France with that name. Both my parents were from the Ukraine.
Did your father have any stories about the source of the name Dochen?
I think Dochen means millet, which is pretty strange because as far as I know my family had nothing to do with grain. People always used to ask me how to spell it, and now I'm stuck with an even harder to spell name--Zirkelbach. It means round brook and I used to tell my husband we should change our name to Brook but, no luck.
Jewish Book Carnival
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To Sing Away the Darkest Days is the culmination of a five-year project which saw Norbert Hirschhorn source more than one thousand Yiddish songs. The songs helped Norbert to rediscover and trace his own Jewish cultural history. However, some of the songs ‘spoke’ to him as a poet and begged for a new translation, or ‘re-imagining’ as he calls it, into English poems.
The resulting collection tells the story of the emigrant, the Jew in the Diaspora. Norbert adds his unique view: he personalises the Diaspora, and at the same time brings a vanished culture back to life.
Norbert Hirschhorn is a physician specializing in international public health, commended in 1993 by President Bill Clinton as an ‘American Health Hero’. His poems have been published in over three dozen journals and won a number of prizes in the US and UK. To Sing Away the Darkest Days is his fourth full collection.
To Sing Away the Darkest Days, which will be published in May 2013, is not only a wonderful collection of poems but also a unique historical document.