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Aaron
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Jul 22, 2023 05:27AM
Thank you to the group for choosing Hotel Cuba for August. I hope you all enjoy this novel which was inspired by my grandmother's true story.
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Mod
Congratulations on winning last month's poll, Aaron! 👏 👍
--> If anybody wants to ask him questions etc about the book, here on the authors' discussion is the place for it -- as long as you're okay with that, Aaron.
Perfect! Would love to answer any questions!
After 3 years of Labor... Vashti's Daughter was BORN on July 27, 2023! Although the Jewish holiday of Purim is several months away, my novel is perfect for your book club any time of the year!
Throughout the centuries, Vashti has been both vilified and praised. She’s either portrayed as the bitch of the land, or hailed as the first Feminist. The argument has been raging for decades. Vashti’s Daughter definitively ends this debate.
After a mysterious manuscript titled Vashti’s Daughter keeps appearing at her office and home, twenty-nine-year-old book publisher Anna Steine is haunted by dreams where she is living in 366 BCE.
With the help of reincarnation experts, archeologists and a Kabbalah astrologer, Anna discovers she is, in fact, Adara, the reincarnated daughter of Queen Vashti, the first wife of King Achashverosh of the Book of Esther.
Risking her company and budding relationship with book’s author, Dr. Nathaniel Braverman, a Middle Eastern Studies professor at Brandeis University, she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfil a vow she made centuries ago before her 30th birthday in the present that will finally bring her true happiness and change the world’s view on a biblical heroine.
Available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Vashtis-Daught...
Mod
After 3 years of Labor... Vashti's Daughter was BORN on July 27, 2023! Although the Jewish holiday of Purim is several months away, my novel is perfect for ..."
Congratulations, Raven. Vashti's Daughter sounds like quite a feat. I love the cover!
All the best,
Jan
Hello friends,I noticed that the book category for October is mysteries, and I wonder if you might take a look (only $3.99 on Kindle) at my book, The Cost of Living and Other Mysteries, : https://www.amazon.com/Cost-Living-Ot...?
Although it is written in classical detective fiction style, it also falls in the “cozy” category in its exploration of a lovable character, my detective Frank Wolf, and the relationships that inhabit the stories as Frank solves three distinct mysteries.
The Cost of Living and Other Mysteries is a compilation of three sequential novellas that feature my elderly Jewish private detective Frank Wolf who, with the assistance of his grandson, Joel, solves mysteries in the Jewish communities of New York City during the 1970s. In "The Cost of Living," a kosher butcher is shot to death in Boro Park, and a youth gang is suspected. Frank Wolf is asked to investigate. In "A Little Boy is Missing," an eight-year old Hasidic child disappears in Williamsburg. Every minute counts, and Frank Wolf rushes to assist in finding him. In "The Dorm Murder," a 16-year-old student is found murdered in a yeshiva high school dormitory with no apparent motive behind his killing. How does Frank’s anguished past contribute to his understanding the complexities surrounding the crime?
Many readers have written to me to let me know that I cost them a night’s sleep as my book is a page turner. I hope the book also leads to just a bit of sleep deprivation for you.
I can’t nominate my own book, but if you read it and like it, I would be honored by a nomination for the October read.
Thank you,
Saul
Mod
I noticed that the book category for October is mysteries, and I wonder if you might take a look (only $3.99 on Kindle) at my book, The Cost of Living and Other Mysteries, : https:/..."
Hi, Saul, and thanks for mentioning your book here (and not on the nominations thread.) 🥰 We are in need of nominations but there may have been some issues with your book's expense and not yet being in libraries and, also, the more observant among us tend to have some issues with Kindle if Shabbat is the main time they have for reading.
That said, though, I hope that anybody who reads your book or any of those announced here will write a review and spread the word. Another thing that readers can do is request their local libraries to get it. Good luck to you and all our other new authors❣️
Thank you Jan. For those in New York City, the NYPL has 13 copies of my book.Saul
Mod
Saul"
Oh, wow! That's great! A word to the wise (who happen to live there).
Excited that my book, Good for a Single Journey has been chosen to be featured at London's Jewish Book Week and that my publisher, Amsterdam Publishers, is taking copies to Theresienstadt (from where my grandparents were sent to their deaths in Auschwitz) when she meets with their librarian. The story is an important one, has received a finalist NGIBA award and is getting great reviews. Young Jews (especially those on campus) should read this family saga which spans Europe and the early years of the Yishuv and State of Israel. Shabbat shalom! https://mybook.to/vvvjW
Mod
Helen,
This is wonderful news.
Although it may be a tad bittersweet, you make us proud!
Congrats to you.
Helen wrote: "Excited that my book, Good for a Single Journey has been chosen to be featured at London's Jewish Book Week and that my publisher, Amsterdam Publishers, is taking copies to Theresienstadt (from whe..."How exciting!
Helen wrote: "Excited that my book, Good for a Single Journey has been chosen to be featured at London's Jewish Book Week and that my publisher, Amsterdam Publishers, is taking copies to Theresienstadt (from whe..."Helen, congratulations! I'm beginning to see more fiction including the Yishuv, which is fascinating. I'm putting this on my to-read list.
I'm happy to report that Private Good Luck is now searchable in the US Holocaust Museum's catalogue. https://collections.ushmm.org/search/...
Mod
Congrats to you Sherwin too!!!
An open Invitation to all my friends and readers in and around Toronto. Come join me at 2pm on Sunday September 10th at the Bathurst Clark Resource Library. Hear what no one has heard before! Pick up personally signed copies of any or all of my books! Can't wait to see you. Brian.https://www.facebook.com/events/36289...
Vashtis' Daughter by Raven West
The Book of Esther, also known as the Megillah, is one of the five stories in the Writings section of the Old Testament. The story is well known to both Christians and Jews as the tale of the heroic Esther who saves her people from annihilation by the evil Haman.
The holiday of Purim is celebrated every year by the Jewish community with costumes, parades and tri-cornered fruit-filled pastries called Hamentashen.
But before Esther, there was Vashti, the king’s first wife. Her defiance of his order to debase herself for the amusement of his cronies led to her being banished from the kingdom. This paved the way for Esther to take her place, and Vashti was never heard from again.
Until now.
Throughout the centuries, Vashti has been both vilified and praised. She s portrayed as the bitch of the land, or hailed as the first Feminist. The argument has been raging for decades.
Vashti’s Daughter definitively ends this debate.
Actual events and locations both from the past and the present, plus several actual religious, astrological and reincarnation authorities, lend credibility to a fictional story that could very well be real.
After a mysterious manuscript keeps appearing at her office and home, Anna is haunted by dreams where she is living in 366 BCE. With the help of reincarnation experts, archeologists and a Kabbalist Rabbi, Anna discovers she is, in fact, Adara, the reincarnated daughter of Queen Vashti.
Risking her company and budding relationship with book’s author, Dr. Nathaniel Braverman, a Middle Eastern Studies professor at Brandeis University, she must find a way to break an ancient curse put on her and fulfill a vow she made centuries ago before her 30th birthday in the present that will finally bring her true happiness in love and change the world’s view on a biblical heroine.
The novel has received 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and Reedsy Discovery.
Mod
Aaron, I just came across this summer's discussion of Hotel Cuba (our August poll winner) in Moment. By this point, I don't guess that's a surprise to you, but was it a surprise when it appeared?
Do authors get notified when their work is going to be reviewed (discussed? taught?)
Hello all. I've written a few Jewish historical romance/fiction novels, but my newest project is a motivational journal. Publication Day is scheduled for November 23, 2023 and I can't wait to release it out into the world. My fictional work showcases Jewish characters (non-Holocaust/clean reads) and my new title follows in the same vein. It is geared towards Jewish women, but I believe all people of faith will find it to be inspirational and thought-provoking. I cordially invite you to visit my blog and/or subscribe: www.mirtainestruppauthor.com
Read more about "From Meidelach to Matriarchs: A Journal~ Jewish Women of Yesteryear to Inspire your Today" here:
https://mirtainestruppauthor.com/2023...
Thanks for the opportunity to share. Hope to see you around :-)
Mod
Mirta,
Congrats on your newest book.
This most certainly is -a new project for you. Looking forward to reading it. Wishing you much success,
Stacey
Stacey B wrote: "Mirta wrote: "Hello all. I've written a few Jewish historical romance/fiction novels, but my newest project is a motivational journal. Publication Day is scheduled for November 23, 2023 and I can't..."Thank you, Stacey! I appreciate your ongoing support.
Please allow me to introduce my book, "The Glassmaker’s Son,” which was recently awarded the Gold Medal for memoir by the Northern California Publishers & Authors Association. A blend of lyrical memoir and sober history, “Glassmaker” recounts my decades-long quest to uncover the world my father left behind in Nazi Germany. Along the way, I made a series of surprising discoveries about my family, who were important players in the Bavarian glassmaking industry before they were nearly annihilated in the Holocaust. After my grandfather was forced to sell the family villa, for instance, the Nazis turned it into their regional headquarters before it was destroyed by American artillery in the closing days of the war. “Glassmaker" weaves together the diabolical history of German antisemitism with my memories of growing up in Connecticut, yearning to get closer to my distant father, and my struggle to accept my sexual identity. At heart, the book is a search for identity — the identity of my soft-spoken, inscrutable father and of myself.
Some advance praise for the book:
The Glassmaker's Son is a stunning exploration of legacy. Kupfer brings so much heart to his journey, so much intelligence and curiosity -- he makes it come alive.
— Menachem Kaiser, author of Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure, winner of the 2022 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature.
“A moving account of a son in search of his father and the home from which his family was expelled. Peter Kupfer’s compelling story leads deep into the abyss of a small Bavarian town during Nazi Germany and into the labyrinth of the human soul. Anyone who is interested in exploring their family roots and in reconciliation with a difficult past should read this book.”
— Michael Brenner, Director of the Center for Israel Studies at American University ,
I would be delighted to read and/or discuss my book with interested members.
Hi folks! My debut novel, Finding Home (Hungary, 1945) was recently released by Koehler Books. It is a fictional quilt of many of the personal stories I discovered in two years of research in the US, Poland and Hungary, as well as interviews with survivors and townspeople regarding the attempts at return after liberation from the camps. Here is the quick synopsis:For nine months in Auschwitz, eighteen-year-old Eva Fleiss clung to sanity by playing piano on imaginary keyboards. After liberation, Eva and the five remaining Jews of Laszlo, Hungary, journey home, seeking to restart their lives.
Yet the town that deported them is not ready to embrace their return. Their former neighbors and friends resist relinquishing their newfound status and property. While Eva and the others search for a home that may no longer exist and deal with the traumas of war and loss, their neighbors struggle with their roles as perpetrators, enablers, and bystanders during the Holocaust.
Longing for connection to her old life, Eva agrees to clean her former home, now the mayor’s home, in return for practice time on her piano. As her profound experiences allow her to access music at a depth she didn’t know existed, Eva’s performances begin to affect those around her—with unexpected consequences.
The novel has received sterling endorsements and editorial reviews. I have been speaking about the book and the crucial current themes of bystanding, resurgent and intergenerational transmission of antisemitism at libraries, bookstores and temples.
Love to hear what folks think!
Dean
Thanks for the suggestion, Dean. It sounds like it would make a great screenplay!
Shanah wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion, Dean. It sounds like it would make a great screenplay!"Good catch Shanah! A screenwriter in London is working on it as we speak! Dean
Mirta wrote: "Hello all. I've written a few Jewish historical romance/fiction novels, but my newest project is a motivational journal. Publication Day is scheduled for November 23, 2023 and I can't wait to relea..."I'm not sure what happened, but I did post something about your fabulous book under the topic of Jewishness. From Meidelach to Matriarchs ~ A Journal: Jewish Women of Yesteryear to Inspire your Today will be with me for a long, long time. It's not something to just read through...there are some things to grapple with and to come to terms with. Anyways, I just wanted to post about it again, in case you didn't see it.
Mod
Claudia, thank you so much for re-posting over here. I'm glad we can offer this spot for author announcements and answering any questions members might wish to pose.
Kirkus Votes for Just a Hat!Kirkus Reviews has released their Best of 2023, and Just a Hat was voted in the top YA reads. Thanks, Kirkus, and thanks readers and reviewers. It's good to see readers exploring the stories of Jews from Middle Eastern countries and Jews of color.
October 7 was a slug in the gut, yet authors must continue writing stories even when it doesn't seem like the world is listening...or reading. Maybe it's time to finish the sequel. Thanks, Stacey, for your encouragement to keep writing.
This isn't book-related news, but here is an essay I recently published in Moment about helping in the agricultural sector. It's one thing that is keeping me sane these days...It's become my must-do Friday activity as opposed to writing, biking or cooking anything elaborate for Shabbat...Hope you enjoy and feel free to share if it speaks to you...https://momentmag.com/memoir-seeing-g...
Mod
Julie: I shared with some of Rose Lubin's Atlanta family and friends because of your paragraph toward the end. They appreciated that! I like the whole essay, so thanks for that too. Hint: avacados!
Jan wrote: "Julie wrote: "This isn't book-related news, but here is an essay I recently published in Moment about helping in the agricultural sector. It's one thing that is keeping me sane these days...It's be..."Thanks so much, Jan
Mod
Jan wrote: "And I forgot to say congratulations on publishing your essay in Moment, Julie."Thanks Jan, and thanks for sharing it with Rose's family...
I hope this is an appropriate place for me to mention my three historical novels dealing with the holocaust: A Flood of Evil, A Promise Kept: 1934 to 1946, and After Auschwitz. Reader comments on Lew Weinstein's Holocaust Trilogy: … a love story within a factual and fast-paced historical novel … characters are so realistically portrayed … never a dull moment … an accessible way to learn this abominable history in a captivating manner ... Weinstein brings us into the rooms … you feel like you are another character in the corner … a moving, compassionate, and inspiring story of two very brave young people … part historical novel, part political thriller, part love story … … the ending is the most moving I've read in a Holocaust novel … Weinstein's gift is to weave the history into a beautiful and endearing love story … the ending brought tears to my eyes …
AFTER AUSCHWITZ is a great ending to the trilogy, and ties many things together, although it can also be read first or as a standalone. As I write this, AFTER AUSCHWITZ is available free of charge in kindle format through Kindle Unlimited.
The three novels explore the unrelenting efforts of the German Catholic Berthold Becker and the Polish Jew Anna Gorska as they seek to oppose Hitler and his atrocities while also maintaining, often from afar, their intense love. A FLOOD OF EVIL covers the years 1923 to 1933 as Berthold and Anna grow up in Munich and Poland respectively, meet and fall in love, and begin their efforts to tell the world what Hitler is about to do. A PROMISE KEPT advances the story from 1934 to 1946, from Hitler’s early years of power through the war, the Holocaust, and the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. AFTER AUSCHWITZ explores the postwar lives of Berthold and Anna from 1946 to 1961, set mostly in Spandau Prison and the new State of Israel.
Mod
It is. This is the appropriate place, Lewis. And thanks for telling us about your work.
Do you think the issue is that telling the world was so difficult because the people they were trying to tell preferred the excuse of ignorance?
Jan wrote: "Lewis wrote: "I hope this is an appropriate place for me to mention my three historical novels dealing with the holocaust: A Flood of Evil, [book:A Promise Kept: 1934 to 1946|509962..."... or simply did not find the plight of Jews important ... my two main fictional characters, in very different ways, tried to get the message out, but finding anyone willing to act was impossible
Mod
"Lewis wrote: ... or simply did not find the plight of Jews important ... my two main fictional characters, in very different ways, tried to get the message out, but finding anyone willing to act was impossible "
I was just thinking more than simple unwillingness; rather, a stubborn quality to it. But you're the expert, so if you say not I'm listening.
Jan wrote: ""Jan wrote: Do you think the issue is that telling the world was so difficult because the people they were trying to tell preferred the excuse of ignorance?...""Lewis wrote: ... or simply did not ..."
there are more than just one explanation
Mod
"Lewis wrote: ... or simply did not ..."
there are more than just one explanation
Good for a Single JourneyI have finally claimed my author's profile and hope this is the right place to bring Good for a Single Journey to the attention of readers with an interest in books with a Jewish theme. My book spans the first fifty years of the twentieth century and tracks the triumphs and tragedies which befall a single family across two world wars. The family scatters across Europe and pre-state Israel and is based on a true story. I am stunned by the fantastic reviews my book is receiving and am thrilled to have been invited to London's Jewish Book Week in March where I will present my book and to schools across the UK. So, in short, I have to believe that my book is all that people are saying about it: mesmerising, moving, historically fascinating and above all a cracking good read.
Mod
This is the right place to post about your book, Helen, and congratulations on its reception.
Any member who has questions or would just like to chat about your book with you is welcome to do so right here.
Jan wrote: "Helen wrote: "Good for a Single JourneyI have finally claimed my author's profile and hope this is the right place to bring Good for a Single Journey to the attention of readers wi..."Thank you Jan!
Helen wrote: "Good for a Single JourneyI have finally claimed my author's profile and hope this is the right place to bring Good for a Single Journey to the attention of readers with an interest..."Good success, Helen!
Shanah wrote: "Helen wrote: "Good for a Single JourneyI have finally claimed my author's profile and hope this is the right place to bring Good for a Single Journey to the attention of readers wi..."Thank you Shanah! It is very exciting, quite daunting but also humbling to feel that, in some small way, I have given posthumous voice to those silenced so long ago! Each new positive review warms my heart and makes me feel all the effort in writing the book - and the almost harder work of finding a publisher! - was worthwhile. I have recently been invited to present the book at non-Jewish schools in the UK which, given current levels of antisemitism and the heavily Zionist content of the book, will prove not only to be a challenge but also a wonderful educational opportunity. Hopefully I shall be equal to it!
Hi! I want to share my new book Not From Here: the Song of America (Pegasus, March 28), now on Amazon for preorder. To write it, I spent a year listening to personal accounts of loss and migration told me by new Americans from around the globe. I felt I had discovered America, found its great beating heart. In the course of this project, I decided I needed to find the lost history of my Jewish family. "In a way," I wrote, "we Americans are all immigrants."
Hope you like it. Here's what others have to say about it:
"Leah Lax understands that everyone has a story and a secret. To experience this, we have only to read her utterly irresistible Not from Here." --GLORIA STEINEM
"A masterwork! Brilliant, profound, heart-shattering, hopeful -- I couldn't breathe! Not From Here is full of stories of people who hang onto hope, people who will not give up struggling for what could be, and it's all interspersed with Leah's own extraordinary journey. This is the kind of book that leaves you forever changed."
--CAROLINE LEAVITT, NYTimes bestselling author
"An amazing and powerful book of the struggles and triumphs of people from far away who we might have dismissed as 'other, ' except that Leah edges them dexterously into our hearts."
--CHITRA DIVAKARUNI, American Book Award winner
Wave After Wave: A NovelI thought you might be interested to know that my new book, Wave After Wave, has just been released. It is a historical novel based on a little-known, true story.
Here's a short synopsis:
Vienna, 1938. Newlywed Lilly is looking forward to the future with her husband until the Nazi annexation of Austria throws everything into uncertainty. Suddenly, their Jewish heritage turns them into outcasts, facing persecution and daily humiliation. Despite their tireless efforts to emigrate, no country will grant them the visas they desperately need. Then Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, shatters Lilly’s world.
With the outbreak of World War II, Lilly remains trapped in Vienna, fearful of what lies ahead. Her cousin discovers a possible escape: joining a group of Jewish refugees on a daring journey down the Danube River and across the sea to British-controlled Mandatory Palestine.
Leaving comes at a price, and though it may offer Lilly a second chance and new friendships, it will also test her resilience to the limit. With danger and difficulties at every turn, can Lilly and all the other refugees survive the journey and reach the Promised Land?
Leah wrote: "Hi! I want to share my new book Not From Here: the Song of America (Pegasus, March 28), now on Amazon for preorder. To write it, I spent a year listening to personal accounts of loss and migration..."
Good luck!
Sarah wrote: "Wave After Wave: A NovelI thought you might be interested to know that my new book, Wave After Wave, has just been released. It is a historical novel based on a little-known, tru..."
This sounds so interesting and quite a parallel to my mother's story! My mother, born in Vienna in 1920, was just 17 when the Nazis invaded their home, arrested my grandfather and her life was turned upside down. Read about it in my book, Good for a Single Journey. I shall be putting Wave After Wave on my tbr pile! Good luck
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