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David
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Nov 25, 2022 04:17PM
Thanks Allan. Looking forward to reading it.
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Jan wrote: "Allan wrote: "I believe members of this group will enjoy my novel, Father, Son, Stone, which is now available as a free Kindle download through Tuesday, November 29. This timely story blends histor..."Thank you for the suggestion, Jan. I just posted to the other category.
Allan H. Goodman
David wrote: "Thanks Allan. Looking forward to reading it."I hope you enjoy it, David.
Regards,
Allan
Announcing the release of WHO SHALL DIE, a Jewish themed novel inspired by the command to breed a pure red heifer in Numbers in the Torah. Set in the near future, a group breeds a red heifer in hopes of finding a cure for the new virus. When Azura acquires a sample, she takes sanctuary in a synagogue to avoid the authorities.https://www.amazon.com/Who-Shall-Die-...
What They Didn't Burn: Uncovering My Father's Holocaust SecretsI was recently asked to write a short piece for the Silurians, one of New York City's oldest press clubs, on the challenges of melding journalism with personal memoir (hint: it's not easy...)
[click for full article] https://bit.ly/mel_laytner_silurians_...
Mod
I was recently asked to write a short piece for the Silurians, one of New York City's oldest press clubs, on the chal..."
Mel,
Congrats on your "piece" you wrote for Silurians!!
It is a great article and I know from reading the book you have included everything it takes to author a book such as this. I was empathetic from the get go while being exhausted from your travels.
We can see from the reviews that your readers were equally empathetic and loved this bittersweet book.
Hello Everyone, I am author representing an amazing author on Goodreads - I highly recommend Mitchell James Kaplan to you and his exceptional book, "Into the Unbounded Night.""Into the Unbounded Night," the epic-yet-intimate literary historical thriller from award-winning author Mitchell James Kaplan, follows the lives of five troubled individuals as they struggle for survival and purpose in the first century Roman empire.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...
Aislin, a refugee in Rome, seeks revenge for the destruction of her village in Britannia. Other important characters, who affect her destiny, include the ambitious general Vespasian, Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul), the rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, and Azazel, a doomed angel.
Throughout INTO THE UNBOUNDEDED NIGHT, these characters' lives intertwine in unexpected ways that shed light on colonization and its discontents, the relative values of dominant and tyrannized cultures, the sense of imminent apocalypse, and the holiness of life.
About the Author:
Award-winning novelist Mitchell James Kaplan is the author of "By Fire, By Water," "Into The Unbounded Night," and "Rhapsody." Mitchell received his BA, with Honors in English Literature, from Yale University and resides with his family in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
Website; www.mitchelljameskaplan.com
Email: mitchell.j.kaplan@gmail.com
Regal House Publishing Book Link: https://regal-house-publishing.mybigc...
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unbounded-Nigh...
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/into...
---
All the Best,
Teresa J. Herbic
familiesforadoption@gmail.com
Mod
Hi, Teresa, and thanks for posting your announcement/recommendation here. Looks like his book is hitting multiple genres! Best of luck to the author.
To celebrate the turning of the year, my little eBook anthology, 'Green Linnet', is free again: from today until 3rd January. Humorous and sober short stories of the sea and of Yorkshire, interleaved with verse.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Linnet...
and on other Amazon sites.
The last piece is the opening chapter of 'Tom Fleck' - set in Tudor England of 1513 in which a Jewish refugee girl and a humble labourer meet on the road as they both flee oppression.
Mod
Harry,
Thank you posting your work on our site.
We wish you much success and a Happy New Year to you and yours.
Mod
I see you have written many books and alerting us to some on sale. Thank you.
It would be wonderful if you could tell us about your latest book and possibly a little about yourself if you haven't done so.
This is the space for "Authors Announcing their Work",. It is also posted under "Authors Resources" as well. It's rare for us to have an author meeting both criteria when announcing their work. If you meant for your post to be a resource, could you remove this
one from above? Very much appreciated and thank you. Happy New Year!!
I can move them sure. They are in fact my latest books (okay out of 88) but the most Jewish and relevant to the group.
I'm the author of 88 books, mostly guides to Dr Who and Star Wars etc. Also an academic series on Jewish science fiction, several mainstream books on that topic, and the PJ library short story collection Chelm for the Holidays https://www.amazon.com/stores/Valerie...
Mod
Valerie,
Thank you so much for introducing yourself.
88 books is amazing- so many genres as well!!
Ha, do you ever come for air :)
Can you find the famous person hidden in every story? And once found, can you understand them?Backstories – ‘the stand-out most original book of the year’ - is a collection of stories each told from the point of view of one of my personal heroes, (or villains) back when they were just another Jew or black, or queer – back when they were nobody. Bullied, assaulted or psychologically abused, their road to redemption was never easy, and for some there would be no redemption, only a descent into evil.
These are the stories of people you know. The settings are mostly 60’s and 70’s UK and USA, the driving themes are inclusion and social justice - but the real key to these stories is that I withhold the protagonists’ identities. This means that your job is to find them - leading to that Eureka moment when you realise who's mind you've been inhabiting for the last twenty minutes.
Of the fourteen stories in the collection, only four centre on Jewish people / Jewish issues, so if you want something purely Jewish in outlook, this isn't it.
My aim, in writing Backstories is to highlight the similarities between all our struggles - whether Jewish, black, gay, Asian or whatever, we, as the often persecuted moinorities, have so much in common. That is the core theme of Backstories. That, and the broader notion that we're all flawed and vulnerable human beings - even the very, very worst of us.
So, another warning. Whilst many of these characters are my heroes, some are the vilest of people ever to walk the Earth. It can be a nasty shock when you've been rooting for someone, only to discover they are a personification of evil. But that's the point of the book - to challenge your moral compass, to allow you rediscover aspects of these people utterly afresh. And when I say, 'challenge your moral compass', I mean it, not for the sake of it, but because I think it's important. To consign someone as good or evil may make us feel better, but it teaches us nothing, it takes us no further forward in our quest - which surely must be - in a nutshell - 'never again' - and if we aim to mould the future, surely we must begin by understanding - truly understanding - the past.
What collection of circumstances leads one child to become a hero and another to follow a darker path? Understand that, and we can begin to understand history in a meaningful and useful way.
In summary, if you just want more of the echo chamber, reaffirming your views and defending your ego - don't read this book. If you are prepared to be truly open to a new perspective, then this might just be for you.
Oh, and it's a fun game too
Simon wrote: "Can you find the famous person hidden in every story? And once found, can you understand them?Backstories – ‘the stand-out most original book of the year’ - is a collection of stories each told f..."
And here's the UK link - https://amzn.to/3j8D2Hp
Hello everyone,Just wanted to let you know that I've recently published audiobooks of the first five novels in the Adam Lapid series. They're available wherever audiobooks are sold.
Mod
Just wanted to let you know that I've recently published audiobooks of the first five novels in the Adam Lapid series. They're available wherever audiobooks are sold."
I had the idea you'd narrated them yourself, Jonathan, but not so. The narrator is very good! Just listened to a sample on Audible.
Mod
Backstories – ‘the stand-out most original book of the year’ - is a collection of stories each told f..."
Hey, Simon, here's the Goodreads link to Backstories. Many will appreciate that your book is a svelte 118 pages and although it's not in my public library, its Amazon price brand new is quite reasonable. And the audiobook is less than three hours! Not sure if it's on sale at the moment, but Audible is showing less than $5!
As the concept is so intriguing, and it met my "less than the price of a greeting card" test and it's so short, why resist? I just snagged that audiobook! 😍
Backstories was a Nov. 2021 Moderator's Choice: 2021/11 Discussion for Simon Van der Velde's Backstories, so readers can comment there.
Mod
Jan wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Hello everyone,Just wanted to let you know that I've recently published audiobooks of the first five novels in the Adam Lapid series. They're available wherever audiobooks are so..."
I don't have the skill to do all the voices. The narrator is American. He's very talented, and he gets better with each new book. We're close to finishing book 6.
Mod
Congratulations on the audio publication, Jonathan!
Sounds like your close involvement in the process was needed, though?
Mod
I was recently asked to write a short piece for the Silurians, one of New York City's oldest press clubs, on the chal..."
Hi, Mel. Hope you're doing well. I wanted to alert you to Moment Magazine's upcoming zoominar on Hogan's Heroes. I hope I'm not mistaken that it came up in a discussion! If you google MomentLive! zoominars and scan down, you'll see it & can register if you want to. Tuesday the 21st a 4:30 PM Eastern.
Hello, all,My debut novel, The Foxtail Legacy, is a multigenerational family saga that spans from the shtetls of Russia under the Czars, to the mining fields of South Africa during the 1890s gold rush under the Boer, to the immigrant experience in America of the early 20th Century. The central character in this mishpocha tale is Jacob Itzkowitz, whose drive to be a "big man" carries him forward to become a retail and real estate mogul at the Jersey Shore. Yet the same strength that enable Jacob to stare down a resurgent Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s also fuels the internal dark side of his ambition, his plotting and double-dealing, which threaten to destroy his growing business empire and the legacy he’s built for his family.
Jacob is well-matched by Shira, his bride through an old country matchmaker. Shira carries her own deep secret that leads to a central conflict of the novel, with ripples causing intra-family strife for two more generations. Together their strong wills create clashes, fuel feuds, and sow the seeds for a complex legal battle over inheritance decades after Jacob has died. Goodreads reviews are here, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6..., and other reviews are here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSD9BWV/...
One of my reviewers describes the novel this way:
"It’s an origin story familiar to many American families -- a young man, armed with big dreams and few prospects, sets out from the Old World to the New – but in his debut novel, The Foxtail Legacy, David Abromowitz molds it into a richly detailed and deeply moving saga. Following the tumultuous fortunes of the Itzkowitz family as they migrate from one continent to another, Abromowitz simultaneously paints a portrait of life in burgeoning twentieth-century America – a portrait spanning several generations, and touching on everything from the Depression to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan -- that is as illuminating as it is unforgettable.” Robert Masello, bestselling author of The Einstein Prophecy.
Enjoy!
Mod
My debut novel, The Foxtail Legacy, is a multigenerational family saga that spans from the shtetls of Russia under the Czars, to the mining fields of South Africa during the 1890s gold..."
Thanks for posting about your debut novel for members of the Jewish Book Club, David. Congratulations! I know we do have members who are particularly interested in the immigrant experience.
I'll just take this opportunity to remind members that it's fine to talk to authors -- any of them -- about their books, here on the author announcement threads
Hi all! This is wonderful to be able to post here, and I hope that you might find my two books of interest. The first is my father's memoir, Private Good Luck, written by me in his voice (and approved by him!)The second book is one that I've spent the last four years working on entitled, Pappus - The Saga of A Jewish Family. It's the complete, translated personal correspondence from my family’s special collection now housed in the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
More than 1800 letters written by over 70 different people writing in Hungarian and English just before, during, and after World War II. They memorialize and illuminate the lives of ordinary people enduring extraordinary events. Through them, experience history as it unfolds.
Of six siblings, one emigrated to America in 1938, four more in 1940, and one remained behind in Europe with his wife, little children, and elderly father.
The letters are all encompassing and their historic value is immeasurable.
As primary sources, they give a contemporaneous account of the events the writers lived through, undistorted by the passage of time. It is the definitive companion text to Private Good Luck and As I remember…(expected release in 2023)
This is my family’s story, in their own words.
Mod
Congratulations on your new book. Wishing you much success!
From what knowledge I think I have, were you related to Emil Schwartz?
Yes! My father's first cousin. How do you know of him?
Mod
Hi Sherwin...
We need to continue this conversation under the topic discussion
of:
Literary Chat & Other Book Stuff > Holocaust literature and the Jewish Book Club
Stacey B wrote: "Sherwin wrote: "Yes! My father's first cousin. How do you know of him?"Hi Sherwin...
We need to continue this conversation under the topic discussion
of:
Literary Chat & Other Book Stuff > Holoc..."
Hi Stacey...
I moved the conversation there...hopefully correctly!
I have a handful of poetry collections available on Amazon. Variety of haiku poems and poetry on life. Just search for author Kuo Kenih on Amazon and enjoy a variety of 📚.
Mod
HAIKU WORLD
Thanks, Vanessa!
Jan wrote: "You're welcome to do so, Esther -- and also any interviews, awards or giveaways. We've got threads for those too. 🌺Just saying that if you put in your title from the drop-down option above, reader..."
That's great advice. Thank you.
Mod
Just saying that if you put in your title from the drop-down option above, reader...."
That's great advice. Thank you.
Shanah is referring to my comments back on the prior page. Comment no 356-358. I think. But actually it's easier than those authors know. You don't have to figure out how to make a link yourself. Just click "add book/author" from the link up above the Goodreads comment box . Then just start typing the name of your book, and usually it will come up and you can then click "add."
If your title is a common title, Goodreads may have trouble finding your book. Then switch to searching for your own name (author's name), and if Goodreads finds that, switch back to book. Often that works in getting Goodreads to bring up the name of your book so you can click "add."
(Free advice! 😘)
Mod
Just saying that if you put in your title from the dro..."
Thank you for the clarification here. I couldn't find the reference.
Hi everyone,I'm proud to report that the audiobook of book 6 in my Adam Lapid Mysteries series, The Auschwitz Detective is now available.
You can find it on my website at https://jonathandunsky.com/products/t...
Phyllis wrote: "Hi. "My Name is Rebecca: A Novelette," is the story of a father and his sons who emigrated from Russia to the United States in the early 1900s, living in New York and then settling in Wisconsin. Th..."Hello, Phyllis. My maternal grandparents also came to the US through Ellis Island from Russia at about the same time as your grandfather, They, too, settled in New York. I'm fascinated by the description of your story and look forward to reading it.
Mod
I'm proud to report that the audiobook of book 6 in my Adam Lapid Mysteries series, The Auschwitz Detective is now available.
You can find it on my website at https://jonathandunsky.com/products/t..."
Congratulations, Jonathan, on a big project brought to fruition!
Hi and thanks for allowing me into this truly impressive group. Here's a book of mine that I believe will resonate with anyone interested in Jewish life in the seventies. Or any Bob Dylan fanatics out there. Or anyone interested in a family drama and a timeless story of sibling rivalry. Auden Triller (Is A Killer)
Here's a synopsis and link:
Simon and Auden Triller are twins whose only similarity is the surname they share. From an early age, Simon’s life is filled with academic and athletic accomplishments, friends and adults who admire him. As he grows older, his determination to succeed and passion for life are matched only by his unshakable devotion toward his brother, who is unappreciative to the point of contempt.
Auden’s life, on the other hand, is as sparse as Simon’s is full. Wanting nothing more than to live on his own unambitious terms, in a world free of comparisons to his twin, he can’t seem to manage the smallest demands without having them turn into desperate predicaments requiring his brother’s help.
Satirical, self-eviscerating and world-weary, Auden’s voice guides the reader back and forth in time and place. Gradually and painfully, Auden realizes the solitude he’s chosen for himself is less peaceful than insanity-making. When, finally, he loses his grip on reality, his actions precipitate a tragedy that threatens to permanently sever his fraternal bond, just when he needs Simon most.
https://www.amazon.ca/Auden-Triller-K...
Mod
Hi Brian.
Thank you for posting to our group.
You certainly include some major current topics in your book.
Wishing you the best!!
Mod
Dear James,
While we appreciate your announcing your work on our site, would like to ask you to avoid stereotyping and essentialism. As I'm sure you know, Christianity isn't a monolith. ...Same as we wouldn't like people opining about "the Jews." Don't treat others in a way abhorrent to ourselves.
Just a reminder.
Thanks, James
Jan
I’d like to introduce A Daughter’s Kaddish: My Year of Grief, Devotion, and Healing. My debut memoir was published by Wonderwell Press in September 2022. A Daughter’s Kaddish recounts my 11-month journey to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish twice daily in the presence of a minyan, while juggling work-related travel and single parenting. On my 21st birthday, as my father was sitting shiva for his own father, he asked me to hire a man to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish for him when he died. For a traditional man without sons, he considered this his best option.
Twenty-six years later, after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I gradually convinced him that the responsibility for his soul was an obligation of descent, not gender. I had faith that the Almighty would look more favorably on his soul if his child, rather than a stranger, fulfilled this commitment.
I’d had no religious upbringing, yet I undertook this responsibility to bring merit to my father’s soul. My travel schedule meant finding minyanim across the country in the days before Google, Zoom, and GPS. Oscar Israelowitz’s United States Jewish Travel Guide listed synagogues in every city in the U.S. My challenge was to call, find out which had minyanim, then get service times and directions to the synagogue.
My memoir examines Jewish mourning rituals through the lens of gender. In one congregation I was told “Women don’t say Kaddish.” I was often in synagogues with nine men and because I wasn’t counted in the minyan, I was prohibited from reciting the Kaddish. But my determination to honor to my father never waned.
While I experienced many challenges to my prayer practice, I was also comforted by the outreach of others. A small lay-led congregation in Lansing, Michigan organized minyanim for me. When I tried to thank them, they reminded me that I had given them the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of v’ahavta l’earch kamocha – loving thy neighbor as thyself.
When I received the call that my daughter had been in a near-fatal car accident not far from her college in California, the University Hillel rabbi (a woman!) organized minyanim for me. Professors left their classrooms in the midst of exams and offered me clothes, and a place to stay. One professor even offered me his car! The minyaneers’ outpouring of caring consoled me when I needed it most.
My memoir shows to Jews of all levels of observance or secularity the importance of community and the support that a minyan can provide. In our grief-phobic society, minyaneers understand that grief has no expiration date.
My journey demonstrates how Judaism’s traditional mourning rituals can bring us closer to our faith, and provide meaning and comfort to those who grieve, especially beyond shiva. A Daughter’s Kaddish shows that Judaism’s age-old customs offer a caring community and stability at times of chaos and that these ancient traditions have a place in our contemporary society.
Early reviews include:
“Enjoyable… recommended as an engaging read for women who might consider saying Kaddish for a parent, as well as to men and especially Rabbis and lay leaders so that they may be more supportive of women who want to say Kaddish for a parent.”
—Association of Jewish Libraries
“A compelling story of faith, family, and remembrance.”
—Book Riot
“Readers will appreciate Birnbach’s candor and insight into the gender dynamics of Judaism. This soulful outing has plenty of heart.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An inherently fascinating, exceptionally well written, and impressively thought-provoking memoir.... Highly recommended for personal, community, and academic library Biography/Memoir and Judaism Studies collections.”
—Midwest Book Review
“An accessible, congenial read [that] will resonate most with those familiar with the world of the non-Orthodox American Jewish synagogue.”
—Jerusalem Post
“A thoughtful meditation on sacrifice, memory, gender roles, and of course—grief.”
—A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically
“Sarah Birnbach embraces a custom that has been for so long the province of men. As we see on these pages, she—and we, her readers—are the richer for it. And we can only imagine that her father is smiling down on her with joy."
—Ari L. Goldman, author of Living a Year of Kaddish
“Birnbach’s love letter to her father is a meditation on grief and the power of a spiritual practice to transcend our most painful losses.”
—Michelle Brafman, author of Washing the Dead
"Tom Fleck', set in northern England of 1513, may be of interest here. The second character is a Jewish girl, Rachel Coronel, an 'illegal' refugee, with her father, from the hazards of life in Portugal.I've published eight books, but this, my first, is still the one that moves me most.
"Sharp as quivering hares are the Flecks. We’ve eyes and ears for things other folk miss. 'Much later, in the aftermath of the battle of Flodden, a young man finally understands his father’s words. The year is 1513. The place is North-East England. Tom Fleck, a downtrodden farm worker, but gifted archer, yearns to escape his masters. He unearths two objects that could be keys to freedom: a torque of ancient gold and a Tudor seal ring. He cannot know how these finds will determine his future. Rachel Coronel craves an end to her wanderings. When the torque comes to rest around the neck of this mysterious foreign woman, an odyssey begins which draws Tom Fleck into borderlands of belief and race. The seal ring propels Tom on a journey of self-knowledge that can only climax in another borderland, among the ‘flowers of the forest’ of Flodden Field. Here are Tudor kings and their nobles – their documented lives are rich material for writers – but now they play a minor part. This is the story of Tom Fleck, a penniless farm labourer, who shares his dwelling with cattle. He is fictional only because he leaves no record – his people live before the keeping of parish registers, so they make no marks on parchment and are lost to history. We find his rare surname in the register of St. Hilda’s church at Hartlepool: Baptisms 1596, September 19th: Christofer ye child of Willm. Fleck. Perhaps William heard tales of how his great grandfather Thomas loved a strange woman and stood with the army on the terrible battlefield of Flodden. This story brings him to life."
https://www.amazon.com/Tom-Fleck-Nove...
Greetings everyone! I'm happy to have found this wonderful group.My name is Laya Martinez, and I am an mother, wife, rotarian, and author. I recently released my first book, a memoir titled "When Your Family Says No". Essentially, I fell in love and married a wonderful (but non-Jewish) man, and this ultimately lead to ex-communication from my Orthodox Jewish community.
I have lived three different lives, each clearly demarcated by my original, nuclear family’s acceptance or rejection of me based on my marital choices. In many ways, my story is a real-life, modern day variation of Fiddler on the Roof. For those who "stray," if you're not accepted by your family, for whatever reason, or if your family says no, life does go on. You can create your own extended family, as I did. It took years, with long stretches of heartache and loneliness. It was worth it for the loving extended family I now have. Most of all, my children know that whomever they choose as a partner or friend, and whichever path they take in life, our extended family will always be there for them.
I'd love to connect with all of you. Please reach out and we'll share stories!
Laya, Welcome to this group and congratulations on your memoir. I can't wait to read it. I admire you for many reasons but one in particular: your blurb sounds like you have taken a very personal story and made it universal. I commend you. Sarah
Thank you, I was waiting for someone to say those words exactly.Laya
Hello, Laya! Your book sounds fascinating to me, too, in part because in my own family, my religious grandfather wrote into his will that any grandchild who married out of the "Hebrew faith" would be disinherited. And several did! Which led to generational estrangement in my family. In my case, this rejection from the grave inspired a theme in my own novel.Congratulations!
Dear David,Thank you for writing to me.
I wrote this book to teach virtue. Virtue can only mean between man and man (qua man). And the religion sacrifices men (a known) to a god (unknown),
I would like to read your novel and have your contact to keep in touch.
Laya
Jewish Book Club
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