WHAT ARE YOU READING? A place for remarks, recommendations or reviews Showing 1,101-1,112 of 1,112

[Stacey B]

Hahtoolah wrote: "I just finished reading Second Person Singular by Sayed Kashua. It's an interesting novel that explores the conflicts of Arab-Israeli trying to assimilate in Israeli culture. It follows two Arab me..."

Hahtoolah,
This book sounds more than interesting. Assimilation is difficult -no doubt. Hoping politics doesn't play a role to much, if any. Reading is my happy place.

[Hahtoolah]

Stacey B wrote: "Kerry wrote: "I finished Australian writer Diane Armstrong's The Wild Date Palm which is a fiction account of the Nili spy group which operated in pre-Mandate Palestine during WW1...."

I visited the Nili Museum a couple of years ago. It is well worth the visit. I will add The Wild Date Palm to my reading list.

[Stacey B]

Hahtoolah wrote: "Stacey B wrote: "Kerry wrote: "I finished Australian writer Diane Armstrong's The Wild Date Palm which is a fiction account of the Nili spy group which operated in pre-Mandate Pale..."

Me too.
Hahtoolah, thank you for posting about the book..
Have you been to the Ayalon Institute Museum? I keep bringing more people there every time Im in Israel. Fascinating, clever, and the best hidden secret. Trying to find a book written about it.

[Jan]

I am reading Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg's The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism. It came out last year. I had heard a book interview he gave, and based on that I wasn't impressed. Then, I read an article that he had adapted from the book in the Spring edition of the Jewish Review of Books, and found it galvanizing. So now my local book group is going to read a part of it to see how we do.
Here's the link to the Jewish Review of Books article. I think they give a free read but if not send me your email address in a private message and I'll send you the PDF. Or your library may make it available. https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/autho...
P.S. Available brand new from Amazon as a nice paperback for a pittance.

Also I'm reading Melting Point: Family, Memory and the Search for a Promised Land. It has gotten a lot of press. It's written entirely in excerpts from articles, diaries, letters, and published material from the time, and somehow, it works. Especially the 1st part -- really brings history alive. I'm not quite done because I had to keep stopping for other reading obligations...

[Jan]

I'm reading Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders. It's a book within a book; a mystery within a mystery. And the detective in the "inside book," Atticus Pund, is a survivor. Does that, and the fact the author is of Jewish origins, make this a Jewish book? It's 1955, in the UK, and in the framing book, it's (almost) current times.

[Kerry]

I read Autocorrect: Stories by Etgar Keret earlier this month. I always enjoy his work.
Just now picking up A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir by Lev Golinkin, hoping the book lives up to its title.

[ELK✡]

Hey everyone! Rosh Hashana is so close (:
Has anybody tried A Boy from Baghdad by Miriam Halahmy?
My library doesn't carry it unfortunately. So I wanted to shop around for reviews before committing to purchasing from AMZ.

[Kerry]

ELK✡ wrote: "Has anybody tried A Boy from Baghdad by Miriam Halahmy?
My library doesn't carry it unfortunately. So I wanted to shop aro..."
No, but it looks interesting. I read her The Emergency Zoo about WW2 London and liked it well enough.

Have you read The Dove Flyer by Eli Amir, an adult novel which covers similar ground and is narrated by a 13 year old boy.

[Stacey B]

Elk and Kerry,
Thank you for posting these books.
Looks like A Boy from Baghdad and The Dove Flyer share the same theme. Interesting to see this, as the first one -I think...is middle school.

[Kerry]

Stacey B wrote: "Elk and Kerry,
Thank you for posting these books.
Looks like A Boy from Baghdad and The Dove Flyer share the same theme. Interesting to see this, as the first one -I think...is middle school."

Looks like Halahmy's book focuses more on Israel.

[Hahtoolah]

10/7, by Lee Yaron (2024)

This book recounts 100 human stories about horror of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. On that traumatic day, 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Yaron provides a human portrait of many of those killed. The author is a journalist for Ha'aretz and was able to meet with, and interview survivors to piece together the lives of many of the victims.

On Shabbat October 7, 2023, which was also the last day of Sukkot and the beginning of Simhat Torah, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel. Hamas indiscriminately massacred civilians in what became one of the worst terror attacks in recent history, and the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

Very well written and provides a touchingly brings the lives of many victims come alive.

5 Stars

[Stacey B]

Hahtoolah wrote: "10/7, by Lee Yaron (2024)

This book recounts 100 human stories about horror of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. On that traumatic day, 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Yar..."

Great book Hahtoolah-
Your book choices have always been outstanding.
Wishing you an easy fast.