WHAT ARE YOU READING? A place for remarks, recommendations or reviews Showing 101-150 of 1,112

[Jan]

Nancy from NJ wrote: "I will certainly nominate The Pawnbroker for the next time period. There were parts of this book which were so beautifully written and I would love to discuss this with others."

Hi again, Nancy. Coincidentally, I saw this comment of yours just when getting online to request nominations. Give me a few minutes...

P.S. To whoever sees this comment: when a book is nominated and doesn't win the poll, it may be nominated again the next time it fits the category being requested. 💙

[Jan]

In my group message, I forgot to say where to nominate (although if you can see the home page, you'll see a folder called "nominations" that includes a topic for the May 2020 nominations).

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Jan]

Ten different types of readers during the time of the coronavirus: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-e...
Which type do you think you are?
I'm finding this month's poll winner, The Choice: Embrace the Possible, useful as a road map, even though it's about the Holocaust, not a pandemic. And I started Philip Roth's Nemesis, which is about the polio epidemic in Newark during the war years.

[Judith]

I'm reading two books. The first is Henry Roth's Call It Sleep (on nightstand) and for my non-bedroom-reading, an old Daniel Silva (sp?) mystery.

[Jan]

Judith wrote: "I'm reading two books. The first is Henry Roth's Call It Sleep (on nightstand) and for my non-bedroom-reading, an old Daniel Silva (sp?) mystery."

I have yet another Roth waiting in line -- Joseph Roth, The Radetsky March. I have both an old used paperback and the Audible version. Some day!

[Tzipora]

Jan wrote: "Ten different types of readers during the time of the coronavirus: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-e...
Which type do you think you are?
I'm finding thi..."

What kind of reader are you? I didn’t find any of these fit me. I’ve been heavy into nonfiction. Kind of going through a personal feminist empowerment phase, also reading lots of memoirs (actually working on two at the same time right now). Then there’s “required” reading for Net Galley or arcs for my bookstagram account so I’m chasing publication dates. Having a lot of trouble with starting books and not finishing them and I’ve heard from so many, I’m not alone in that.

I just got offered a copy of The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace but a bit annoyed the publisher waited until a week before release to send it my way. I think I’ll probably read it, but trying valiantly to get my Net Galley percentage up (many of those unfinished books are NG ones. And it’s not even that I didn’t like them. My attention span is just all over the place!)

[Stacey B]

Tzipora wrote: "Jan wrote: "Ten different types of readers during the time of the coronavirus: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-e...
Which type do you think you are?
I'm..."
I hear you!! :)
I have started at least five books, and after 30 pages I deleted them.
Hope you are well. Miss our emails. xo

[Jan]

I'm reading Philip Roth's Nemesis. I had it in my Audible queue but had no idea it was about the polio epidemic of 1944. Something made me start it. Very good! -- but I'm fearing a turn toward tragedy...

Also yet another memoir from someone whose family had concealed their Jewish roots. After Long Silence. I had never heard of it until it was mentioned in a review of her most recent book.

[Judith]

I'm currently reading two books: Henry Roth's Call It Sleep about the immigrant experience (Jewish). That is on my night table (along with several other books). I'm almost half-way through it. The book I'm reading in other rooms in the house is Iris Murdoch's Message to the Planet. She is one of my favorite authors and I'm re-reading this. I've almost all if not all of her novels. (Excuse typos)

[Stacey B]

Hi.
Thank you for becoming a member, as well as commenting.
We love that!!! :)
I read Henry Roth's a long, long time ago-
Would be curious to hear what you think when you finish it. I have never read anything from Iris Murdoch.
I see you are an author of a very special subject which is near and dear to my heart.
Lmk if you enjoyed "Call It Sleep".
Best, Stacey

[Jan]

Call It Sleep got nominated for June, but another book won. Hope one of you renominates it when an appropriate category comes up!

[Perlie]

Tzipora wrote: "Jan wrote: "Ten different types of readers during the time of the coronavirus: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-e...
Which type do you think you are?
I'm..."

Tzipora wrote: "Jan wrote: "Ten different types of readers during the time of the coronavirus: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-e...
Which type do you think you are?
I'm..."

The War of Return -- This sounds fascinating, Tzipora! I look forward to reading your review of it!

[Jan]

I finished Helen Fremont's After Long Silence. It is a book about a pair of sisters who were raised Catholic and only found out in young adulthood that their parents were actually Jewish Holocaust survivors. Haven't reviewed it yet. This book had a big impact on me. I could see how the parents had grown hard shells to protect themselves but now the shells were part of them and couldn't be sloughed off. She is a very brave writer and a good one too. I think I'm going to listen to the audio of the sequel of what happened with her family after she wrote this. I learned something from this one and think I have more to learn.

[Melissa]

Just finished "The Floating Feldman's" and started "An Unorthodox Match."
"The Floating Feldman's" by Elysssa Freidland was a predictable but entertaining story about a dysfunctional family on a cruise for the matriarch's 70th birthday. A quick read I enjoyed.
I am having trouble getting into "An Unorthodox Match" by Naomi Reagan. I relate more to the mother in the story than the daughter.

[Stacey B]

Melissa wrote: "Just finished "The Floating Feldman's" and started "An Unorthodox Match."
"The Floating Feldman's" by Elysssa Freidland was a predictable but entertaining story about a dysfunctional family on a c..."

Melissa- I haven't read "The Floating Feldman's.
Per "An Orthodox Match" - I can understand how many readers relate more with the "mother" than with her daughter Lola. Her mother has issues of her own to deal with....Lola is seeking jewish spirituality at this point in her life for a few reasons.
Since I am a fan of happy endings and moral character,
I enjoyed the book. Also learned a few facts about who and what drives that insular community, though I am curious if it is similar in other communities.
Since you are reading the book I wont continue as I know a spoiler could jump onto this post. :)
Lmk when you finish.

[Jack]

I recommend this memoir Letters of Stone: From Nazi Germany to South Africa
A young South African searches for the source of a mysterious photograph. He uncovers an intricate web that stretches across generations and continents. This mixture of family chronicle, historical research and socio-anthropological analysis is excellently written and well worth a read.

[Jonathan]

I just finished Eleanor Olyphant is completely fine. I really enjoyed it. I did not find it engaging at first, but after the first 40 pages I did not want to put it down.
Eleanor is socially awkward, lonely and is completely unaware of social cues. She reacts to events in her life with just enough subtle humor for you not to feel sorry for her. How she approaches life is the appeal of this book. Eleanor is 30 what keeps you intrigued are the preceding years of her life that you do not see but she discusses with her mother. Gail Honeyman wrote an insightful book about a young woman’s journey.

[Melissa]

Melissa wrote: "Just finished "The Floating Feldman's" and started "An Unorthodox Match."
"The Floating Feldman's" by Elysssa Freidland was a predictable but entertaining story about a dysfunctional family on a c..."

Stacey--I finished An Unorthodox Match. Maybe because it was an audiobook (and therefore I couldn't look up all the Yiddish words in the glossary) and maybe because I kept nodding off while listening, but I didn't find it particularly compelling. I knew a few things about the insular Hassidic community prior to reading the book, and frankly, even after reading this book, I still could not understand why any woman would want to join this community. Modern orthodox, I understand, but not Hassidim. I also found the ending a little pat.

[Melissa]

Jack wrote: "I recommend this memoir Letters of Stone: From Nazi Germany to South Africa
A young South African searches for the source of a mysterious photograph. He uncovers an intricate web th..."

This book looks interesting--I've added it to my "Want to Read" list! Thanks for the recommendation.

[Stacey B]

Melissa wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Just finished "The Floating Feldman's" and started "An Unorthodox Match."
"The Floating Feldman's" by Elysssa Freidland was a predictable but entertaining story about a dysfunction..."

Hi Melissa.
Thank you for the update.
I should really try out an audio version of a book at some point. :)
I can see how this book wouldn't be compelling for you. It wasn't that I was so compelled by it; but more becoming intrigued by the hierarchy of their community as well as seeing some passive aggressive actions from this particular story.
Near the ending, I gave kudos to the Hassidic community, where "they" did in fact embrace Lola's religious level of observance .
Similar to a quasi inter-mariage.
I know a few women who have chosen to become Hassidic. They were looking for direction, seeking out something missing from their lives. Through becoming spiritual, one of the women recognized she found her place of a sense of belonging, becoming part of a family in the Hassidic community. The other woman fell in love, and simply stated she must follow her man, structured life and all. :)
I am reform, but belong to a conservative synagogue in the USA.
As one ultra-orthodox member of Parliament in the Knesset said...
(am paraphrasing) We are not like you reform and conservative people who made up your own religion and rules.
You know the saying about horse-racing.
Hoping your next read is satisfying. What will it be??

[Jan]

I have a number of books going and in various mediums--hard copy i.e. "real book," audio, reading out loud with husb--some reading alone, some with a group, and some with husb; I have two that aren't active albeit not abandoned but besides those two, juggling five or six.

Sometimes in the current situation I find it hard to sit down and read! which I'm actually going to go do in a minute. That would be our book of the month, The Book of Lights.

[M]

I'm so glad my local library is loaning books again. I started the Kindle edition of Apelfeld's "To the Edge of Sorrow" but didn't get very far. Maybe I will with the hardcover edition. In the meantime I'm finishing "The Book of Lights" which was on my home library shelf.

[Jan]

M wrote: "I'm so glad my local library is loaning books again. I started the Kindle edition of Apelfeld's "To the Edge of Sorrow" but didn't get very far. Maybe I will with the hardcover edition. In the mean..."

M, here's a recent New Yorker article on him that piqued my interest!
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

[M]

Jan wrote: "M wrote: "I'm so glad my local library is loaning books again. I started the Kindle edition of Apelfeld's "To the Edge of Sorrow" but didn't get very far. Maybe I will with the hardcover edition. I..."

Thanks for the link! Even though it summerizes the book, including the ending, it doesn't feel like a spoiler. Not that kind of story. Typical Apelfeld.

[Jonathan]

In the middle of Between Friends by Amos Oz. It is a group of short stories that take place on a fictional kibbutz in the 1950's when Israel is just a fledgling country. I imagine that this has a lot of Oz's personal experiences here as he lived on a kibbutz in his youth. I have read the first four chapters and they are very interesting and even though they are different stories they are intertwined with a lot of the same characters. The book explores Marxism, open relationships, child raising and the high school aspect of living in this type of community where it is very hard to keep anything private.

[debra]

Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!

[Jan]

debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

I'm reading a "beach read" with a local connection and a connection to journalism, but so far the only Jewish connection is that the author knows that department stores were usually started by Jews. (Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews)
Enjoyable but not enough to meet your specs, Debra. Somebody will have a suggestion!

[Jonathan]

It was on our 2019 reading list but if you did not already read it you might want to look at Jerusalem Stone.

[Jan]

debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Did you read the Elinor Lipman book, [book:The Inn at Lake Devine|109999? It might fill your bill. Or maybe the author's other books are similar.

[debra]

thanks--we actually have read both the above mentioned books...
GOOD suggestions though!

[Stacey B]

debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Did you read "I FeelBad about by Neck" -Nora Ephron?

[debra]

Stacey wrote: "debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Did ..."
This could fit the bill ! thanks

[Jan]

debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Or try googling: Jewish authors of "beach reads" for lists from JewliciousReads, Hadassah Magazine, Jewish Book Council, as well as Washington Post etc.

[debra]

Jan wrote: "debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Or t..."
thanks

[Jan]

Here's a rather unusual book, but not entirely free of tragedy, so not necessarily an answer to Debra's search. A tragedy occurs at the outset and sets up all that happens next. But wondering if anybody has read Mitzvah Man by John J. Clayton. I don't think it could ever be a book of the month since not enough of them are available -- although maybe I'm wrong about that, since now there's a kindle version; didn't used to be!

[debra]

I remember reading about this book a while ago. I have not read it myself....

[Perlie]

debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks
In the Image by Dara Horn

[debra]

Perlie wrote: "debra luger wrote: "Looking for an UPBEAT book with some kind of Jewish content for my local jewish book club. Any suggestions? (no Holocaust- or tragic stories) A summer read..... hopeful?!"

Uncl..."

Thanks! the Oliver Sacks book looks interesting. My book club has read all but the last Dara Horn books! In fact, In the Image was the very first book we read (likely at least 10 years ago) and it was my favorite of hers!

[Judith]

Stacey wrote: "Jan wrote: "I just completed the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

An aspect I didn'..."

I read Olive Kitteridge this past year and would like to read the sequel.

[Judith]

I love seeing what other people are reading. I just finished Before We Were Yours, preceded by Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, and just started The Girl from Berlin (because my friend in Israel was reading it). I'm still plodding my way through Henry Roth's Call It Sleep. Should finish it this week.

[Perlie]

Recommendations: "From the Four Winds" by Haim Sabato; "She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity" by Carl Zimmer; "Sons and Soldiers" by Bruce Henderson; "Pachinko" by Min Jin Lee; "Lucky Broken Girl" Ruth Behar; "Where the Jews Aren't" Masha Gessen; "East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity" Phillipe Sands; "Behold the Dreamers" Imbolo Mbue; "A Gentleman in Moscow" Amor Towles; "This is Not a Love Story" Judy Brown; "A Bookshop in Berlin" Francoise Frenkel

Currently Reading: Major Farran's Hat, A Suitable Boy, The Betel Nut Tree Mystery.

[Jan]

Judith wrote: "...I read Olive Kitteridge this past year and would like to read the sequel."

I don't have the sequel but have one of her earlier books in my stack...let me go look.... It's My Name is Lucy Barton.

Also I may be the one person in the world who didn't like the miniseries. Can't remember if I talked about that before or not.

[Jonathan]

I recently read The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris. For me this was a quick hard to put down read. I am a secular Jew who grew up in an Ultra Orthodox community. So why I was friendly with most of my neighbors are differences were obviously great. Reading this book was like getting into the homes and the minds of these people. The story centers around four main characters the bride and groom, the Rebetzin who advises the bride on marriage and her son Avrohmi. The reading is quick and easy and the ending leaves you at a point where you are wanting more or maybe just not ready to accept the outcomes.

Criticisms if I have any is that the Author has strong feelings about the Ultra Orthodox/ Hasidim. Most people that she depicts in this community are emotionally and physically unattractive. The characters that question this lifestyle seem to become more attractive on many levels.

All in all a very solid read that I recommend.

[Stacey B]

Jonathan wrote: "I recently read The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris. For me this was a quick hard to put down read. I am a secular Jew who grew up in an Ultra Orthodox community. So why I was friendly with..."

Nice honest review Jonathan!
Also being a secular Jew, I, was brought up reform.
While reading more and more of the book, I was captivated.
Not because I didn't understand the Ultra Orthodox rules of observance at that level; but because I recognized how a day is shaped by jewish rituals and obligations.
This book and ones similar, touched on an awareness of what is missing from a choice to live a jewish secular life.

[Jonathan]

Stacey wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "I recently read The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris. For me this was a quick hard to put down read. I am a secular Jew who grew up in an Ultra Orthodox community. So why I ..."
Thanks Stacey also what was very relevant was peer pressure on steroids. How the personal decisions you make are effected by the community you live in watching a television, riding a bike, etc...

[Stacey B]

Totally agree.
Similar to "the ripple effect".

[Susan]

I have started reading the current literature on racism. Have not made much of a dent. However, right now I am only reading escape-type fiction not necessarily by or about Jewish authors, because this coming Sunday is my birthday and I just want to play this week. As I write this post, it’s about 107 degrees here in Tucson, there’s a huge fire still burning in the not so distant mountains, which are shrouded in smoke so dense that I can’t be outdoors without smelling it or feeling my eyes burn. Yet I have a cat on my lap, a couple around me, two new kittens nearby, and I’m about to go back to reading The Stewardess, which is pretty good.

[Jan]

Susan wrote: "I have started reading the current literature on racism. Have not made much of a dent. However, right now I am only reading escape-type fiction not necessarily by or about Jewish authors, because t..."

Happy Birthday, Susan, and stay safe (& cool)!

I'm reading, or still reading -- may have mentioned it earlier -- a fun book, Hello, Summer. It ties in with local stuff & that part is done well. Also, something else the author has done: a columnist at the Atlanta paper lost his young-adult son to bone cancer a year or so ago, and was open about his & his family's loss. So Mary Kay Andrews has put him in her book as a minor character of the same name, obviously done with the permission of the father with whom she used to work before her success as a writer. I find it very touching that she did that. I have this book on audio and find it nice and relaxing what with all that is going on! A counterpoint to all the heavy tomes & so forth!

[Susan]

I meant The Flight Attendant is what I’m reading. Jan, I’m putting your current book on my list.

[Jan]

Susan wrote: "I meant The Flight Attendant is what I’m reading. Jan, I’m putting your current book on my list."

Enjoy!
I've also got The Talented Mr. Ripley on audio and have been listening w/my husb during cooking. But it's about a nutty buddy sociopath, and NOT so relaxing (although considered a classic). Also not a Jewish book. But got a lot of them going too.