Jewish Book Club discussion
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Nominations
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Nominations for our October 2020 book
Mod
Should be
My Mother's Son by David Hirshberg
and
Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis
Adventures of the Peculiar Protocols, Nicholas Meyer
I nominate House on Endless Waters. It's newer but shouldn't have long waiting lists at the library.
I nominate Mrs Lincoln’s Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini. Thanks. Looking forward to seeing what’s the BOTM!
Mod
Good morning ClaraBelle.
I have not had an opportunity to read "Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters yet, though I understand it is a great book..
I looked it up as well as googling it before writing this- in making sure it has some jewish content. So far, I haven't come across anything. I am known to be wrong at times; so I ask if this book qualifies?
If not- go ahead and nominate a different book.
Enjoy the day-
Best,
Stacey
A lot of great choices on the list: I nominate Last Watchman of Cairo.
I also vote for The Last Watchman of Cairo. It was a wonderful read.
Mod
Since "The Last Watchman of Old Cairo was the sixth nomination -from Jonathan,
I couldn't tell from this post if you were voting as in "giving kudos" to his choice, or nominating it again.
We have six nominations based on ClaraBelle's response regarding hers, providing she wants to nominate another.
Mod
You are better at this part than I am!!
Hopefully I did not write anything incorrectly.
Please go over this- you are welcome to grade me.
Mod
You are better at this part than I am!!
Hopefully I did not write anything incorrectly.
Please go over this- you are welcome to grade me."
Here I am! 😘
Wasn't gone anywhere but recovering from getting the list together & the post up yesterday. And then stuff I had forgotten about yesterday happened!
Thanks for having my back, Stacey, and as to grading, don't take off for that error where I ran the two books together!
So glad the nominations have been coming in. May take me a moment or a few (no breakfast yet either!).
Mod
A quick question re Florence Adler Swims Forever and maybe other of the nominations (haven't finished looking yet):
What's the group's opinion re new books? Do you mind the expense (assuming you can't get at the library or if still closed)? Particularly since we voted in a new one last month.
Mod
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D.
Florence Adler Swims Forever
Burning Girls
House on Endless Waters
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo
Taking a break but back soon. Let me know opinions re new books not available used.
Also books only available as ebooks can be an issue too, depending on people's observance or practice.
Great list,I’m only familiar with two titles but they all sound really good.I think I’ll go with House on Endless Waters.
Thank-you moderators,greatwork.
Mod
Your adorable :) but its not time to vote.
We are waiting for ClaraBelle to give us a different nomination so that we have six!!
I loved our example list.
Mod
New, but actually found some inexpensive used versions of Florence Adler Swims Forever on ebay. Plus, in the library.
Burning Girls -- can't find the novella available anywhere. Not in library. Burning Girls and Other Stories also not in library here. Plus pricey at 25.99; even ebook is relatively pricey. Poor availability an issue with this nomination.
Still working on the other two....
Mod
I think I’ll go with House on Endless Waters.
Thank-you moderators,greatwork."
Don't jump the gun, Alan. Just trying to get nominations at this point. Poll coming soon! 😅
Mod
House on Endless Waters will set you back about $20, but it is in libraries, if you're lucky enough to have an open one!
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo -- plenty available used, plus in libraries. A lot of people may have already read it? But still, a viable nomination.
So: Burning Girls not a viable nomination right now because expensive, no used ones, novella not available, neither novella nor story collection in my library (assuming that's representative).
LET'S TRY TO HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS! 🙂 Sorry, didn't mean to shout.
Mod
Your adorable :) but its not time to vote.
We are waiting for ClaraBelle to give us a different nomination so that we have six!!
I loved our example list."
So now you got beat up by two female moderators. I think it shows your enthusiasm. Jan must have not seen the other response earlier.
Mod
Maybe Alan will make a nomination, either from the list or another one--even if he ends up voting for one of the other nominations!
Too late to nominate the Book of V by Anna Solomon?
I nominated Florence Adler Swims Forever with some trepidation because it is new and not inexpensive. So I’d like to withdraw that nomination and nominate Jacob Appel’s The Biology of Luck, which I’ve read at least twice and is not only hilariously funny in places, it’s also unusual and poignant.
Mod
Ok Melissa- done!
Unless I am in error and someone
Mod
I was saying.. unless someone emailed Jan directly with a nomination and I am not aware of it.
Mod
Anyone????
The only one on that (shorter) list that I've read is The Last Watchman of Old Cairo and I thought it was very good.From the longer list, I've heard great things about Have You Seen Luis Velez, but haven't read it myself.
Mod
Mod
I read it, thought it was good. I suggested it on our example list, but we took it off.
The concern was it may fall more into a female genre. We try to vet book nominations in more of a general regard to be enjoyed by all members.
Whatever you want to do is fine. :)
Stacey wrote: "Louise- read it anyway. It is terrific!!"Do you mean "Luis Velez"? If so, I intend to!
Mod
Oh, I'm sorry. Are you sure? There were copies on eBay for a good price, plus in libraries!
Mod
Do you mean "Luis Velez"? If so, I intend to!"
Yes- and then Gabriel Allon :)
Mod
I know that new books are the ones we hear about, and we often want to read them. Which is fine, as long as they're not too pricey & people can do it, and if they're in libraries, too.
Lost track of the nominations, there. Is Florence Adler out for real? I guess so!
The Biology of Luck instead? $16 new paperback from Amazon, some used copies available, but not in my library down here in the south. Still, let's go with that!
P.S. If somebody mistakenly makes their nomination by private message, I tell them to come over here & make it.
Mod
Will list them a little later. If correct, we still can use one more!
Mod
You then asked for two more, and Melissa then nominated The Book of V, which leaves us waiting for one more.
Jan, if Florence Adler is readily available for borrowing or buying inexpensively, then I would prefer to nominate Florence Adler because the subject matter is heavily but not entirely Jewish. The only thing Jewish about The Biology of Luck is the author and the narrator (apparently m because his name is Larry Bloom). But it’s not what I’d call a book with Jewish subject matter, which is one of the reasons I loved and nominated Florence Adler - it’s about a Jewish family but it’s not smack in your face “this is a Jewish book.” What happens in that family could happen in any family, but the observant nature of part of the family makes it far more “Jewish” than The Biology of Luck. So I’m going with Florence Adler. Final answer.
Stacey wrote: "Louise wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Louise- read it anyway. It is terrific!!"Do you mean "Luis Velez"? If so, I intend to!"
Yes- and then Gabriel Allon :)"
Ha! I'm a huge Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon fan. My next book of his will be House of Spies (#17).
Mod
Thanks, Susan. Interesting topic: what constitutes a Jewish book. I've tended to reason as you have, but Stacey has told me that the Jewish Book Council says it's a Jewish book if it has a Jewish author. If the author isn't Jewish, the book needs Jewish content to be considered Jewish. So I'm tending to lean that way.
Will add Florence Adler back in. Going to try to make the list now.
Mod
The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D.
Florence Adler Swims Forever
House on Endless Waters
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo
The Book of V.
Have You Seen Luis Velez?
I'll wait til tomorrow to double-check that none of these are on the bookshelf.
Nicholas Meyer's book did not get great reviews (I've read West End Horror and Seven Percent Solution).Read Last Watchman of Old Cairo (own it) and didn't think it was great.
Ronald Balson's The Girl from Berlin is good.
The Weight of Ink (don't know if you read it) is very good.
I thought The Last Kabbalist... was just okay.
My girlfriend just gave me a book and I'll check it out. A book coming out in paperback soon is The Ventriloquist.
I highly recomment The Last Watchman of Cairo; The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon and Cry of the Peacock.
Mod
Read Last Watchman of Old Cairo (own it) and didn't think it was great.
Ronald Balson's The G..."
Thanks Judith. Many readers, many different views. After the nominations comes the poll! 😊
Mod
Thank you, Hahtoolah. Glad to hear that feedback re Nahai!
Mod
Mod
Read Last Watchman of Old Cairo (own it) and didn't think it was great.
Ronald Balson's The G..."
Judith, it turns out I'm thinking of The Final Solution by Michael Chabon. Took me a while to trace it down -- the title, that is. Not sure I still have the book. The other day when working on all these suggestions I read somewhere that Chabon was inspired to begin writing by Meyer's work!
Jan wrote: "Judith wrote: "Nicholas Meyer's book did not get great reviews (I've read West End Horror and Seven Percent Solution).Read Last Watchman of Old Cairo (own it) and didn't think it was great.
Ronald..."
I also read Last Watchman - and thought it was good; not great. (very classic historical fiction) Luis Velez a bit more contemporary - liked the plot though read a tad like YA book but good! Does the Sherlock Holmes book have jewish content? So hard to tell with some of these books..... Seems like any of them are a reasonable choice :)
Mod
"
Thanks, Debra. I think Stacey checked that one out, Debra. It's all a blur--these nomination discussions can be intense! 😅
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Jewish Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon (other topics)Cry of the Peacock (other topics)
The Lion Seeker (other topics)
Burning Girls (other topics)
The Biology of Luck (other topics)
More...
Here is a list of samples, since the list experiment last month seemed to help stimulate good nominations. Okay to nominate from the list or beyond the list!
Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
The First Mrs. Rothschild by Sara Aharoni
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas
The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon or another book by Richard Zimler
The Lion Seeker or Kenneth Bonert's other book (not so recent but long on my to-read list); the author hails from South Africa
Cry of the Peacock or another of Gina B. Nahai's books (also not so recent); author immigrated to America from Iran
Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Catherine Ryan Hyde
On Division by Goldie Goldbloom
My Mother's Son by David Hirshberg
Not Our Kind by Kitty Zeldis
The Biology of Luck or other fiction by Jacob M. Appel
The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem (Found this on Oprah's 2018 list.)
Accessibility of books remains an issue.
To keep expenses down while many libraries are still closed, I avoided brand-new books.
We're hoping for six nominations by the end of the week.
One nomination per person, please.
Another list of suggestions does not constitute a nomination.
You can scroll through the years on the home page or through the group bookshelf to see if the group has already read a book.
Nominations by a book's author or other interested parties will be deleted. Please nominate the book in this category that you'd most like to read.
In the context of the ensuing discussion, we'll arrive at a consensus on the nominations, with your moderators helping to vet for availability etc., and then, next week, we'll have a poll!