Litsy

rachelsbrittain

Wandering Stars | Sholem Aleichem

My audiobooks for the weekend #WeekendReads

Kristy_K This one looks interesting!

The Woman with No Name: A Novel

1mo

34 likes1 stack add1 comment

hissingpotatoes

The Shtetl | Joachim Neugroschel

so-so

2.5/5⭐ This anthology of Yiddish stories translated into English is important from a cultural/religious standpoint. I can see it being used with great effect in a Jewish studies course. The editor did an excellent job organizing the stories and introducing each section with contextual information. However, the storytelling styles are very different from what I'm used to, often going on tangents and tedious to get through. #roll100

hissingpotatoes #52BookClub24 includes wedding @Kristy_K, @LaraReads, @KarenUK, @Hooked_on_books, @BarkingMadRead, @brittanyreads, @Graciouswarriorprincess, @Magpiegem, @BookBelle84, @Larkken, @jenniferw88, @julesG, @Deblovestoread, @MidnightBookGirl, @Librarybelle, @triplem80, @Tove_Reads, @Read4life, @Bluebird, @eeclayton, @BarbaraBB, @Book_Lover95, @TheAromaofBooks, @kwmg40, @Crazeedi 3mo

Librarybelle Pretty cover! 3mo

TheAromaofBooks Great review!! 3mo

BarbaraBB Interesting! 3mo

27 likes4 comments

monalyisha

The Promise | Chaim Potok

@BarbaraJean I want to read The Promise from your list (and The Chosen, the book that precedes it)…but I‘m also hyper-conscious of the fact that I need to increase my awareness about our current political reality & the history that‘s gotten us here. It feels daunting…and it feels important.

A friend recommended some resources (which I‘ll link to in the comments). If anyone has additional (or contrary) suggestions or advice, please let me know.💞

monalyisha Overview: https://youtu.be/kI_spMxp6t8?si=eh_VjTndfIfxtwJ_ 4mo

monalyisha Documentary: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt16378034/ 4mo

monalyisha Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77920745-a-day-in-the-life-of-abed-salama 4mo

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monalyisha Interview (with the author): https://open.spotify.com/episode/7fX4pPcSOHBG6eruqT0wJG?si=SP3a2cnlSiWQNsB8whLD-... 4mo

monalyisha #AuldLangSpine 4mo

Sapphire I love Chaim Potok. He is one of my all time favorite authors and I have read everything he wrote. He gives a portrayal of observant Judaism of his time (and issues of identity converging with modernity). I am not sure how much it is a history of the nation-state of Israel. 4mo

monalyisha @Sapphire I don‘t know that I expect(ed) it to be. It just kind of feels wrong for me to pay attention to the fiction and not to the world, you know? I‘m probably overthinking it. I tend to do that. 😉 But whatever leads me into pursuing more knowledge and awareness can‘t be bad, right? Maybe I‘ll just make these twin commitments adjacent to one another but not consider them inextricably linked, or make one a prerequisite of the other. 4mo

Sapphire @monalyisha I totally get that. Not unbiased, but check out Bill Maher on YouTube for his recent statement about the current war. While it‘s not about Israel per se, Mary Doris Russell‘s “Dreamers of the Day” is an amazing tale of how the modern Middle East was drawn by people who had little to no knowledge of the region and its people. The author was an anthropologist before becoming a writer and commits to research I highly recommend it. 4mo

monalyisha The book sounds great! Adding it now. 💓 (Will look into the statement, too.) 4mo

BarbaraJean I hear you on this. This topic is so charged and so complicated. I‘m going to check out the resources you posted—I haven‘t had the emotional bandwidth to engage with this more deeply, but I know I need to. Also, I echo @Sapphire re: Potok in general, and this book particularly—it examines Judaism much more closely, in a specific place and time (New York City post-WWII), rather than looking at broader historical context. But I very much ⤵️ (edited) 4mo

BarbaraJean Cont‘d) …understand the desire to broaden the focus (and the tendency to overthink!). I‘m definitely interested in your adjacent project. For what it‘s worth, I read the tagged book YEARS ago, but it gave me a much more complex perspective on modern Palestine/Israel than I had previously considered. Other recs: I recently added Yehuda Amichai‘s poetry to my TBR, and would also recommend Naomi Shihab Nye, a contemporary Palestinian American poet.

I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity

4mo

monalyisha @BarbaraJean OoOo. I may consider the Naomi Shihab Nye an official #AuldLangSpine recommendation. I‘ve loved every poem of hers I‘ve ever stumbled across (especially Valentine for Ernest Mann). 🖤🤍 4mo

monalyisha @BarbaraJean Also, should I read The Chosen first, do you think? Would my reading experience be enriched? Or should I just head right into The Promise? 4mo

BarbaraJean Oh, definitely put Naomi Shihab Nye in the mix! I love her so much. My favorite is Red Suitcase (which has Valentine for Ernest Mann as well as another favorite, Shoulders). More recent/related to current events is the tagged, which I'd also highly recommend! With The Chosen/The Promise, they both work well as standalones. The Chosen gives you the main characters' growing-up years, but I don't think The Promise suffers without that context.

The Tiny Journalist: Poems

4mo

BarbaraJean My caveat is that it's been over 10 years since I read The Chosen, so my own memory of it is a bit... faded. The ideas in The Promise were SO fascinating, though, that I wanted to go back and re-read them both--so take that for what it's worth! 4mo

47 likes15 comments

TheBookgeekFrau

Bread Givers | Anzia Yezierska

#HumbleHarvest #Bread

An oldie from my college days. I think it was a good read 🤷🏻‍♀️

Eggs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🥖📚🍞 5mo

Eggs Love B&W pic! 🖤🥖🤍 5mo

33 likes1 stack add2 comments

Eggs

Day: A Novel | Elie Wiesel, Anne Borchardt

pick

“Man carries his fiercest enemy within himself. Hell isn‘t others. It‘s ourselves. Hell is the burning fever that makes you feel cold.”

The author once again grapples with life and love and death, just as he did in the first of his series: Night. This time he is flat in bed, after an accident in which he was run over by a NYC cab…

#SeriesLove2023
#RushAThon Day 8
#Bookspinbingo

― Elie Wiesel, quote from Day

DieAReader, Andrew65, TheSpineView, TheAromaofBooks, GHABI4ROSES

DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 5mo

TheSpineView Fantastic! 5mo

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 5mo

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Eggs @TheSpineView 🤗🤗 5mo

Eggs @TheAromaofBooks 🥰🥰 5mo

Andrew65 Looks an excellent read. Well done 👏👏👏 5mo

Eggs @Andrew65 Thanks, it was awesome 👏🏻 5mo

68 likes7 comments

Cinfhen

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store | James McBride

pick

Third times a charm 🥰 I will admit the old time Philadelphia Jewish angle REALLY kept me hooked. McBride humorously and heartily writes about a Jewish owned grocery store that caters to the black community in Pottstown, Pa. Definitely had Deacon King Kong vibes, with a cast of quirky and zany characters full of wisdom & mirth. The plot is pretty convoluted and McBride tends to overwrite but there‘s a satisfying story if you stick with it.

Megabooks

Cinfhen #BorrowNotBuy 7mo

Cinfhen #PhillyLit #JewishLit 7mo

Bluebird Lol! Took two times for me! Didn‘t get far in my first attempt—I thought it was a mystery and got bored. 2nd try was much better with a different expectation. Also a ‘pick‘ for me, but agree with #borrownotbuy. 7mo

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Cinfhen I wavered between a pick and so-so @Bluebird because even though I love McBride he really tends to overplay his plot - know what I mean??? 7mo

Bluebird @Cinfhen I sure do! This is my first book by McBride. I recently picked up Deacon King Kong, but I‘m kinda afraid to start it. 😂 7mo

Cinfhen DKK is VERY SIMILAR @Bluebird so if you are in the mood for MORE of the SAME go for it otherwise I‘d wait a bit 😎 7mo

Bluebird @Cinfhen thanks! I just shoved DKK down the stack. Maybe I‘ll tackle it in 2024. 7mo

Cinfhen @Bluebird 👍🏽 7mo

78 likes8 comments

Cinfhen

Don't Forget to Write | Sara Goodman Confino

pick

This falls under the category of wholesome content. It was a pleasant listen /distraction but it isn‘t going to leave long lasting impressions. When Marilyn Kleinman, age 19 is caught kissing the Rabbi‘s son during Saturday‘s prayer services, she‘s sent to spend the summer with her great aunt, a Jewish matchmaker. The setting was so in my wheelhouse…I adored both the Philly & NJ Shore scenes♥️ #JewishLit #DoubleSpin #BorrowNotBuy

Cinfhen #ISpyBingo #SomethingOrange #Railing @Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks 8mo

DivineDiana Sounds like a fun read! Love the local settings. ❤️ 8mo

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 8mo

Cinfhen It‘s a #BorrowNotBuy but I think you‘d like it @DivineDiana 8mo

DivineDiana Thank you! 💖 8mo

71 likes4 stack adds5 comments

shawnmooney

Mendelssohn is on the Roof | Ji?� Weil, Marie Winn

https://youtu.be/BhiPsquNRXc

Intro

Weekly Highlights

The Imaginary Lives Of James Pōneke by Tina Makereti

Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry by B.S. Johnson

And Then He Sang a Lullaby by Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

Mendelssohn is on the Roof by Jiří Weil, Marie Winn (Translator)

No Bones by Anna Burns

shawnmooney Leave My Bones In Saskatoon by Michael Afenfia

The Sex Life of My Aunt by Mavis Cheek

Breast Stories by Mahasweta Devi, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (Translator)

Selected Short Stories of Liam O'Flaherty

The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg, Frances Frenaye (Translator)

The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy, Alan Brown (Translator)

A Decent World by Ellen Hawley

Loop Tracks by Sue Orr

9mo

25 likes1 comment

BarbaraJean

The Promise | Chaim Potok

pick

The Promise is a sequel to Potok‘s The Chosen, and it‘s just as thought-provoking & reflective. It follows Reuven Malter, a young Orthodox Jew in post-WWII NYC, during his time in seminary, as he struggles to define his faith in contrast to more conservative and more liberal sects within his community. I was fascinated by parallels to contemporary debates between fundamentalist/evangelical Christians & more progressive versions of Christianity.⤵️

BarbaraJean There‘s another thread to the plot that I was conflicted about—Reuven is caught up in helping a troubled boy, the son of a progressive Jewish scholar. The descriptions of and theory behind the treatment this boy receives feels very dated (granted, this was written in the 60s), and that whole thread felt a bit overwrought. But that aside, the ideas this explores are fascinating. I‘m wanting to go back and re-read The Chosen & then read this again! 9mo

BarbaraJean #SeriesLove2023 prompted me to finally read this sequel, and I‘m using it for #1969 in the #192025 challenge. @TheSpineView @Andrew65 @Librarybelle (edited) 9mo

MommyWantsToReadHerBook It makes me happy that my good friend is reading these books that I love so much and have read so many times! I always find the parallels with conservative Christians fascinating. 9mo

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TheSpineView Great job!😊🌞📖 9mo

TheLudicReader I remember reading The Chosen as a kid…and seeing the movie with Robby Benson, with whom I was madly in love for most of my teenage years. (edited) 9mo

BarbaraJean @MommyWantsToReadHerBook 💜 💜 I think Art of Soul read The Chosen right after I left; I remember reading it on my own and wishing I could join you all to discuss it!! @TheLudicReader I didn't know there was a movie! I will have to track that down! 9mo

43 likes6 comments

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