So you’re home for the Hanukkah-days (see also: holidays), and you’re putting together a few last minute gift packages from your favorite local bookstore (virtually, of course), but you can’t quite find the Jewish angle. Here are a few books you can send to friends and family — or to yourself — for that cozy, miracle-of-reading feeling!
To Be a Man Join us for a conversation with Nicole Krauss on December 17th! “As anyone who has been entranced by her acclaimed novels knows, Nicole Krauss has an uncanny ability to illuminate the power of history and memory, especially as it shapes the fateful choices people make in their most vulnerable moments.” ‑Ranen Omer-Sherman
The Lost Shtetl “Kreskol, the shtetl at this novel’s core, is nestled… in a dense Eastern European forest. Through a series of bureaucratic missteps and petty grudges, Kreskol was “lost” to the rest of Poland and, eventually, to the rest of the world — the Nazis did not find it, nor did the Soviets after them.” ‑Moriel Rothman-Zecher
All My Mother’s Lovers “Ilana Masad’s debut novel begins with a phone call: Maggie Krause’s brother calling to tell her that their mother, Iris, has died unexpectedly at the age of sixty-two.” ‑Sacha Lamb
The Tunnel “A. B. Yehoshua surprises and delights once again with a story about aging and acceptance. The now eighty-three-year-old acclaimed author has crafted a tale which is both uniquely Israeli and yet universal in theme; everyone ages and weakens, but dignity and integrity need not fade.” ‑Michal Hoschander Malen
Hannah’s War “Hannah’s War explores the wartime life of a brilliant Jewish female physicist, Dr. Hannah Weiss, but based on a real (and largely unsung) genius named Lise Meitner.” ‑Sonia Taitz
Lot Six “David Adjmi grew up in Brooklyn’s tight-knit Jewish Syrian community, where his behavior was constantly monitored, lest he (inevitably) fail to live up to communal expectations.” ‑Wayne Hoffman
I Want You to Know We’re Still Here “I Want You to Know We’re Still Here is a beautifully written account of a relentless journey to the genealogical — indeed geographic — core of family trauma to uncover mysteries buried in the mass graves of an old-world shtetl.” ‑Donald Weber
The Color of Love “The memoir is peppered with poignant moments from the author’s childhood — ones that leave her teetering between unconditional love and unambiguous ‘othering.’ ”-Ada Brunstein
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me “Bess narrates an emotional and deeply affectionate story of love and family, that is engaging and filled with hope. Her story is unique, and yet there are universal threads that remind the reader that, ultimately, relationships with family can be incredibly influential and endure for a lifetime.” ‑Reba Carmel
Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children’s Literature “Honey on the Page lays out a feast of nearly fifty stories and poems for children, translated from the original Yiddish. Arranged by theme, the book takes readers from Jewish holidays and history; to folktales and fairy tales; to stories of humanistic ethics, wisdom and foolishness, class consciousness, and family.” ‑From the publisher
Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World “Roberta Rosenthal Kwall could not have imagined how “DIY” would become such a central part of all of our lives in 2020; her book Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World fits remarkably well into conversations about what it means to be Jewish and practice Judaism in the current moment.” ‑Deborah Miller
The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China “If a Jewish historian were to advance a claim for the diversity of the experience of the diaspora, the case would rest with the saga of the Sassoons and the Kadoories. Once based in Baghdad, these two clans (and, yes, they were distantly related) relocated to China in the mid-nineteenth century.” ‑Stephen Whitfield
Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy “Culture Warlords is the story of how Lavin, a frequent target of extremist trolls (including those at Fox News), dove into a byzantine online culture of hate and learned the intricacies of how white supremacy proliferates online.” ‑From the publisher
The Gift: 12 Lessons to Save Your Life “In The Gift, Eger expands on her message of healing and provides a hands-on guide that gently encourages us to change the thoughts and behaviors that may be keeping us imprisoned in the past.” ‑From the publisher
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas “As the title suggests, the text is presented as an autobiographical work of Alice B. Toklas, Stein’s life companion. However, one does not have to delve deep into this book before it becomes apparent that it is actually Stein’s own work. ‑Lena Saltos
Edith Halpert, The Downtown Gallery, and the Rise of American Art “The founder of the Downtown Gallery in New York, Halpert shaped an identity for American art, declaring that its thrilling heterogeneity and democratic values were what most distinguished it from the European avant-garde.” ‑From the publisher
Now for Something Sweet “Now for Something Sweet is the result of an intensive search to uncover, curate and celebrate the very best, most cherished sweet recipes from the Jewish community in Australia and around the world.” ‑From the publisher
Jewish Cuisine in Hungary: A Cultural History with 83 Authentic Recipes “Beyond the honesty and charm, it’s Koerner’s commitment to defying Nazi destruction, to saving Hungarian Jewish culture, that makes this book so compelling. Jewish Cuisine in Hungary is righteous scholarship.” ‑Bettina Berch
Simona is the Jewish Book Council’s managing editor of digital content and marketing. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in English and History and studied abroad in India and England. Prior to the JBC she worked at Oxford University Press. Her writing has been featured in Lilith, The Normal School, Digging through the Fat, and other publications. She holds an MFA in fiction from The New School.
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