#blogExodus and #Exodusgram 5779

Rosh Chodesh Nisan is on April 6, 2019*

Which means that Passover is JUST around the corner. While most people are busy making brisket and matzo balls, I'm over here busily setting up #blogExodus and #exodusgram!

 So what is this really about? #BlogExodus is really what you want to make of it. I've provided topics for the first 14 days of the month of Nisan. What you do with it is up to you -- write a blog post, tweet, Facebook, tumblr, or something that I haven't even thought of yet! Use the hashtag to share your post (I put it into the title of each post). It's a great way to kickstart a blog or rejuvenate your languishing blog or just get yourself ready for the holiday of Passover! I will be posting my #blogExodus posts here on this blog and I will tweet them out at @imabima.

Maybe you don't have a blog? I'll post an "open thread #blogExodus" each day on my Facebook page as well, so you could just post your thoughts, photos, comments, or haikus there.

There aren't any rules, so maybe you don't like the order of the topics? Maybe you want to write on only a few of them? It doesn't matter. It is what you make of it.

 #Exodusgram is a even more interpretive. While I love Instagram (I'm imabima, of course), I know some people don't. So maybe you want to share Exodus-themed photos via Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, Pinterest or....whatever! My #Exodusgram posts will go up on Instagram and then be shared to my tumblr, imabima.tumblr.com. Whatever you do, don't forget to tag with #Exodusgram so we can all share. (Note for some of my colleagues: this might make a fun teen project, maybe not done over the two weeks but instead over one class period...who's up for #SnapTheExodus?)

The themes are really up for your own interpretation. I was thinking broadly and openly about what makes Passover special and interesting to me. I hope it will translate into creative and inspirational posts from all of us!

 Are you going to join in? Leave me a comment here or send me a tweet or just...jump in! I will try to retweet all the #BlogExodus and #Exodusgram posts through Twitter via @imabima. If I miss your posts, let me know so I can go back and be inspired by what YOU have to say!

 *Yes, I know that I put the Shabbat dates there. I don't blog/tweet/Facebook on Shabbat but I will post on Fridays before Shabbat and on Saturdays after Shabbat is over. You can, of course, do it any way you like!

#BlogExodus #Exodusgram topics for 5779
1 Nisan - Open
2 Nisan - Honor
3 Nisan - Restore
 4 Nisan - Rise
5 Nisan - Conceal
6 Nisan - Tell
7 Nisan - Examine
8 Nisan - Deepen
9 Nisan - Perplex
10 Nisan - Unite
11 Nisan - Rejoice
12 Nisan - Seek
13 Nisan - Accept
14 Nisan - Thank

Books Read in 2018 #MyYearInBooks #80in2018

Welcome to my 11th Annual Books-In-Review post!

This year was a lot of fun in reading - doesn't it feel like there are so many wonderful books out in the world right now? I will never ever ever "catch up" with all of the books that are on everyone's lists and that everyone suggests. It makes it all so much fun, though, to discuss with others who love books as much as I do. And at the end of the year, I adore reading all the "best of" lists and wishing I could read them all. 

This year, I read books 2 - 14 in the Maisie Dobbs series...so you can see 13 books by one author! I think that's a new record for me. Maisie Dobbs is a "girl detective" in the period between WW1 and WW2 in London. The books are a wonderful slice of historical fiction and just so much fun to read. Also, she drinks tea a LOT and I found myself always wishing for a biscuit and a cuppa.

So...here's this year's book list:

1. The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
2. The Leavers by Lisa Ko
3. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
4. Denton Little's Death Date by Lance Rubin
5. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
6. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
7. One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
8. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
9. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
10. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
11. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
12. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
13. Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
14. The Orchard by Yochi Brandes
15. An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
16. The Kremlin's Candidate by Jason Matthews
17. Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
18. The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
19. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
20. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
21. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
22. I Still See Her Haunting Eyes by Aaron Elster
23. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
24. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
25. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
26. To Die but Once by Jacqueline Winspear
27. Beartown by Fredrik Backman
28. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
29. Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer
30. The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner
31. The Cloister by James Carroll
32. The Power of Moments by Chip Heath
33. Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
34. Calypso by David Sedaris
35. Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris
36. Mrs. by Caitlin Macy
37. The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen
38. The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons
39. After Anatevka by Alexandra Silber
40. The Emperor of Shoes by Spencer Wise
41. The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas
42. We are Gathered by Jamie Weisman
43. The Other Woman by Daniel Silva
44. The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
45. The Trick by Emanuel Bergman
46. Eternal Life by Dara Horn
47. The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown
48. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
49. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
50. The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
51. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
52. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
53. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
54. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
55. Educated by Tara Westover
56. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson
57. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
58. The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
59. The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
60. Traitor by Jonathan de Shalit
61. The Moscow Sleepers by Stella Rimington
62. Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
63. Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo
64. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
65. Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
66. Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat
67. Witchmark by C.L. Polk
68. The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
69. Memento Park by Mark Sarvas
70. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
71. The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
72. Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen
73. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
74. Becoming by Michelle Obama
75. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
76. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
77. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
78. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
79. The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
80. Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

So what did I like? Wow, it was a good year. The Great Believers, The Weight of Ink, Pachinko, The Leavers, The Immoralists...all outstanding. Loved the pairing of Sisters of the Winter Wood and Spinning Silver, and I hadn't read the Crazy Rich Asians books but after seeing the movie...I decided it was time and I loved them! Gratitude to President Obama for recommending American Marriage and Educated, both really wonderful, and of course, he had to recommend Becoming, but that was well-deserved! Overall, it was a great year in reading and I can't even choose a favorite. 

I'm looking forward to starting new lists for 2019...I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there. What do you think I should read in 2019? What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2018?

Previous years' book lists are here:

Books Read in 2017
Books Read in 2016
Books Read in 2015
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010 (this year I read 100 -- a big highlight!)
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008

#blogElul #ElulGram - List for Elul2018

Maybe blogging has gotten a little "old"? I haven't written much on this blog in a while. But I am not ready to give up on the concept...and I'm not ready to give up on #BlogElul, either. #BlogElul is a project that I started in 2010, although it wasn't until 2012 that I created the list of topics. Since then, I haven't always completed the whole month of blogging, although I know that many of you have. I also know that the online world has changed so much since 2010, when blogging was one of the only ways to publish your online content easily.

Now we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, and other platforms...so many ways in which to express ourselves and dive deeply into the themes of the High Holy Days. And so here we are….I've added #ElulGram to the #BlogElul family and the borders of this project are so wide that they reallly don't exist at all. This project is really whatever YOU want - however YOU want to spend your time preparing yourself for the holiest season in the Jewish calendar.

Elul -- that wonderful and terrifying month that precedes the High Holy Days. A month of introspection and considering, a month of personal reflection and preparation.

Who can participate? ANYONE. It's yours. I gift it to you. Elul is for anyone and everyone.

How could I do it? I don't have a blog… No worries. Maybe you have Facebook or Twitter? Maybe you're a big fan of Instagram? Be creative and find your own path! Maybe you don't want to do it daily. Maybe you just want to dip your toe into the experience, or just read (and share?) what others write. It's totally up to you. I always love to see the creative things that the #BlogElul community comes up with.

There are no rules. I provide the topics (see graphic or below for text) for each of the days of the month. Use the hashtag to share your post (I like to put it in my titles) and share other people's posts as well. This could be a way to revitalize your blog, kickstart a new project, or even just get yourself ready for the holidays! I know that lots of people use #BlogElul as a spiritual exercise each year, and I'm so proud to be a part of their yearly journey through Elul.

And what about #ElulGram? This one is even more interpretive. Photos, art, illustrations, quotes -- what kinds of images can you put together to explore and interpret these High Holy Day themes? You don't have to limit your picture-sharing to Instagram (even though I totally appropriated the name), you can use any image-sharing site you'd like, such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. Whatever you do, tag it with #ElulGram so we can call share and follow.

These themes and ideas are broad and open, and again -- remember, there are NO RULES except the ones you make for yourself!

And yes, I know that the dates include Shabbat. I personally don't blog/tweet/Facebook on Shabbat, but I will post before and after Shabbat. You can do whatever you like!

Are you going to play along? Let me know! Leave me a comment here, send me a tweet, or send up a signal fire.... Feel free to grab my pretty badge to announce to the whole world that you're Blogging Elul. If you let me know that you're doing it, we can cross-post, or guest-post, or even just do some virtual hand-holding as the days grow closer to Tishrei. I'll try to link to as many posts and pics as I can - won't it be amazing to all share in the Elul journey together?

I'm looking forward to sharing this journey with you. Elul begins on Sunday, August 12 (it's always on time), so I wanted to give you a head start if you're going to pre-write some of your posts.

I hope that our shared preparation for 5779 brings meaning and hope, inspiration and enlightenment for all of us.

The list:
Elul 1: Decide
Elul 2: Seek
Elul 3: Prepare
Elul 4: Choose
Elul 5: Commit
Elul 6: Want
Elul 7: Understand
Elul 8: Hear
Elul 9: See
Elul 10: Forgive
Elul 11: Trust
Elul 12: Count
Elul 13: Remember
Elul 14: Learn
Elul 15: Plan
Elul 16: Pray
Elul 17: Awaken
Elul 18: Ask
Elul 19: Speak
Elul 20: Fill
Elul 21: Love
Elul 22: End
Elul 23: Begin
Elul 24: Hope
Elul 25: Change
Elul 26: Create
Elul 27: Bless
Elul 28: Give
Elul 29: Return

#blogExodus 5: Hide

We hide the afikoman.

They say it's to keep the kids occupied.
To keep them awake so they can hear the whole story.

And maybe it's not just for the kids.

Part of the story is always missing. Hidden from view, it's the part we don't see.

The afikoman reminds us to look deeper.
To seek the hidden inside each of us.

#blogExodus 4: Grow

I'm always looking for ways to "grow" my understanding of the Passover Seder and the holiday itself. So in honor of this "growth," I thought I would share some of my favorite resources....

How to get your kids to love Passover

My Seder Ideas Pinterest Board

My Passover Food Ideas Pinterest Board

The Kitchen Passover Card Game


Let My People Go - one of my favorite Passover books

A Really Nice Simple Haggadah

A little less simple but very cool color-in Haggadah *also available in Digital Download

My favorite Etsy t-shirt shop (and these leggings are pretty awesome too)

What's your favorite Passover stuff??

#blogExodus 1: begin

Chodesh tov!
Thus begins another season of renewal and redemption.
A season of clearing out, cleaning up, and readying ourselves for the Pesach holiday.
Beginnings hold that excitement, that anticipation, that wondering...what will this holiday season bring?
And so begins BlogExodus....join the party :)

#blogExodus and #Exodusgram 5778

Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the first of the month of Nisan, is March 17, 2018.*

Which means that Passover is JUST around the corner. While most people are busy making brisket and matzo balls, I'm over here busily setting up #blogExodus and #exodusgram!

So what is this really about? #BlogExodus is really what you want to make of it. I've provided topics for the first 14 days of the month of Nisan. What you do with it is up to you -- write a blog post, tweet, Facebook, tumblr, or something that I haven't even thought of yet! Use the hashtag to share your post (I put it into the title of each post). It's a great way to kickstart a blog or rejuvenate your languishing blog or just get yourself ready for the holiday of Passover! I will be posting my #blogExodus posts here on this blog and I will tweet them out at @imabima. There aren't any rules, so maybe you don't like the order of the topics? Maybe you want to write on only a few of them? It doesn't matter. It is what you make of it.

#Exodusgram is a little more interpretive. While I love Instagram (I'm imabima, of course), I know some people don't. So maybe you want to share Exodus-themed photos via Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, Pinterest or....whatever! My #Exodusgram posts will go up on Instagram and then be shared to my tumblr, imabima.tumblr.com. Whatever you do, don't forget to tag with #Exodusgram so we can all share. (Note for some of my colleagues: this might make a fun teen project, maybe not done over the two weeks but instead over one class period...who's up for #SnapTheExodus?)

The themes are really up for your own interpretation. I was thinking broadly and openly about what makes Passover special and interesting to me. I hope it will translate into creative and inspirational posts from all of us!

Are you going to join in? Leave me a comment here or send me a tweet or just...jump in! I will try to retweet all the #BlogExodus and #Exodusgram posts through Twitter via @imabima. If I miss your posts, let me know so I can go back and be inspired by what YOU have to say!

*Yes, I know that I put the Shabbat dates there. I don't blog/tweet/Facebook on Shabbat but I will post on Fridays before Shabbat and on Saturdays after Shabbat is over. You can, of course, do it any way you like!

BlogExodus Topics 2018/5778
1 Nisan - Begin
2 Nisan - Bless
3 Nisan - Cleanse
4 Nisan - Grow
5 Nisan - Hide
6 Nisan - Tell
7 Nisan - Ask
8 Nisan - Rise
9 Nisan - Thank
10 Nisan - Join
11 Nisan - Celebrate
12 Nisan - Find
13 Nisan - Welcome
14 Nisan - Praise