The Best Place on Earth by Ayelet Tsabari - I loved this short story collection, all about mizrahi Jews, mostly Yemeni. It was beautifully written, and the stories were riveting. I keep saying I don't like short stories, but maybe I do. I liked this one!
Motherland by Vineeta Vijayaraghavan - I read this book because my daughter was reading it for English class, and it was really good. It felt "out of my box" but also very familiar - a story about an American young woman, born in India but raised in the US, who doesn't feel like she belongs in India when she's there and feels out of place in the US often too. I also kept looking up different food and clothing items, and so it was a fun learning process!
Beach Read by Emily Henry - I liked this predictable romantic comedy!
Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee - A book mostly about design and spaces, but helped me think about how we bring joy to lots of parts of our lives. My teachers always hear me talk about "joyful Judaism" and so I liked seeing this from another joyful angle too.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams - This is a wonderful novel about the power of books to bring people together. An unlikely friendship and a library. What more do you need?
People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn - wow. I appreciate so many of these chapters putting into words all of the frustration and anger that I often feel when reading the news or a Holocaust novel. I know I plan to re-read some of these chapters, and the world looks different now. Thank you, Dara Horn, for this gift of a book.
How to Find What You're Not Looking For by Veera Hiranandani - An interesting follow up to People Love Dead Jews, this book was one of my favorites of the year so far. Historical fiction set in the 1960s about a Jewish family. Add in an undiagnosed learning disability and a sister who runs off to marry a Hindu man, and it all really came together. The style was so interesting and I couldn't put it down.
I feel so accomplished when I see this list growing from month to month:
January Books
February Books
March Books
April Books
May Books
June Books
July Books
August Books
September Books
October Books
