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-> Hobbies, Crafts, and Collections
-> Reading Room
gingertop
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 Sun, Dec 29 2019, 2:36 pm
I'm not good at listing favorites but what books did you enjoy this year?
Any genre.
I'll start with some memorable Jewish (loosely) nonfiction which gave me more insight into Jewish life in different places. Many are not 100% clean so I'm not recommending necessarily, just noting the memorable ones.
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lagnado. Got the recommendation here on imamother and I bought it. Beautifully written narrative of a modern exile *from* Egypt.
The Great Fair by Sholom Aleichem. A first hand account of growing up in a shtetl in a chassidish home at the end of the 19th century. Also enjoyed reading the original stories of Tevye the Milkman in A Treasury of Yiddish Stories.
In My Father's Court by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Growing up in Warsaw in early 20th century including WWI. Incredibly good writing of a child growing up in a home split between and emotional and deeply religious father and a more skeptical but deeply religious mother and maskilim older brothers who he eventually joins. (I really hate Bashevis Singer's stories so I found it surprising that I enjoyed his autobiography so much)
A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz. Just beautiful writing and extremely profound insight into the people of the early State of Israel.
My Father, His Daughter and June 1967 by Yael Dayan
Rise and Kill First by Bergman which is about the Mossad's targeted assassinations.
Also thanks to this site, I reread Gluckel of Hameln. I'm quite proud that I read many pages in the original old Yiddish but I eventually gave up and read the rest in Hebrew.
Not Jewish but I've been reading a lot of WWII history aside from Holocaust history. The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan and Fateful Choices by Ian Kershaw were 2 that stood out for me as interesting
I found, oddly enough, that All Quiet on the Western Front explained Germany during WWII better than the dozens of books I read about WWII itself. Reading it I had so many aha moments into the German military's self-delusion.
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amother
Khaki
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 4:11 pm
I read Son of Hamas, which was recommended on Imamother. Very enlightening.
I liked Permission to Believe by Lawrence Kelemen. Someone here said it's not the best, but I found it interesting.
I still have Moneyball sitting on my shelf, waiting to read. I borrowed it from someone. (Any baseball fans here who read it? Or just statistics junkies?)
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Dina2018
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 4:45 pm
| gingertop wrote: | I'm not good at listing favorites but what books did you enjoy this year?
Any genre.
I'll start with some memorable Jewish (loosely) nonfiction which gave me more insight into Jewish life in different places. Many are not 100% clean so I'm not recommending necessarily, just noting the memorable ones.
The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lagnado. Got the recommendation here on imamother and I bought it. Beautifully written narrative of a modern exile *from* Egypt.
The Great Fair by Sholom Aleichem. A first hand account of growing up in a shtetl in a chassidish home at the end of the 19th century. Also enjoyed reading the original stories of Tevye the Milkman in A Treasury of Yiddish Stories.
In My Father's Court by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Growing up in Warsaw in early 20th century including WWI. Incredibly good writing of a child growing up in a home split between and emotional and deeply religious father and a more skeptical but deeply religious mother and maskilim older brothers who he eventually joins. (I really hate Bashevis Singer's stories so I found it surprising that I enjoyed his autobiography so much)
A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz. Just beautiful writing and extremely profound insight into the people of the early State of Israel.
My Father, His Daughter and June 1967 by Yael Dayan
Rise and Kill First by Bergman which is about the Mossad's targeted assassinations.
Also thanks to this site, I reread Gluckel of Hameln. I'm quite proud that I read many pages in the original old Yiddish but I eventually gave up and read the rest in Hebrew.
Not Jewish but I've been reading a lot of WWII history aside from Holocaust history. The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan and Fateful Choices by Ian Kershaw were 2 that stood out for me as interesting
I found, oddly enough, that All Quiet on the Western Front explained Germany during WWII better than the dozens of books I read about WWII itself. Reading it I had so many aha moments into the German military's self-delusion. |
If you liked „ My Father‘s Court“ then I highly recommend „Of A world that is no more“ by Israel Singer, brother of Isaac Singer (same setting, different point of view, much much much nicer)
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Dina2018
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 4:47 pm
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P. S. I also hate stories by Bashevis Singer, never ever met somebody who could relate :-)
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gingertop
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 4:51 pm
| Dina2018 wrote: | | If you liked „ My Father‘s Court“ then I highly recommend „Of A world that is no more“ by Israel Singer, brother of Isaac Singer (same setting, different point of view, much much much nicer) |
Thanks! I'll see if my library has it. Put a used copy into my amazon cart in the meantime.
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gingertop
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 4:53 pm
| Dina2018 wrote: | | P. S. I also hate stories by Bashevis Singer, never ever met somebody who could relate :-) |
Gimple the Fool is just so terrible and irredeemable and unfunny and also takes place in a real shtetl where some of my family is from so I'm extra annoyed about that.
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Dina2018
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 4:59 pm
| gingertop wrote: | | Gimple the Fool is just so terrible and irredeemable and unfunny and also takes place in a real shtetl where some of my family is from so I'm extra annoyed about that. | o wow I am super annoyed eventhough I don‘t remember where it takes place
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Rubber Ducky
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 5:00 pm
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I loved the medieval fantasy Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — thank you to Ravenclaw for suggesting it. It was amazing to see a Shomer Shabbos heroine in this genre. Spinning Silver is extremely well-written and has become my new favorite book — I've read it 5 times!
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lilies
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 5:05 pm
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
A Man called Ove - written in unique writing style.
Don't remember if both are necessarily 100% clean.
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oneofakind
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 5:49 pm
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A Man Called Ove was an amazing book.
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lilies
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Sun, Dec 29 2019, 8:59 pm
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This one for fun - The Art of Clean Up: Life Made Neat and Tidy
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seeker
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Mon, Dec 30 2019, 1:38 am
| Rubber Ducky wrote: | | I loved the medieval fantasy Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik — thank you to Ravenclaw for suggesting it. It was amazing to see a Shomer Shabbos heroine in this genre. Spinning Silver is extremely well-written and has become my new favorite book — I've read it 5 times! |
Putting it on my reading list!
It's been a long year, I can't even remember what I read.
One standout is The Choice, by Edith Eva Eger. Holocaust memoir but very different, and with powerful psychological takeaways.
Seems slightly depressing that I can't remember what else I read.
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seeker
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Mon, Dec 30 2019, 1:39 am
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OH I got one more - I don't remember the exact title and definitely not author because I read it at a friend's house. I think Dancing in the Darkness? Frum novel about a girl whose mother (I think?) had severe depression. I felt that it was a very sensitive and nuanced portrayal of a difficult and under-represented subject.
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saw50st8
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Mon, Dec 30 2019, 7:43 am
The best books I read this year (in no particular order):
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Let There Be Water by Seth Siegel
American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald Balson (all his books are incredible, this is the first)
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts
1421 by Gavin Menzies
I rated all the books I read this year here: https://www.goodreads.com/user.....99642
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Ruchel
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Mon, Dec 30 2019, 3:57 pm
Lucette Laniado zal was great
I couldn't get into Amos Oz, my mom tried lol
Gluckel  I literally did a research on it. My grandfather reads it in the original
Son of hamas was underwhelming
I read a lot, really.
I recently loved Death of an ancient king.
In the heart of seas -Agnon
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amother
Khaki
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Mon, Dec 30 2019, 4:46 pm
| seeker wrote: | Putting it on my reading list!
It's been a long year, I can't even remember what I read.
One standout is The Choice, by Edith Eva Eger. Holocaust memoir but very different, and with powerful psychological takeaways.
Seems slightly depressing that I can't remember what else I read. |
Oh, that is an amazing book. The Choice. I'd recommend that EVERYONE read it.
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gingertop
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Tue, Dec 31 2019, 7:01 am
| Ruchel wrote: |
In the heart of seas -Agnon |
This! One of my favorites but not from this year. Just a gorgeous book.
I liked Haim Sabato's The Dawning of the Day very much as well.
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Flip Flops
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Tue, Dec 31 2019, 2:51 pm
| seeker wrote: | | OH I got one more - I don't remember the exact title and definitely not author because I read it at a friend's house. I think Dancing in the Darkness? Frum novel about a girl whose mother (I think?) had severe depression. I felt that it was a very sensitive and nuanced portrayal of a difficult and under-represented subject. |
Awesome book tho I don't either remember the exact info.
Abt 2 sisters who's mother was bipolar. I cried straight through it.
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gingertop
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Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:13 pm
| saw50st8 wrote: | The best books I read this year (in no particular order):
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Let There Be Water by Seth Siegel
American Kingpin by Nick Bilton
Once We Were Brothers by Ronald Balson (all his books are incredible, this is the first)
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts
1421 by Gavin Menzies
I rated all the books I read this year here: https://www.goodreads.com/user.....99642 |
Some of these look fascinating. Thanks!
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rockstar
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Tue, Dec 31 2019, 3:23 pm
| seeker wrote: | | OH I got one more - I don't remember the exact title and definitely not author because I read it at a friend's house. I think Dancing in the Darkness? Frum novel about a girl whose mother (I think?) had severe depression. I felt that it was a very sensitive and nuanced portrayal of a difficult and under-represented subject. |
Dancing in the dark. Read that book abt 10 times and every time I read it I cry all over again. It’s the best Jewish book out there. It’s abt real life issues and not abt the same stupid things again and again. Abt a mother’s who’s bipolar but no one knows. Daughters try to keep it a secret from everyone... if you didn’t read it yet then you must
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