Shading the Saplings.

Book Review for “More Than I Love My Life” by David Grossman (translated by Jessica Cohen). Summary: "[This novel] is the story of three strong women: Vera, age ninety; her daughter, Nina; and her granddaughter, Gili, who at thirty-nine is a filmmaker and a wary consumer of affection. A bitter secret divides each mother-and-daughter pair, … Continue reading Shading the Saplings. →

TCL’s #SixforSunday – March 7, 2021.

What is #SixforSunday? #SixforSunday was a little blog feature Steph @ A little but a lot started in June 2017 for herself. It’s a weekly blog post where you get to share 6 books which fill a certain prompt. Originally, #SixforSunday was a post Steph did that she never thought she would stick with! It … Continue reading TCL’s #SixforSunday – March 7, 2021. →

… Or a woman

Book Review for “To be a Man: Stories” by Nicole Krauss. Summary: “In one of her strongest works of fiction yet, Nicole Krauss plunges fearlessly into the struggle to understand what it is to be a man and what it is to be a woman, and the arising tensions that have existed from the very … Continue reading … Or a woman →

Photos of Female Fighters

Book Review for “Women on the Front Lines: Inside the Combat Units of the Israeli Army” by Debbie Zimelman. Yes, this is a photography book, and yes, I've never reviewed one of these before. But you see... Debbie is a personal friend of mine. We were work colleagues for a while many years ago, just … Continue reading Photos of Female Fighters →

The Difficulties of Devotions

Book Review of Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher. According to Goodreads, Jonathan (or Yonatan) is “preparing to serve in the Israeli army while also trying to reconcile his close relationship to two Palestinian siblings with his deeply ingrained loyalties to family and country.” This novel is told in the form of a … Continue reading The Difficulties of Devotions →

Border Life

Book review of All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan. Liat is spending time in the New York apartment of friends, while she studies for her translation degree. Hilmi is living in Brooklyn, trying to make it as an artist. Their whirlwind romance would be uneventful except for the fact that Liat is Jewish and comes … Continue reading Border Life →

Now You’re an Immigrant!

Book Review of "Chutzpah & High Heels: The Search for Love and Identity in the Holy Land" by Jessica Fishman. In this memoir, Jessica Fishman details the trials and tribulations of making what we call "Aliyah" - literally meaning to "go up" to Israel. This reminds me of an old, old joke, which goes something … Continue reading Now You’re an Immigrant! →

Two Paths that Never Converge

Book review of "Forest Dark" by Nicole Krauss In Nicole Krauss' newest novel, she presents us with two people in parallel stories, both of whom travel to Israel from York, but these two never meet. There is Jules Epstein, a wealthy man attempting to divest himself of his money before he dies, with the aim … Continue reading Two Paths that Never Converge →

Would you read more? A First Chapter/First Paragraph Tuesday Intro

My fellow book blogger at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts "First Chapter/First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" where she shares the first paragraph sometimes two from a book she is reading or thinking about reading soon. I've decided to join in with this opening excerpt from a book that the author sent me. Tell me what … Continue reading Would you read more? A First Chapter/First Paragraph Tuesday Intro →

Name, Rank and 8200

Book Review of "Spies, Inc.: Business Innovation from Israel's Masters of Espionage" by Stacy Perman. Whatever you may think about Israel, you have to admit that from its inception, the odds were against it. You also must give it credit for surviving while being outnumbered by over 100 to 1 from the onset. Under those … Continue reading Name, Rank and 8200 →