Welcome to Litsy!

Gross deals with old Jewish issues in an original way: assimilation vs. isolation,small-town community vs. opening up to modern big cities,the Shoah,survivor‘s guilt&intergenerational trauma.The tone is rarely sad,the story told with humour&love for its characters &the fictional village of Kreskol. The book can be summarized quickly. After a dramatic divorce, Pesha, the wife, disappears, followed shortly after by her ex-husband.

I finished THE LOST SHTETL last night! I agree with everyone who‘s said it‘s overlong, but I liked the characters and I enjoyed Max Gross‘s prose style so I‘m happy with it overall.

For years, I‘ve stacked things on Litsy so I could look for them at the library when I didn‘t have a TBR anymore. Now I‘ve been TBR-free for 5+ months, and I figure it‘s about time I actually explored some of those options. The tagged book and CREATURES OF PASSAGE are part of that plan; the rest of this week‘s library haul are longstanding holds and one random pick from their Pride display.

This was my IRL bookclub book. It was a tad too long but otherwise I thought it was absolutely delightful. Imagine a small Jewish Polish village that has been untouched in 100 years, completely unaware of any world events or technological innovations. That‘s the premise for this debut and Max Gross really captures the mood, people, culture and traditions of Eastern European Jewish life.

I‘m really enjoying my IRL bookclub book. A perfect blend of satire & absurdity with hilarity and heart. Deep in the Polish forest lies a small Jewish village that has remained untouched in the last 100 years. These villagers have yet to discover electricity, the automobile, the radio, photography, internet and the horrors of the Holocaust. This book is absolutely delightful ♥️

I'm in a reading slump again. One of these didn't work for me AT ALL while the other is OK but not drawing me in. Hoping to find something I love soon.

Another book not requiring its length. At 400+ pages this would have been much better and far more enjoyable at maybe 250 pages or less. Indeed first 100 pages were great and then it tanked for me.

Please, please, please be a really great book! 🤞🤞

Such a rich story about a small Jewish town in Poland during present time, that was somehow missed by the Germans in WWII. When this is discovered they will learn of the holocaust and many other changes that occurred in the world. I don‘t think I have ever read something like this, it was wonderful.