I've seen a lot about this book in some of my fb book groups 👀
I've seen a lot about this book in some of my fb book groups 👀
Two timelines:London at the beginning of the 21st & London in the 17th century. Characters and story are imagined but historical events (Sabbatean movement, the pest) & philosophers are real and very well researched.I went back&forth btw loved,liked &disliked the book.But overall, I think combining history, Jewish thought&philosophy with an entertaining plot is an amazing achievement and the author rightly received the National Jewish Book Award.
#auldlangspine @TheBookHippie @monalyisha
Late as always with finishing this challenge, but I thought this was a very good essay collection. Each confronts aspects of antisemitism in a variety of contexts. My two favorites were on bits of history that aren't that widely known (an early 20th century Russian Jewish community in freezing Harbin, China, and Varian Fry, a journalist who rescued famous artists being persecuted by the Nazis) 👇
Eingeshparht (AYN-geh-shpart) adj. stubborn; obstinate; mule-like. 👀
#WEIRDWORDWEDNESDAY
I *may* have been called this … on occasion …. *may have. 👀😅
2.5/5⭐ This anthology of Yiddish stories translated into English is important from a cultural/religious standpoint. I can see it being used with great effect in a Jewish studies course. The editor did an excellent job organizing the stories and introducing each section with contextual information. However, the storytelling styles are very different from what I'm used to, often going on tangents and tedious to get through. #roll100
3⭐️ The selection was for a library #bookclub and thought that while I liked the dual timeline format, I had questions that went unanswered and made me feel meh about it. #2023 #fiction #historicalfiction #canadian #bookstagram #bookreview #wintergames #teamwreathitandweep
Necessary read.
I recently posted my thoughts on a terrifying horror novel. I‘ve just finished reading a non-fiction book named “People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present” in an attempt to try and understand modern day antisemitism. Were my eyes opened. Both books got 5-Star ratings from me as they were equally intriguing and quite frightening. But in my heart, I know the great distinction between pretend scary and real-life scary. My soul aches.
I‘m very late cross posting this. https://youtu.be/N3p8BPFHryI?si=ehKO3SMzl4Mmwldc
Health update
A couple biblio-adventures
Hopefully temporary changes to my reading life
Welcome to two new patrons
Weekly Highlights
The President and the Frog by Carolina De Robertis
Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, Boris Dralyuk (Translator)
The Tattooed Woman by Marian Engel
Reminder of the James Morrison book launch