Wednesday, April 23, 2008

 

Thursday Thirteen -- The Jewish Literature Challenge


Thirteen things about the Jewish Literature Challenge

With Passover ending on Saturday, it's time for the Jewish Literature Challenge to end. That means I need to bring you guys up to date on what I've read and all that.

1. I read a ton, but the Jewish Lit began with Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum's A Day of Small Beginnings.

2. It was a beautiful book. I can't recommend it enough.

3. Then it was on to one of my favorites: Linda Fairstein and Bad Blood.

4. She'd seen me mention how much I like her, and had sent me the book to say thanks. It did NOT disappoint. In fact, it might be one of my favorites in the series.

5. I loved learning about New York City. That's one of the trademarks of her books, in fact.

6. After many years of sitting on my night table, I read On Her Way Home, by Harriet Rochlin. This was the last in a trilogy about a woman who moves to the desert Southwest and helps found a town.

7. I still think my favorite was the middle book, The First Lady of Dos Cacahuates.

8. The problem with picking up a series midway through is that often, the author has improved with age. Such was the case with Daniel Silva and his The Mark of the Assassin.

9. On to the next, which was another book club choice: Getting Old is Murder, by Rita Lakin. What a fun read! I don't know if the series will grow long in the tooth for me before it does for Lakin or her core readership, but I'll definitely be finding out.

10. What Jewish Lit list would be complete without my hero, Joann Sfar? I finally finally got my mitts on a copy of The Professor's Daughter. I adore Sfar, and this collaboration with Emmanuel Gilbert didn't disappoint.

11. Another book that had been here forever (I hate to say it, but five years! In a book's life, that's an eternity) was Frances Sherwood's The Book of Splendor.

12. I liked her earlier book, Green, so much that it's still on my shelves. Sadly, I couldn't say the same for this one.

13. And to wrap up, I'm currently reading Naomi Alderman's Disobedience. Yet another book club pick, I'm really into it and can't wait to see what happens next.

That's a total of eight books read for the challenge. If you've got any good suggestions for more books by Jews or featuring Jewish characters, leave 'em in the comments. I'm up to something (for a change)...

Do you miss Trevor? He and the guys will be back for next week. Or go visit the link that's his name and read some of the fiction I've written featuring him. I miss him, too.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will try to link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



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# posted by Susan Helene Gottfried @ 8:17 PM 36 comments

Saturday, December 15, 2007

 

Susan's Book Talk: Reading Challenge Update

I figured I'd take a few minutes and update my From the Stacks challenge. I'm doing quite well. Sort of.

Here's my original post.

As of Thanksgiving, I've read:
Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet
The Hook, by Donald E. Westlake
Death of a Saint Maker, by Allana Martin
The Heroin Diaries, by Nikki Sixx
Something else that was really badly written that I didn't finish
Stolen, by Kelly Armstrong
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (I must be missing something; I don't get it)
My New-Found Land by Diana Channing (ed by Ann Pino)

I decided I needed to read the first Kathy Reichs, which I have here in the house, before Death du Jour. And The Historian? I've decided to save it for the end of this month.

I need to pause here and say that Allana Martin's Death of a Saint Maker (links above) was quite the pleasant surprise. I've added her other books to my lists at my favorite book trading sites and as soon as I'm further caught up on what's here, I'll be picking those up, too. If anyone would like my copy, holler. I'll send it out to you, complete with promo bookmarks from other authors, many of whom hang out here. Really. If you want the book, leave a comment. If I get more than one, I'll either pick someone I particularly like, or I'll let The Opening Act pick the winner.

I've got until January 30 for this challenge. I may not make my 100 books for the year (I'm at 92 right now; I'm thinking it's not gonna happen) but I think it's safe to say that even if I don't finish the other books I'd stuck on my initial list, I'll at least read five -- which was all the challenge called for. *wink*

As for the Jewish lit challenge... nada yet, you'll notice. I'm reading a debut mystery for review at Front Street Reviews right now, but I might fix that whole Jewish reading challenge drought very soon. We'll have to see what sort of mood I'm in when I finish this.

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# posted by Susan Helene Gottfried @ 10:24 AM 15 comments

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

 

Susan's Book Talk: A Natural Fit of a Reading Challenge

It seems fitting to post this today, since Hanukkah just started.

I run my book club. I think I've mentioned that before.

It's a Jewish book club. Which is why the Jewish Literature Challenge was a no-brainer for me to sign up for. It runs from Hanukkah to Passover (that'd be now until April, for anyone like me who's too lazy to consult a calendar.)

Upcoming for our group are books including:

Kabbalah, by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman
The Kommandant's Girl, by Pam Jenoff

(I'd like to pause here and point out that all three books came to my attention around last year's Debut a Debut reading contest!)

A Day of Small Beginnings, by Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum
Rashi's Daughters: Miriam, by Maggie Anton
The Last Days of Dogtown, by Anita Diamant
Dirty Sally, by Michael Simon
and
Getting Old is Murder, by Rita Lakin.

Now, this is our list of potential reads. Clearly, in four months, we'll only read three or four of them. The challenge asks us to read at least five books, so I'm looking over my list of what's coming up on my personal stack. I see a Daniel Silva or two -- good stuff. I see Orson Scott Card's Sarah (thanks Breeni!) and A Blessing on the Moon, by Joseph Skibell. And as I walk around my office and look at the piles in here, I see more, more, more.

In short, because of book club, I'm always on the lookout for new Jewish lit to bring to the group. As I've mentioned before, we read as varied a body of work as we can. (this makes me think of my recent Booking Through Thursday, where I talked about palate cleansers.)

I'm open to suggestions, always. Both for book club and not.

Just remember... I prefer fiction. Go figure.

(and don't forget to enter the contest for my copy of Auralia's Colors!)

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# posted by Susan Helene Gottfried @ 6:55 PM 1 comments