Last week, I hosted a post for Hanukkah Hoopla, and offered a free book from my stash of review copies for one lucky person who placed a comment on my post. The winner of the book is…
Marilyn Stoch!
I’ll be emailing our winner to find out which book she prefers so I can get it to her ASAP!
I’m pretty much a book addict. I’ll read almost any genre. Occasionally, I’ll ignore essentials like eating, drinking, and using the restroom in order to finish a scene I’m reading. I’ve never taken one of those Goodreads challenges to read a specific number of books because I’m already reading well over a hundred books a year. Setting goal just seems pointless for me. (Notice I said, “for me.” I think other people can benefit from them greatly because it encourages them to read more or to read more genres they might not otherwise venture into.)
Anyway, I’ve read lots of books, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I read many new books. Our family’s budget would not be able to support my reading habit if I purchased my drugs supplies. We go to at least one library at least once a week. However, there’s usually a lag time between when a book is published and when it arrives at the library. And if the writer is less well-known, the lag might be even longer. If your 2014 book isn’t on this list, don’t be offended. I just haven’t found it on the shelf at the library yet!
With that in mind, I present…
My Favorite New Books of 2014 Continue reading
A couple weeks back, Kristen M. Ploetz posted several questions she wished she could have answered by other writers. The post has generated a bit of buzz, with replies by two bloggers I admire, Nina Badzin and Rivki Silver (which is where I first heard of it).
(And then Rivki made me cry happy tears by saying she admired my work. I love her site, so the feeling is mutual.)
I found both the original post and the follow-ups fascinating. A lot of what all three bloggers had to say was about self-identification as a writer. At what point does a person who writes become a “writer?” Another theme was how the writer — whose job is by nature often solitary — interacts with their social milieu, both in their personal lives and in their professional ones.
Here are the original questions in bold. I’ll add my responses below each of them.
1. Do you share your work with your partner or spouse? Does it matter if it’s been published yet? Continue reading
One day early in my marriage, I found my husband reading the autobiography of John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach.
Martin Greenfield’s new book about the Shoah and after inspires readers to rise to greatness.
“Why are you reading that?” I asked. My husband did not follow sports, and he rarely read a book that wasn’t overtly “Jewish.”
“My rabbi once told me that if you want to learn good middos (character traits), you should read about the lives of people who have achieved genuine greatness.”
In that vein, I’m going to recommend that my husband read Measure of a Man, Martin Greenfield’s new memoir of survival and character. If you want to learn why, check out my review of Measure of a Man in last week’s Jewish Home L.A.
Latkes frying. Image by Jonathunder from Wikipedia Commons .
Blogger Renée A. Schuls-Jacobson has invited me to participate in this year’s Hanukka Hoopla. To help wrap up your holiday, I’ll be sharing a Chanukah memory and a recipe in case you’re still looking for a latke fix.
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My parents divorced when I was a preschooler. Mom settled down with my twin sister and me in suburban Columbia, Maryland, near her parents.
Grandma and Grandpa were about the most doting grandparents humanly imaginable. (And Grandma, at 94, ka”h still is!) While my grandmother ran a small business when I was very young, Grandpa had already retired by the time I was born. He found lots of ways to fill his time, and many of them involved keeping two little girls happy — namely, my sister and me. Continue reading
My latest review appears in the Jewish Press book supplement, Of the Book. You can find it here. It’s of Henye Meyer’s re-issue of A Stranger to My Brothers under a new title and with new material.
Rebecca Klempner 