Would you like to hear the perspectives of seven different female Jewish bloggers about haircovering? Melissa Amster, the Merryland Girl, is hosting Orthodox Women Talk today, and we’ve got plenty different opinions represented: from those who cover, those who don’t, those who found it challenging to get used to, and those who love it. We have women who wear wigs, scarves, and everything in between.
Care to check it out? Read here.
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
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.
Last week, Gil Marks passed away at the untimely age of 62. He was a legendary food writer, known not only for his recipes, but for his contribution to our understanding of Jewish food. He did extensive research on the details of recipes, their cultural connections, and place in history. Because I trained as an anthropologist, his ethnological approach to Jewish food made him by far my favorite cookbook author.
Remembering Gil Marks and his contribution to Jewish books.
His most famous books are The World of Jewish Cooking, Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World and Encyclopedia of Jewish Food. That final title is my absolute favorite cookbook of all time. It actually makes fun reading even if you make not one recipe. Marks also wrote extensively for periodicals, such as Emunah Magazine.
Twenty years ago, most people thought of latkes, kugel, kishke, and borsht when they referred to “Jewish Food.” Marks changed that and became among those who popularized Sephardic and Mizrachi cuisine. Continue reading
Rebecca Klempner 