Book Reviews

Violins of Hope (Violins of the Holocaust—Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour) by James A. Grymes Harper Perennial, 2014 319 pages, $15.9 Author James Author James A. Grymes, noted professor of musicology at the University of North...

The Baseball Haggadah: A Festival of Freedom and Springtime in 15 Innings by Rabbi Sharon Forman Illustrated by Lisa J. Teitelbaum 54 pages 2015/5775 A Reform rabbi and a mom of “dedicated little leaguers,” Rabbi Sharon Forman has created a Haggadah that covers all of...

Jews and Words by Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger Yale University Press, 2012. 232 pages Jews and Words is not an ordinary book. It is the enchanting outcome of a unique collaborative conversation between a father and daughter. Amos Oz and Fania Oz-Salzberger are both...

Suspended Sentences Patrick Modiano Translated by Mark Polizzotti Yale University Press, 2014 ISBN 978-0-300-19805-8, 215 pp.(paper) Patrick Modiano, French writer of Flemish/ Italian/Jewish ancestry and winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature is almost unheard...

Dissident Gardens Jonathan Lethem Doubleday, 2013 366 pages, $27.95 ISBN 978-0-385-53493-2 As the American literary giants of the mid-20th century gradually leave the scene, the young literary lions who follow are now producing mature works. Among them is Jonathan...

Open Heart Elie Wiesel Translated from the French by Marion Wiesel New York, Knopf. 2012 79 pages, $20 Originally published in France in 2011, prolific author Ellie Wiesel’s bestseller is light only in size. Open Heart is a generous gift from a truly loving heart of...

Kosher Cuisine: For a New Generation Cantor Mitch, The Singing Chef Red Portal Press, 2014 168pp., $16.95, ISBN 978-1-938063-53-4 On Thursday, Nov. 6, at noon, Cantor Mitch Kowitz will be present in partnership with Beth Sholom Village and Jewish Family Service as...

Hanna and Walter Hanna and Walter Kohner With Frederick Kohner iUniverse, reissued 2008 147pp., $14.95 ISBN 978-0-595-46598-9 On Sunday, Nov. 16, at the Women’s Cabinet PLUS ONE brunch, co-hosted by the UJFT Holocaust Commission, attendees will hear a Holocaust story...

Father, Son, Stone Allan H. Goodman Solomon Publications, 2014 463 pp., $18.99 ISBN 978-0-9670973-6-7 So, what does a Norfolk kid who graduated from Granby High School, practiced law for 18 years and served as a federal administrative judge for a couple of decades do...

The Pope and Mussolini (The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe) David I. Kertzer Random House, 2014 549 pages, $32 We are in the debt of prolific and award-winning author David I. Kertzer, the Paul Dupee, Jr. University professor of social...

The Holiday Kosher Baker Paula Shoyer Photos by Michael Bennett Kress Sterling, 2014 222 pages, $35 ISBN:978-1-4549-0714-5 Your reviewer is admittedly a non-baker. However, Paula Shoyer, a former attorney, author of the very successful The Kosher Baker (2010) and now...

Food, Family and Tradition Hungarian Kosher Family Recipes and Remembrances Lynn Kirsche Shapiro The Cherry Press, 2014 279 pages, $35 ISBN: 978-0-9898479-0-2 As the “2,000 Year Old Man,” Mel Brooks, used to say “Oy, I love a nectarine; half a plum, half a peach, not...

Yellow Star Jennifer Roy Marshall Cavendish, 2006 241 pages, $16.95 ISBN 13-978-0-7614-5277-5 We wouldn’t ordinarily be reviewing a book six years after its publication and it is entirely possible that Jewish News reviewed it at that time. A special circumstance...

The Arrogant Years One Girl’s Search for Her Lost Youth From Cairo to Brooklyn Lucette Lagnado Harper Collins, 2011 402pages, $25.99 ISBN 978-0-06-180367-3 By the end of Lucette Lagnado’s 2007 award-winning bestseller memoir, The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, it...

Prague Winter (A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937–1948) by Madeleine Albright HarperCollins 2012 467pages, $29.99 Madeleine Albright, who distinguished herself with service to our nation including as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1993- 1997) and...

Giving is Not Just for the Very Rich A How-To Guide for Giving and Philanthropy Dr. Susan Aurelia Gitelson CreateSpace, North Charleston, SC, 2012 162 pages ISBN 10: 1468111043 I looked forward to reading a new work geared to philanthropic opportunities for the...

On Wings of Eagles The Secret Operation of the Ethiopian Exodus Micha Feldman Gefen, 2012 303 pages, $24.95(paper) ISBN 978-9652295699 Ever since the founding of the State of Israel the status and fate of the Beta Israel, the Ethiopian Jews, had been debated by the...

Published in Israel in Hebrew by Yad Vashem in 2007, and now in an attractive and improved English format, this compelling account is bound to acquire an honored place in the vast literature of Holocaust memoirs. The story is a family drama of the author Deborah...

Levana Kirschenbaum has been associated with upscale Kosher dining through her restaurant, her library of successful cookbooks and her online blog. She refers to this book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen, as the “culmination of my life work.” This reviewer’s curiosity...

Cry of the Giraffe is a novel about an Ethiopian Jewish (Beta Israel) family written primarily for young adults. Older adults, however, will find it to be a most rewarding read. The author, Judie Oren, is a journalist who risked her life rescuing an Ethiopian “orphan...

Admiral Jeremy Michael (“Mike”) Boorda held the highest post in the United States Navy, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). A high school dropout, Mike Boorda’s enlistment in the Navy as a 16-year-old seaman recruit and his eventual achievement of top rank is a great...

Jazz Jews Mike Gerber Five Leaves Publications, 2009 628 pages. Fifty-eight year old Brit Mike Gerber has done a superb job of assembling information and opinions, and stating them in a readable manner. This book is of special interest to jazz fans, including fans of...

A Prayer for the Departed Bill Broder The Ainslee Street Project, 2011 230 pages ISBN 978-1-46113893-8 Your reviewer owes an apology to author, Bill Broder, having received A Prayer for the Departed more than six months ago and allowed it to remain at the bottom of a...