Parent Book Choice 2018
Don't miss LIVE CHATS with Parent Book Choice authors!
Don't miss LIVE CHATS with Parent Book Choice authors!
Thursday, 9 November
2:00
Jill Colella Bloomfield
Jewish Holidays Cookbook
Sunday, 11 November
18:00
Marjorie Ingall
Mamaleh Knows Best
LAUGH
MAMALEH KNOWS BEST: What Jewish Mothers Do to Raise Successful, Creative, Empathetic, Independent Children
by Marjorie Ingall
Some of our advance readers have called this the best parenting book they’ve read. (And it’s not just for mothers.) Ingall smashes the tired Jewish Mother stereotype with a hammer, and offers wise and witty insights into the essential values of Jewish parenting: fostering independence, encouraging a healthy distrust of authority, cultivating geekiness, stressing education and humour, nurturing kindness, spirit and chutzpah.
Discussion Questions
“Ingall is ridiculously smart and truly funny. She offers modern advice that is grounded in thousands of years of tradition.” – Julie Holland, M.D., author of Weekends at Bellevue
“Marshaling evidence from history, culture, contemporary research, and sacred texts…Ingall’s lessons about raising a mensch are for all parents, regardless of their heritage.” – The New York Times
“I could not stop laughing. She writes from the heart and tells it like it is, and at the same time imparts real Jewish thought.” – PJ Library parent
About My Book: Marjorie Ingall
LEARN
IF ALL THE SEAS WERE INK: A Memoir
by Ilana Kurshan
The Talmud is a book that has profoundly shaped Judaism for the past millennium and half. But what is it?
Enter Ilana Kurshan. At age 27, alone in Jerusalem in the wake of a painful divorce, Kurshan learns one page of Talmud commentary each day for seven years – as she rebuilds her life, remarries and becomes a mother to three children. In an engrossing memoir, she intertwines the stories and questions the Talmud raises with the events of her personal life.
For PJ Library parents who enjoy memoirs and are open to Jewish wisdom, this book is a rare experience.
Discussion Questions
“There is humor and heartbreak in these pages.” – The Wall Street Journal
“Kurshan shows us how the Talmud becomes a conversation about how best to live one’s life. A stunning, gorgeous memoir.” – Dara Horn, author of A Guide for the Perplexed: A Novel
“An amazing feat. Both religious and secular readers will find themselves immensely moved by the raw courage of the journey Kurshan has undertaken.” – The Jerusalem Post
About My Book: Ilana Kurshan
TRAVEL
MY RUSSIAN GRANDMOTHER AND HER AMERICAN VACUUM CLEANER: A Family Memoir
by Meir Shalev
Celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday with one of Israel’s top novelists, as he takes readers to a far-off time and place – a moshav (farming cooperative) of the 1930s – where the author’s Russian-born Grandma Tonia wages her lifelong war against a formidable enemy: dirt. This is storytelling at its finest, bringing to life the grit and spirit of Israel’s founding generation.
Discussion Questions
“A genuine comic tour de force, it is also a marvelous meditation on the mysterious workings of memory and the intricate tapestry of familial connections.” – The Forward
“As I read these pages, I, too, was a grandchild of Meir Shalev’s grandmother.” – Avvenire (Italy)
[Note: Shalev’s works have been translated into 25 languages.]
“Funny and heartfelt. Will spark great family conversations and memories.”
– PJ Library parent
About My Book: Meir Shalev
COOK
JEWISH HOLIDAYS COOKBOOK: Festive Meals for Celebrating the Year
by Jill Colella Bloomfield, with commentary by Rabbi Janet Ozur Bass
An attractive, easy-to-follow family cookbook with 40 recipes (from hamantaschen to holishkes) and helpful bits of Jewish content throughout the year.
Rabbi Bass writes: “The home – and the table – is the centerpiece where families can find, create, and pass down tradition.”
Discussion Questions
“My daughter and I will use it often. It gives us an extra reason to celebrate and observe, trying out a new recipe, perhaps starting a new family tradition of cooking together more often.”
– PJ Library parent
“I loved the insight that the rabbi gave for each recipe.”
– PJ Library parent
About My Book: Jill Colella Bloomfield
KVELL
OUTWITTING HISTORY: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books
by Aaron Lansky
The story of one man’s mission to save Yiddish books from history’s rubbish bin. Along the way we learn about the riches of Yiddish literature, the current resurgence of interest in Yiddish culture and the unlikely founding of the National Yiddish Book Center.
Discussion Questions
“I feel like I’m getting an entire Jewish history lesson...A heartwarming book.” – PJ Library parent
“A picaresque romp, a detective story, and a poignant evocation of a bygone world. Lansky transforms tragedy into opportunity, with an unshakable faith in the future of Jewish life.”
– The Boston Globe
About My Book: Aaron Lansky
For any support or questions, email pjparents@pjlibrary.org
Happy Reading!