As I look back at the books I read in 2025, I see a slight shift in my interest: from fiction to nonfiction. I also seem to be working on my “backlist”. Some of this is due in part to my renewed use of my public library system (Interlibrary Loans!) and some of this is due to the fact that I have begun my Master’s Degree in Jewish Studies!
My lesson learned this past year? Make better use of my Reader’s Journal. While I don’t like to interrupt the flow of reading by note-taking, jotting down words and phrases that speak to me will better allow me to share my recommendations with others.
Will any of the books I’ve read be your next Jewish read, or have you already given them a try?
Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism
By Sarah Bunin Benor (2012)
Interlibrary Loan is truly a wonderful thing: and I don’t mean the type where a book transferred from one branch to another (although that is a wonder in itself). I’m talking about those hard to find books that you might find references to online, for example, that really pique your interest. Thanks to my public library, I was able to borrow and read Becoming Frum. My interest in this topic was inspired by my involvement with Chabad and the wonderful people I’ve met through services and events. This was a fascinating scholarly read, published by Rutgers University Press, and I had many personal “Ah ha!” moments.
This Book in 5 Words: Edifying, Fascinating, Ethnographical, Cultural, Sociolinguistics
Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books
By Aaron Lansky (Paperback, 2005)
Visting my parents in Massachusetts, I was called over to the “fence” (there is no fence) by my neighbor who wished to share a book with me. This memoir tells the origin story of Aaron Lansky, and how he came to dedicate his life to the preservation of books written in Yiddish (later founding the Yiddish Book Center). From dumpster-diving to van mishaps, to emotional stories behind the books that he and his colleagues have saved, this book is a joyful and inspiriting read. Thank you, Anne, for passing it over the fence.
This Book in 5 Words: Joyful, Yiddishkeit, Book Preservation, Memoir, Motivation
The Jews in Poland and Russia: A Short History
By Antony Polonsky (2013)
Okay. Stay with me here. This book is long. Very long. But you can do it. And it will be worth it. It’s like eating an elephant. One bite at a time. This book was part of a course I took for my master’s degree program, and yes, dear readers. I read the entire thing. How? I read two to three chapters a week which made it entirely manageable and I gained so much background knowledge about the history of Jews in Poland, Russia, the Pale of Settlement, Galicia and beyond… I would say that this book is actually essential to understanding historical fiction, current events, historical nonfiction…or for those who are just history nerds like me. Obtain through your public library’s interlibrary loan department if not readily available.
This Book in 5 Words: Nonfiction, History, Geography, Culture, “Isms”, Politics
by Leslie Kimmelman and Illustrated by David Gardner (2018)
If you know anything about me, you know that I am a narrative picture book FIEND. In fact, that’s all I’m reading with my fourth grade students this year (did I mention I’m a school librarian?). This bouncy little number is just a joy – with its amazing illustrations, the story of Israel Isidore Baline is still the perfect pick for the music-lovers in your life.
This Book in 5 Words: Joyful, Boisterous, Music, Immigrants, Picture Book Biography
By Anne Berest (2024)
I’ll end with The Postcard, by Anne Berest. A distinct contrast to the bouncy, airiness of Irving Berlin, yet similar in its theme of persistence. This book is not a new book, and I did pass it multiple times on my orbits around the library displays. Finally, I picked it up. Wow. This memoir, or as the author calls it “roman vrai” for some of the details and narratives are speculative, read like the best of mysteries, jumping through time and space to tell the story of Anne Berest’s great-grandparents and their children. Stunning. Heart-Wrenching. Real.
This Book in 5 Words: World War II, “Roman Vrai”, France, Family, Mystery