The Kosher by Design series of cookbooks, by Suzie Fishbein, specializes in what some food bloggers jokingly call “food porn.” Readers of the new Kosher by Design Teens and Twenty-Somethings: Cooking for the Next Generation, won’t be disappointed. This beautifully designed KBD for young people … [Read more...]
Review of Newly Revised Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
July 18, 2010 by
When I opened my new copy of the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (WAB), I wondered whether LLL made the correct decision by retaining the original title. The current edition, by leading lactation experts Diane Weissinger, Diana West and Teresa Pitman (all of whom I know and respect), is a complete … [Read more...]
What Plotlines Do You Avoid in Novels?
April 22, 2010 by
Cover of The Lost Mother Gretchen Rubin writes about admitting to herself that she doesn't like books where a character is falsely accused of a crime. One of the key tools for a happiness project, I’ve discovered, is mindfulness. Which is unfortunate, because I’m a very unmindful person. (Take … [Read more...]
Book Review: The River of Doubt
February 4, 2010 by
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey is one of the best books I've read this year. In 1913 former US president Theodore Roosevelt,54, accepted a speaking engagement in South America. While there he planned to visit with his son Kermit and travel throughout the continent. Known … [Read more...]
Books Reviewed in 2009
January 1, 2010 by
Cover of In the Woods Ilana-Davita asked bloggers to highlight book reviews of 2009. Here are the reviews that appeared on A Mother in Israel 2009: Through the Narrow Gate, a memoir by former nun Karen Armstrong. Run, a family drama by Ann Patchett. Backstage with Chaverim Boys Choir, a … [Read more...]
Book Review: Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean
December 31, 2009 by
Cover via Amazon I'm reading Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom—and Revenge by Edward Kritzler. In the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition, Jews, who were forced to emigrate … [Read more...]
Book Review: The Girl Who Played with Fire
November 16, 2009 by
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson is a sequel to The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. When someone from the book club asked my opinion I described it as a poorly translated, stilted, violent, adventure story with wildly improbably plot turns. But one of the women in my book club loved it. She … [Read more...]
Book Review: Saving Israel by Daniel Gordis
August 30, 2009 by
Daniel Gordis, Senior Vice President and Senior Fellow of the Shalem Center, sent me a review copy of his new book, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End . The title highlights the contradictory nature of the book's theme: Israel has difficult and seemingly … [Read more...]
Book Review: People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks
June 6, 2009 by
Cover of People of the Book: A Novel Geraldine Brooks' historical novel, The People of the Book, is based on the mysterious past of the famous Sarajevo Haggadah. Brooks intersperses the modern-day adventures of a book-restorer with a fictionalized account of the Haggadah's creation and its … [Read more...]
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