I have been quite busy and have not really had much time to blog. I have been getting ready for my son Scott, daughter-in-law Junko and my 17-year old grandson Anthony to travel from Japan, where they live, for a two week visit. They all arrived safely on Friday, the 29th. To say I am overjoyed is putting it mildly. I am beside myself. Read More »

Snow in August is an excellent book, brilliantly written by Pete Hamill. He infuses solid Brooklyn postwar history within the pages, not coloring over the hardships of tenement living within the confines of poverty, of gangs, and racial and cultural differences. Read More »

It is time for Summer Stock Sunday . Why not pay a visit to Robin and see summery photography from around the world. The photographs were taken by me. Read More »

Once again, in The Town Beyond the Wall , Elie Wiesel has brought us a novel in which he infuses pieces of himself within the pages, through the narrator, named Michael. Michael is a Jew, and he is a survivor of the Holocaust. He is haunted by the past, by memories that he tries to hold on to, holding on literally for survival. Read More »

I have read a three fantastic Jewish-related children’s books recently (to my grandies), and want to share them with you. Not only were the themes and lessons wonderful, but so were the illustrations. No Rules for Michael , by Sylvia A. Rouss Beautiful Yetta: The Yiddish Chicken , by Daniel Pinkwater Mrs. Read More »

It is time for Summer Stock Sunday . Why not pay a visit and see summery photography from around the world. The photographs were taken by me, but not this summer. Read More »

Why not go over and visit the Jewish Book Carnival for July, hosted by Ann Koffsky . You will see some familiar faces in the Jewish Book Carnival for July, and some new faces. . Read More »

Samuel Oliner and Kathleen Lee have have written a compelling and important book regarding the Holocaust. The details in Who Shall Live: The Wilhelm Bachner Story, were obtained from first-hand accounts, beginning with the account of Wilhelm Bachner , a Polish Jew. Read More »

It is time for Summer Stock Sunday . Why not pay a visit and see summery photography from around the world. ~~~~~~ July 10, 2011 – 8 Tamuz, 5771 © Copyright 2007 – 2011 – All Rights Reserved – No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography, book reviews, writings, or my reviews without my express permission. . Read More »

It is finally Friday. I am looking forward to the weekend, beginning with Shabbat, tonight. Here and There: Ilana Davita wrote about her thoughts on Summer Reading . Looking for summer salad recipes? Visit Leora and read her post regarding Simple Summer Salads . You will also be delighted with her beautiful water color salad bowl. Read More »

Laish, by aharon Appelfeld , is a novel that slowly weaves its way through the pages, depicting a six-wagon caravan of Ukranian individuals wandering through Eastern Europe, trying to make their way to Jerusalem. It is a tapestry that, in many ways, can be compared to the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Read More »

A World After This: A Memoir of Loss and Redemption, by Lola Lieber , is a beautifully written and compelling story, initially set in Poland during the German invasion. Read More »

Quiet Americans, by Erika Dreifus , is a book of short stories, a collection of short stories that illuminate the haunting mindsets of the individuals within the pages. Some of the stories in Quiet Americans are connected and interrelated, but not all of them. Read More »

Night Lights Today is July 4th, a day that will hold much celebration in the form of parades, fireworks, barbeques, and so forth, in America. Here are two links that provide some interesting historical data on Jews in America and how they helped forge America’s independence.  No Jews signed the Declaration of Independence, though. Read More »

It has been almost two weeks since my last post. I can’t believe it has been that long. My life has been busy in a positive way, but nonetheless busy. My grandies are keeping me busy during the day, when I would normally be online. I am participating in Summer Stock Sunday, a photo meme that Robin is graciously hosting. Read More »

  The Devil’s Workshop: A Memoir of the Nazi Counterfeiting Operation, by Adolf Burger , is a compelling story of how Jewish concentration camp prisoners were forced to become involved in a forgery plot known as “Operation Bernhard“. The memoir is harrowing and intense in its content. Read More »

  The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway , is a book filled with strong emotional content, and one that evoked emotions from this reader through its profoundness. Read More »

  Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian is based on a Prussian diary, and is an intense novel, filled with historical fact, within the pages of fiction. Read More »

  A Tranquil Star – Unpublished Stories, by Primo Levi is quite the collection of seventeen short stories within a 164 page count. Levi is well-known for his Holocaust memoirs, but in this book of short stories, he goes beyond the Holocaust, into the world of the his deep imagination, bringing us parables of the metaphysical order. Read More »

   I finished reading The Coffee Trader, by David Liss, and I must say that it is a book of intrigue and an absorbing historical novel. I became so wrapped up in the historical aspect that I felt as if I had gone back in time and place. My senses were infused with Liss’ extremely detailed prose. Read More »