Title: You Or Someone Like You
Author: Chandler Burr
Genre: Fiction

Oh the writing in this book is absolutely delicious. I devoured this book like I devour my friend Marsha’s lemon sunshine cake. Seriously. Absolutely delicious writing. Burr’s description of a garden made even me want to take up gardening. That’s a serious accomplishment. For the first, oh let’s say 60% of the book, I was so wrapped up in both the writing and the overall novel that I could barely put it down. But then things changed. Then the plot took a turn that I didn’t see coming and one that pushed far too many of my own buttons. The catalyst for the plot turn was actually something that the author took from his own life so obviously it pushed his buttons too.

Once my buttons had been pushed and once the plot went so very far in the direction that it went it became impossible for me to enjoy the book anymore. The demonetization of something incredibly meaningful and important to me and a naive interpretation of many details about that thing left me absolutely cold.

So what I can say about You Or Someone Like You is that it contains absolutely brilliant writing that I simply adored but I did not love the novel.

Title: The Book of Jewish Values: A Day-By-Day Guide to Ethical Living
Author: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Genre: Judaism

I read this book over the course of a year. Give or take a few missed and a few catch up days I read one value each day. This book has had such a large impact on my behavior in lots and lots of ways. One of the most obvious ways is the way I deal with panhandlers and homeless people I encounter. If someone asks me for a dollar and I have a dollar I will now give it to them and I will look them in the eye and tell them to have a nice day. If I don’t have a dollar I’ll offer to buy them some food. The chance that the person might just be scamming me is not nearly reason enough to deny someone (and myself) an act of compassion.

That’s just one example, there are countless others. Seriously, I can’t overstate how much this book impacted me. And I learned a lot of Talmudic information from it as well so win-win.

Title: The Chosen
Author: Chaim Potok
Genre: Fiction

This book was recommend by my friend Kyle. I didn’t make the connection at the time but I’m pretty sure the movie version of this book was the first time I ever saw anything related to Hasidism. I distinctly remember watching this movie as a kid on satellite.

It really is a lovely book that tells a story of true friendship between two boys as they grow into young men and each of them figure out who and what they are in the shadow of strong, intelligent fathers. The Hasid vs. non-Hasid is played up of course but that’s not really what the book is about. It’s really about family and friendship, or perhaps more accurately family and chosen family. It’s good stuff.

Title: Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South
Author: Marcie Cohen Ferris
Genre: Judaism, Non-Fiction

I really enjoyed this book and learned lots about the eating habits and
cultural lives of those who identify as both Southern and Jewish. Good stuff. Read this book and you’ll know how Coke became kosher for Passover, what “kosher-style” means and all about some Southern Reform congregations throwing shrimp and crawfish boils as fundraisers(!). Some really, really interesting stories in this book and several good recipes. Come Rosh Hashanah I’m making the honey cake recipe in fact.