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Brianna's recent read- The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (and pictured is my @illumicrate edition) I loved this book! I love seeing representation of the less known Jewish languages so I was thrilled to see Ladino used here, and I also just love a Jewish story like I was always happy that Alex Stern is Jewish (and those books also include some Ladino) but the familiar gives us so much more! I'm honestly not a big fan of historical fiction or fantasy, but funnily enough I tend to enjoy historical fantasy. I think that urban fantasy works better for me, and then the magical realism elements add enough intrigue to historical fiction to make it more interesting for me, so it just works. This book takes place during the Spanish Inquisition and it gets very dark in some places, it's a heavy story and definitely takes a bit to get into. I did find myself wishing that there was more focus on character development in the first half, but by the time I actually finished the book I felt satisfied. The story is about a young woman named Luzia who is a scullion living in Madrid, working for a pretty lower class family. When the lady she works for finds out she can do magic, she wants to use it to her advantage, to raise her station, and it sets them on a dark and complicated path when powerful men find out about it and want to use Luzia to gain more power themselves. I'm definitely a big fan of Leigh Bardugos work, especially her adult books, I'm really excited to see what she does next! #booklover #bookstagram #bookcommunity #readingtime #ilovebooks #bookobsessed #bookishfeatures #bookreccomendations #igreads #bookworm #greatbooks #booksaremagic #booksaremylife #bookpassion #bookishpost #booksonbooks #bookwormlife #booksta #bookreading #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #leighbardugo #thefamiliar #thefamiliarleighbardugo #bookswithjewishcharacters #jewishbooks #spanishinquisition #historicalfantasy

🕎 8 Days of Hanukkah Reads 🕎 Hanukkah starts tonight! I was raised Lutheran and attend a UCC church now, but the love of my life is Jewish. ✡️ I’m more than a little ashamed to admit that before I began to experience Judaism through him and his family, I didn’t know much about it and I certainly didn’t make much of an effort to learn. 😔 Here’s what I know now: Judaism is a beautiful religion, rich in history, community, and tradition. My eyes have also been opened, though, to the pain, suffering, and persecution the Jewish people have suffered, and continue to suffer, as they are often othered and minimized, and that breaks my heart. I think one of the most important ways my heart has shifted since knowing Monte is the realization that making space for and celebrating someone else’s joy and love and history doesn’t mean there’s any less room for your own beliefs, joy, and love. 💙 So with that rambling out of the way, let’s begin my celebration of Jewish joy and faith and life! #MiraclesAndMenorahs by #StaceyAgdern 📫 #KristensFreeLibrary is open for Night 1 of Hanukkah! If you want to add this book to your own library, comment dibs! 📫 From the author’s note: a visible menorah in the window is an invitation to others to find us, and to stand with and for us. To let everyone know that they are not alone, and that we are all in this together. Sarah Goldman and Isaac Lieberman both love Hanukkah, but they seem to have very different ideas about what Hanukkah is really about. Sarah is determined to save her town’s festival spectacle, while Isaac insists that Hanukkah should be celebrated quietly, at home with family and age-old traditions. But when Sarah needs Isaac to help her keep the festival alive, will Isaac see the light? ⁉️ Predictive text: When I went to light the shamash candle, I . . . 🕎 Fun fact: The Shamash candle is the candle in the middle of the menorah used to light the other candles. Shamash means helper. What a beautiful concept- and imagine this world if each of us were a Shamash candle - the light that creates more light. 💙

March reads 27 books! 8 Arcs 13 ebooks 9 audiobooks 8 KU books 3 physical books Favorite surprise was the Lauren Asher series. I loved them! Have you read any of these? #marchreads #bookstigrammer #bookseries #netgalley #audiobookstagram #libbyapp #kindleunlimited #bookswithjewishcharacters #dystopianfiction #contemporaryromance #nonfictionbooks #booksaboutcults #bookworm #bookrecs

Unorthodox Love By Heidi Shertok Swipe for synopsis Trigger warning: Infertility Closed door Romance This book was very sweet and honest. I loved how Penina loves her job and family and faith. Hearing her talk about it and explaining it, Sam was sweet and refreshing to a lot of people who often right religious convictions in a negative way. I also loved how for dressing very modestly Penina still had a large love of fashion and even ran a fashion insti for women who love fashion and how to embrace that and not compromise their beliefs but instead make it work. My only complaint was that I need a book two because I want to read more about Sam and Penina because the end was so sweet and I needed more!! Thank you, @netgalley and @alcovepress, for the Arc of this story! #unorthodoxlove #heidishertok #bookstigrammer #bookswithjewishcharacters #bookswithjewishrepresentation #booksaboutlove #cleanlovestory #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #bookstoread #arcbook #netgalley #alcovepress #bookworm #contemporaryromance #bookstagram

The Matzah Ball By Jean Meltzer Being a Christmas lover/ best-selling Christmas romance author isn't something that people are usually ashamed of, but when you are Jewish, it is a big deal! A secret that must be kept! Rachel Rubenstein Goldblatt is not only Jewish she is a rabbi's daughter. Her love of Christmas must be kept secret. If word got out, it could cause such a scandal and bring shame to her family and community. On top of this secret, she also has been hiding another one. She suffers from encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome), so some days, all she can do is lay in bed in the dark and deal with the pain. She doesn't bother telling people because no one ever understands and always believes she is making it up. When her publishing company tells her they need her to write a Jewish holiday book or be dropped she goes seeking for inspiration; which she finds in the form of a flyer in the subway announcing the biggest Matzah Ball anyone has ever seen. It just so happens that the organizer is none other than the first boy who broke her heart. This might be one Hanukkah miracle that might not happen. #thematzahball #jeanmeltzer #bookswithjewishcharacters #bookswithjewishrepresentation #booksabouthannukah #booksaboutlove #bookworm #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #booksaboutmagic #booksaboutfamily #librarybook #libbyappaudiobooks #libbyapp #mirapublishing

From Dust A Flame But Rebecca Podos As long as Hannah can remember her family has been constantly on the move. She's never had an explanation why and all she wants more than anything is to stay put. On her 17th birthday changes begin to happen. It starts with golden eyes with slits for pupils and then every day she wakes up with a different monstrous change to her. Her mother leaves to find a cure while Hannah and her brother Gabe are left to deal with the changes. When a letter appears about a death of a long lost family member they decide to take things into their own hands and find out the truth. What they discover is a long history rooted in their Grandmother's past in the Nazi Occupation. Will Hannah be able to uncover her family's past in time in order to save the future? 🕍 This was a book I could not put down! I love when books bring in a fantasy element but still stay true to original culture and stories. I love how accepting Hannah's family was even with everything going on and with Gabe. They loved them and accepted them and shared pieces of their heritage with the two of them no questions asked. This book foes cover three different timelines to tell the story telling of Hannah's grandmother, mother and then present day with herself. That being said I didn't find it confusing or have a hard.timw figuring out which story we were in. Everything was labeled well making it easy to follow. I highly recommend!!! #fromdustaflame #rebeccapodos #yafantasybooks #yabookstagrammer #bookswithjewishcharacters #yafantasy #yabookworm #booksaboutjewishmythology #booksaboutdeath #booksofinstagram #booksaboutmagic #booksaboutfamily #booksilove #librarybook #lgbtqbooks #authorsilove

The Ghosts of Rose Hill By R.M. Romero Ilana Lopez was sent to Prague to stay with her aunt to study as a punishment from her parents to get her head out of the clouds and focus less on music and more on school. But when she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery she meets the ghost of a boy named Benjamin and begins to fall for him. Not everything is at it seems whe. She meets the man either no shadow named Rudolph Wassermann. He promises to help her pursue her passion for music and a lifetime with Benjamin, but at what cost. ** Told in prose this book is different from a lot of other things I normally read. I love the mix between Latinx and Jewish cultures and how that affected Ilana and I can only imagine the writer as well. This book covered some very dark topics in such a beautiful way. A fast read I highly recommend. #theghostsofrosehill #rmromero #yabookstagram #yabooks #yabookstagrammer #historicalfiction #historicalromance #paranormalreads #fairytaleretellings #poetry #magicalrealism #bookswithjewishcharacters #biracialcharacters #booksaboutdeath #bookstigram #books #booksaboutgrief #booksaboutlove #fallreads #bookstagrammer #booksaboutmagic #bookstack #bookshelf #librarybook #bookrecommendations #booklover

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder 🎧 @latimes described this book better than I ever could: “The story of a calorie-obsessed L.A. loner on Hollywood’s bottom rung who falls for a plus-size woman she meets at a froyo shop, it is also a pageant of bodily juices and exploratory fingers and moan after moan of delight.” I confess that I did not enjoy reading this one. It’s so raw! And painful to watch the main character, Rachel, and her relationship with food and weight and omg it turns out I’m kind of a prude. 😳 The scene on the bike?! I wasn’t even sure what I was reading! It seems like there’s a lot of the author in Rachel - I know MB has said she’s also a chain-chewer of nicotine gum and she told the LA Times that “[t]here have been very few days in the past eight years that I haven’t had a microwave yam with Splenda in it.” I coincidentally (or not?) started reading The F*ck Diet by Caroline Dooner immediately after Milk Fed and I love it and it’s so healing. More on that book later. ❤️‍🩹 #milkfed #melissabroder #jewishbookstagram #relationshipwithfood #eatingdisorders #booksabouteatingdisorders #11in2022 #bookswithjewishcharacters #therapyinbooks #booksinnature

“Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?” He paused again, his eyes misty now, then went on. “I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, THAT is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, HE is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically give to life. It is hard work to fill one’s life with meaning. THAT I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here. Do you understand what I am saying?” . . . #chaimpotok #thechosen #thechosenbychaimpotok #booksfortweens #bookswithjewishcharacters #jewishcharacters #booksbooksbooks #bookish #currentread #currentlyreading #librarianreads #booksofinstagram #booksofig #readersofig #readersofinsta #readersofinstagram #bookaholic #bibliophile #bookworm #booknerd #readingjewishfiction #jewishfictionbooks #booksbychaimpotok #booklover #booksfromchildhood #bookswornwell #readingtime #lovetoread #overbooked #overdue

Finally carving out some time to rediscover The Chosen by Chaim Potok and so far, it’s going okay! A note about my prickly friend in the back: his name is Spike and he likes to live sideways. I’ve had him since he was a wee baby. . . . #chaimpotok #thechosen #thechosenbychaimpotok #booksfortweens #bookswithjewishcharacters #jewishcharacters #booksbooksbooks #bookish #currentread #currentlyreading #librarianreads #booksofinstagram #booksofig #readersofig #readersofinsta #readersofinstagram #bookaholic #bibliophile #bookworm #booknerd #readingjewishfiction #jewishfictionbooks #booksbychaimpotok #booklover #booksfromchildhood #bookswornwell #readingtime #lovetoread #overbooked #overdue

It’s been a minute since I’ve updated y’all on the reading challenge I set for myself this year, because – you guessed it! – I’m behind. Gotta love a post that’s truly on brand. For August, my goal was to read something from my childhood, and nothing says childhood like a summer reading assignment from yesteryear. We had to read The Chosen by Chaim Potok, and I’ll never forget how fascinated I was with this kid’s orthodox Jewish life. It was so far removed from my own, I was like waaaaat. I’m itching for something nostalgic, so I thought I’d give it whirl! I plan to report back if it doesn’t age well – we shall see. . . . #chaimpotok #thechosen #thechosenbychaimpotok #booksfortweens #bookswithjewishcharacters #jewishcharacters #booksbooksbooks #bookish #currentread #currentlyreading #librarianreads #booksofinstagram #booksofig #readersofig #readersofinsta #readersofinstagram #bookaholic #bibliophile #bookworm #booknerd #readingjewishfiction #jewishfictionbooks #booksbychaimpotok #booklover #booksfromchildhood #bookswornwell #readingtime #lovetoread #overbooked #overdue

I enjoy having access to ebooks for my students. My local library uses both Libby and Hoopla to check them out. Rebeca’s Journey Home is a sweet story about a Jewish family that adopts a baby girl from Vietnam. This is a great story to read during your Family unit. @pjlibrary gives a discussion guide for the book that will help with planning activities. . . . . #rebeccasjourneyhome #jewishamericanheritagemonth #jewishheritage #bookswithjewishcharacters #inclusivebooks #celebratediversity #readdiversebooks #diversebookbloggers #diversifybookstagram #charactereducation #teachingwithpicturebooks #childrensbooks #diversereads #kidlit #representationmatters #kidsbooks #diversebooksforkids #picturebooks #raisingreaders #teachersofinstagram #booksforkids #diversechildrensbooks #diversebooksfordiversekids #picturebookclub

Here is an awesome pic�ture book biog�ra�phy about Moe Berg by @carriejonesbooks @leeandlow. He was a Jew�ish Amer�i�can who spent fif�teen sea�sons play�ing pro�fes�sion�al base�ball for the Brook�lyn Dodgers and oth�er teams. Moe was eager to help the Unit�ed States and its allies defeat the Nazis and went to work for the U.S. Office of Strate�gic Ser�vices as a spy. The story reads like a present-day thriller as the author takes us on Moe’s journey of discovering secrets. The Afterword states that Moe was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and his baseball card is on display at the CIA headquarters. The Spy Who Played Baseball can be used to discuss a variety of topics -Identity (it was suggested he take a name that didn’t sound Jewish) -Discrimination and anti-Semi�tism -Multiple Perspectives -Responsibility -Love of Learning -Courage . . . . #jewishamericanheritagemonth #jewishheritage #americanjews #bookswithjewishcharacters #diversifybookstagram #charactereducation #biographiesforkids #teachingwithpicturebooks #childrensbooks #diversereads #kidlit #representationmatters #kidsbooks #diversebooksforkids #picturebooks #raisingreaders #teachersofinstagram #booksforkids #diversechildrensbooks