Michael Wex, author of Rhapsody in Schmaltz (St. Martin’s Press, 2016), will close the Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival on Dec. 1. “Heavy, unsubtle and, once it emerged from Eastern Europe, redolent of an elsewhere that nobody missed, the…
The top three picks of B.C. teachers for elementary school students. As part of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s 100th anniversary, the BCTF encouraged members to recommend their favorite kids books to celebrate literacy and lifelong learning. It asked teachers: “What are…
Noa Baum, one of the presenters at this year’s Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival, is a professional storyteller who, in recent years, has dedicated herself to promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. She has taken a long road to…
Robin Esrock contemplating ancient wonders in Turkey. (photo by Paul Vance/EWM) Read about Robin Esrock’s visit to a fountain of youth in Colombia, his rail journey across Siberia, his diving lessons in Papua New Guinea. Esrock has traveled to more…
Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt, authors of JewAsian, will be at the Jewish Book Festival on Nov. 28. (photo by Matthew Zimmerman Banderas) The recently published book JewAsian: Race, Religion and Identity for America’s Newest Jews by Helen Kim and…
When I saw the table of contents of The Poems of H. Leivick and Others: Yiddish Poetry in Translation by Leon H. Gildin (Finishing Line Press), a lovely little book of translated Yiddish poems by Leivick and other noted poets,…
Singer/songwriter Jennifer Gasoi, seen here in a promotional shot for her new book, was back in her hometown last month. (photo by Philove) Jennifer Gasoi’s new book, Blue and Red Make Purple, is both a hardcover children’s book and a CD…
Many people have read an enormous amount of Holocaust literature during their lifetime. The stories are tragic, horrifying, heartbreaking. No matter how many books you read, or films and documentaries you see, you can never come to terms with the…
Mark Waldman has been working with neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Newberg for almost two decades, including on their latest book, Words Can Change Your Brain. (photo from Mark Waldman) According to Dr. Andrew Newberg, neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, and Mark…
Isaac Waldman Jewish Public Library librarian Helen Pinsky, left, and master’s student Alisa Lazear, who is working on the library’s audiobooks collection. (photo by Olga Livshin) In past centuries, reading aloud was an integral part of family life. People gathered…
