Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt; Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; © 2016; ISBN9781616-203634; 354 pages; $26.95 By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – This is a story of two sisters and their “aunt” who are thrown together after the parents of the two sisters are killed in a car crash. When the younger sister, […]
Novel portrays loves of a family of three women Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. HarrisonJiang Chengbo looks at an ancient book in his bookstore(R). Two customers pick up books in Jiang’s bookstore (L). [Photo/Yangtze Evening News] A 90-year-old man who runs a 117-year-old antique bookstore inherited from his grandfather has become an internet celebrity, Yangtze Evening News reported. Jiang Chengbo, the owner and third generation successor of the bookstore,
90-yr-old becomes internet celebrity for running 117-year-old bookstore Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, InternationalNehemiah: Statesman and Sage by Dov S. Zakheim, Maggid Books., New Milfored, CT, ©2016, ISBN 978-1-59264-369-1, p. 246, $27.95 By Fred Reiss, Ed.D. WINCHESTER, California – In 586 BCE, Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, capital of the Judean monarchy, standing on Mt. Scopus, the present home of the Hebrew University, watched as his
Nehemiah, a builder with political savvy Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Fred Reiss, EdD, Jewish History, Jewish Religion
The Wondering Jew: My Journey into Judaism by Ellen Brazer; TCJ Publishing; ISBN 9780693-739945; 188 pages including book club questions, $12.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Novelist Ellen Brazer (Clouds Across the Sun; So It Was Written; Hearts of Fire) has authored a primer on the Jewish religion, perhaps as much for her
A Jewish primer laced with spiritual encounters Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion
Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy by Richard Michelson, illustrated by Edel Rodriguez; Alfred E. Knopf publisher; ISBN 9781101-933329; 28 pages, including author’s note, $17.99. SAN DIEGO – With all the ongoing celebrations of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary, the youngsters in your life may be wondering what all the hoopla is about. This short well-illustrated
A Leonard Nimoy biography for kids Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, Theatre, Film & Broadcast
LA JOLLA, California (Press Release) – To launch San Diego’s 22nd Annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair, a preview event will be held at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 20 with #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner, author of soon-to-be-released, Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing. The event will be held at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in
Author Jennifer Weiner to launch S.D. Jewish Book Fair Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, San Diego CalendarRome (dpa) – Former Pope Benedict XVI says he struggled with “practical government” at the Vatican, according to advance extracts from a book due out on Friday which were published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “A weak point of mine is perhaps my lack of resolve in governing and taking decisions,” Benedict says in
Ex-pope Benedict says he wasn’t much good at governing the Vatican Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, InternationalNASHVILLE, Tennessee (Press Release)–From piggy banks to that first savings account, many children are taught the value of saving from an early age. But as they grow to adolescence, following parental advice sometimes gives way to peer or media influences, and those once-thrifty children are now teenagers in a consumer-driven world where spending, not saving,
Raising thrifty and generous children Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, USA
Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman, © 2016 Prospect Park Books;; ISBN 978193-8849800; 255 pages. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Bertrand Court might be found in any suburban city of the United States; its characters are as familiar as your next door neighbors. Through Brafman’s fictional work, however, you may gain keener insight into your
Insight into some secrets of suburban life Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Every Day Lasts A Year: A Jewish Family’s Correspondence From Poland edited by Christopher R. Browning, Richard S. Hollander and Nechama Tec; Cambridge University Press; © 2014; ISBN 9781107-668768; 290 pages including index. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Richard Hollander, one of the editors of this work, is the son of Joseph Hollander,
Letters take readers inside the Holocaust Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish HistoryBy Dan Bloom CHIAYI CITY, TAIWAN –Aaron Thier is a 30-something writer born and bred in western Massachusetts, and his latest novel Mr. Eternity has just been published by Bloomsbury in New York. The time-travelling novel is both a comic novel and very serious novel at the same time, and it has been characterized already by readers as literary
In time of future disaster, there still will be humor Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short StoriesTreyf: My Quest for Identity in a Forbidden World by Elissa Altman; New American Library; 2016; ISBN 9780425-277812; 283 pages; $26. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – What is not kosher is treyf, literally meaning “torn” but generally meaning “forbidden” and one might anticipate that in Elissa Altman’s memoir, subtitled “My Quest for Identity
In this memoir, pork is a gateway to assimilation Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Leave Me by Gayle Forman; Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; © 2016; ISBN 9781616-206178; 343 pages; $26.95. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO –Maribeth Klein seemingly does it all. She has a prestigious job at a magazine. She has two preschool twins, and a husband who loves her. But when she has a heart attack,
Novel explores abandonment issues Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison
Chasing Portraits by Elizabeth Rynecki; New American Library, © 2016; ISBN 978110-1987667; 387 pages; $27. By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Coming this September is an art history book that fans of detective stories also may enjoy. Elizabeth Rynecki’s great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki, was a well-known artist, although not on the order of a Chagall
Art detective tracks down works of great grandfather Read More »
Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts