Category: Book Reviews

June 22, 2010

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth *** (of 4)

No writer captures anxiety, apprehension, fear, and hopelessness better than Roth. I cannot think of a happy or fulfilled character in a single one of...

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June 22, 2010

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks **** (of 4)

An extensively researched fictional account of the survival of the Sarajevo Haggadah, the luminescently illustrated (that alone is unusual for a Jewish book) account of...

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June 22, 2010

Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky *** (of 4)

As a Hampshire College student in the late 70s, Lansky decides to learn Yiddish. At that time Yiddish, having barely survived the murderous rampage of...

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June 22, 2010

Old Men at Midnight by Chaim Potok *** (of 4)

Enigmatic. I went back and forth between thinking the three short stories were too simple, too typical, not completely unique recountings of Jewish suffering in...

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June 22, 2010

O Jerusalem by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre **** (of 4)

Very engaging history of Israel war for independence. I read it in 2001 before I was keeping this book blog.

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June 22, 2010

Nuremberg: The Reckoning, by William F. Buckley ** (of 4)

It was surprisingly bad. I learned a fair amount about the Nuremberg trials after WWII, but was shocked by how trivial the plot was and...

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June 22, 2010

Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis **** (of 4)

This short collection of short stories is a wonderful piece of honey cake with a glass of tea. A Jewish Russian immigrant to Toronto describes...

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June 22, 2010

Mila 18 by Leon Uris **** (of 4)

One of my absolute favorite books about the Warsaw ghetto uprising. A real page turner with wonderful characterizations.

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June 22, 2010

Martyr’s Crossing, by Amy Wilentz ** (of 4)

Not great writing, but very informative about the checkpoints in Middle East before the Second Intifada made them even worse.

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June 21, 2010

The Lost: A search for six of six million, by Daniel Mendelsohn **** (of 4)

Nearly sixty years after the author’s great-uncle, wife, and four daughters disappeared in the Holocaust, the author searches for their memories. Beginning with his grandfather’s...

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