Erika Dreifus

The My Machberet blog is proud to serve as this month’s host for the Jewish Book Carnival, a monthly event where those who cover Jewish books online “can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts.” Organized by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL), the Carnival travels around and is hosted on a different participant’s site on the 15th of each month.

As I prepared this Carnival, I realized that this is the 15th time that I’m hosting! Please take a look at past posts—they go back to 2010!

Herewith, the January 2023 Carnival.

• At Life Is Like a Library, Chava Pinchuck reviews John Boyne’s All the Broken Places, the sequel to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
• On her blog, Mirta Ines Trupp talks with novelist and poet Magdalena Ball about the immigrant experience and the complexity of retelling one’s history. 
• This month on gilagreenwrites, Gila Green explores the art of memoir writing in an interview with author Angela Himsel.
• On her blog Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, Deborah interviews Meira Drazin about her new middle-grade novel, Honey and Me.
• At The Whole Megillah, Barbara Krasner interviews Jacqueline Jules about her middle-grade novel in verse, My Name Is Hamburger (Kar-Ben, 2022).
• At Jewish Books for Kids and More, Barbara Bietz interviews RM Romero, author of The Ghosts of Rose Hill.
• The Book of Life podcast brings you an interview with Sacha Lamb, author of the debut YA queer Jewish historical fantasy When the Angels Left the Old Country.
• The Association of Jewish Libraries has announced the Spring 2023 Holiday Highlights list of recommended recently published children’s books about Jewish holidays. The list includes books for Purim, Passover, and Tisha B’Av.
• The Sydney Taylor Shmooze mock award blog is holding its annual vote to choose the best Jewish children’s and teen books of the year, and you are invited to participate! Round 2 of voting takes place January 16-20 and the winners of the Mock Award will be announced on January 22, 2023.
• And last, but not least: I continue to curate and compile weekly posts featuring “Jewish literary links” right here on My Machberet. Take a look at the most recent installment.