As the blogger behind My Machberet, I am delighted to welcome you to the December home for the Jewish Book Carnival. Launched by Heidi Estrin and Marie Cloutier, the Carnival is a monthly event where bloggers who blog about Jewish books can meet, read, and comment on each others’ posts. The co-creators established it to build community among bloggers and blogs who feature Jewish books. The Carnival is headquartered on the Association of Jewish Libraries blog, and it runs every month on the 15th.
Without further ado, I am proud to present the December Carnival:
- Children’s author Sylvia Rouss shares the “Hanukkah Origins of Sammy Spider.”
- From Jewesses with Attitude, a blog from the Jewish Women’s Archive: Renee Ghert-Zand writes about The Bookseller’s Sonnets, Andi L. Rosenthal’s debut novel.
- JewishBoston.com sends along two posts: one, “Becoming Thankful for Jewish Book Month,” which focuses on Linda R. Silver’s Best Jewish Books for Children and Teens, and another, by David Levy, advocating that we “Give Comics for Chanukah” and featuring short reviews of recently published Jewish-themed comics.
- On her Jewish Muse blog, Linda K. Wertheimer describes the books that created her first Jewish community–and tells us about a more recent read: Naomi Ragen’s latest novel, The Tenth Song.
- On his 12:12 blog, Jewish Journal Books Editor Jonathan Kirsch reviews Ruth Franklin’s A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction.
- Margo Tanenbaum shares eight favorite Chanukah reads on The Fourth Musketeer.
- The Association of Jewish Libraries recently celebrated its first-ever Library Snapshot Day, and captured the occasion on the People of the Book blog (with video!).
- Heidi Estrin’s Book of Life blog/podcast series introduces “Shalom Sesame.”
- On The Whole Megillah, Barbara Krasner reviews The Hanukkah Trike, written by Michelle Edwards and illustrated by Kathryn Mitter.
- In a guest post for the Jewish Book Council blog, author Avi Steinberg (Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian) describes some Kafkaesque experiences. Also on the JBC blog: an invitation for readers to meet up on Twitter on January 12 to discuss Elizabeth Rosner’s novel, Blue Nude.
- Ilana-Davita writes about a recent read: Mitzvah Girls: Bringing Up the Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn, by Ayala Fader.
- Jew Wishes reviews Stronger Than Iron: The Destruction of Vilna Jewry 1941-1945: An Eyewitness Account, by Mendel Balberyszski.
- And last, but perhaps not least: please enjoy my enthusiastic take on Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English, a novel by U.K. author Natasha Solomons.