Jewish Book Club
The Jewish Book Club is a great way for book lovers to enjoy getting to know each other through lively discussion about great books with Jewish and literary value. Selections are mostly fiction, occasional biography/memoir or historical non-fiction. The book clubs meets on Zoom, and occasionally in person, at 12:00pm on the second Tuesday of each month. Below are the selections for the rest of the year.
If you would like to take part, please email IHC librarian emerita Evelyn Pockrass.
Tuesday, January 9
Code Name Sapphire by Pam Jenoff
In 1942, Hannah wants to go to America but is living in Belgium with her cousin Lily, and Lily’s family. Desperate and conflicted, she joins the resistance and then is torn as she tries to save loved ones from being sent to Auschwitz.
Tuesday, February 13
The Collector by Daniel Silva
Gabriel Allon, art restorer and a former leader of the Mossad, is retired, living with his family in Venice, when he is asked to track down a missing masterpiece of art. Ingrid, a young, beautiful Danish computer hacker and thief, is Gabriel’s unlikely helper in resolving the mystery. Exciting climax to story takes place in Russia.
Tuesday, March 12
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Set in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1920s and 1930s, a time when African-Americans, Jews and other immigrants struggled to survive, the grocery store embodies the heart of the novel, where compassion and community battle discrimination. McBride’s characters are brought to life by his outstanding use of dialogue and his descriptive skills.
Tuesday, April 9
The Dissident by Paul Goldberg
In 1976, Viktor, a refusnik in the Soviet Union, becomes a suspect in a murder investigation in this highly satirical novel focusing on that government’s illogical actions against Jews. Goldberg, born in the U.S.S.R, deftly explains and translates all English and Russian terminology.
Tuesday, May 14
Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger
Pearl and her sister Frieda hope to escape the turmoil in Europe in the 1920s by fleeing to the United States, but instead, find themselves in the totally vibrant different world of Havana, Cuba. This is an absorbing and compelling family drama with distinctive and memorable characters.
Tuesday, June 11
Kanitka by Elizabeth Graver
Based on her Sephardic family’s history, Graver’s novel follows Rebecca and her family from 1907 Constantinople to Barcelona, to Havana, and then to New York City, spanning the first half of the twentieth century. Rebecca faces the challenges of being an immigrant in a foreign country as well as the joys and unanticipated hardships of life. Family photos enhance the reading of this novel.
