• Lee and Me: An Intimate portrait of Lee Krasner, by Ruth Appelhof

Lee Krasner is one of the major woman artists of the 20th century. This memoir is full of firsthand material based on interviews with Krasner and with her friends, fellow artists, gallerists and curators. Often seen in her role as Pollock’s companion and then widow, Krasner made important contributions to the development of American abstract expressionism. The book arose from the author’s summer with the artist in 1974.

  • Jewish Sports Legends: The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, by Joseph Siegman

Following the 1972 Olympics, one sportswriter referred to Mark Spitz, winner of seven gold medals, as “the first great Jewish athlete.” He couldn’t have been more wrong. As this book shows, Jews have excelled at athletics for centuries.

  • The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots That Shook New York City, by Scott D. Seligman

On May 15, 1902, 3,000 Jewish women quietly took up positions on the streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Convinced by the latest jump in the price of kosher meat that they were being gouged, they assembled in squads of five, intent on shutting down every kosher butcher shop in New York’s Jewish quarter.           —Compiled by Miriam Gabriel