Book Club
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Book Circle Delves Into Memoir About A Family Secret Finally Revealed
The Book Circle will meet for a second time in September to delve into Dani Shapiro’s memoir, Inheritance. In this work, the writer uncovers a family secret through an innocent curiosity about her own genealogy. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept. 26, at 3 p.m., in the shul’s community room.
In 2016, the writer submitted her DNA for analysis, and received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father, upending her entire history and the life she had lived. Inheritance is an audio book about secrets kept because of shame, self-protection, or from one another in the name of love. It is one woman’s quest to unlock the story of her own identity.
The Book Circle meets monthly to explore books with Jewish themes and/or those penned by Jewish writers. For more information about the group, email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Susan Rosenstreich, coordinator of the group.
Random reads
- Palestine 1936, Oren Kessler
Winner of the 2024 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, Oren Kessler delves into the roots of the Middle East conflict. Recommended by Booklist as “…key to understanding the current situation between Israelis and Palestinians.”
- Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical, Laurie Winer
Laurie Winer looks at Oscar Hammerstein, the man who, more than anyone else, invented the American musical. Among the most commercially successful artists of his time, he was also as fighter for social justice who constantly prodded his audiences to be better than they were.
- Judaism Is About Love, Shai Held
Rabbi Shai Held, one of the most important Jewish thinkers in America today finds the heart in Jewish tradition, making the case that Judaism is about love as much as it is about law.
Book Circle Discovers Nice Jewish Mother Was Actually A Crime Boss
It going to be a fun read for the bookies when they get into Margalit Fox’s The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an Organized Crime Boss. It turns out that this nice Jewish mother planned robberies of cash, gold and diamonds throughout the country, rising from tenement poverty to vast wealth, a fixture of high society and an admired philanthropist. How did she do it?
When the Book Circle meets on Thursday, September 5, at 3 p.m., in Andrew Levin Park, all will be revealed. What The Shofar knows so far is that Fredericka Mandelbaum wasn’t just a successful crook; she was a business visionary — one of the first entrepreneurs in America to systemize the scattershot enterprise of property crime. Handpicking a cadre of bank robbers, housebreakers ad shoplifters, she turned theft into as viable business.
The Book Circle meets monthly to read and discuss books about Jews and Jewish interest. For more information, email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Suzi Rosenstreich, coordinator of the group.
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