February Jewish Book Carnival 2019

I am excited to present this month's 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, the Carnival travels around and is hosted on a different participant's site on the 15th of each month. 

For me February has always been the month that looks both ways: one face toward winter and the other yearning for spring. What better way to reconcile this paradox than with some Jewish reading to help you through it. Enjoy!

The carnival kicks-off with Jill at Rhapsody in Books who reviewed "My Real Name Is Hanna" by Tara Lynn Masih in January. This book for young adults (and older) is based on the true story of the Stermer family, who were in the five percent of Jews surviving the Holocaust in the Ukraine, out of a total of between 1.2 and 1.6 million Jews. This is one of the most inspirational stories you will read, and is not at all depressing or scary in the way some stories about the Holocaust can be. Rather, it is a story of defiance and resilience, and about carving out a path not only for coping with evil, but outwitting it.

Here on gilagreenwrites, I enjoyed interviewing fellow author in Israel Yael Shachar about her intriguing new book, Returning. This book was in some ways triggered by memory, according to Yael. She wrote it as she struggled to make sense of something remembered but not quite understood. Worth reading!

It's been a busy time at the Association of Jewish libraries, which means there are two entries to explore this month. First, the Book of Life Podcast offers an interview with the chair of the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee, discussing the 2019 winners of the prize for the best Jewish kidlit of the year.

Second and equally worth checking out: The Association of Jewish Libraries presents the 2019 Sydney Taylor Book Award Blog Tour, featuring interviews with award winners hosted on various Jewish and literary blogs. Find the blog tour schedule here. Enjoy, and please do leave comments for the bloggers!

Deborah Kalb regularly presents new authors on her site. This month on her Book Q&As blog, she interviewed author Rachel DeWoskin about her new YA novel Someday We Will Fly, which focuses on the Shanghai Jewish community during World War II.

Howard Lovy has something for both subscribers and non-subscribers this month. He recently interviewed Deborah Lipstadt for Publishers Weekly regarding her new book, "Anti-Semitism Here and Now."

Plus, for subscribers, here's a half hour interview with Lipstadt on his podcast, Emet.

Over at The Whole Megillah, Barbara Krasner interviews author Susan L. Ross about her new middle-grade novel, Searching for Lottie Author's Notebook | Searching for Lottie by Susan L. Ross

On her My Machberet blog, Erika Dreifus routinely compiles news of Jewish literary interest. Here's one recent post, which kicks off with a preview of the latest edition of the Jewish Book Council's Paper Brigade magazine.

It's never too early to think about Passover and with spring around the corner, this month's Life Is Like a Library looks at Koren's new Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel and Debbie Sassen's The $1K Investor.