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a wrinkle in time

an old favorite that's nice to revisit every now and again. I have a newfound appreciation for all these characters and their trials.

#madeleine l'engle

living a life that matters

reading this book helped me focus some of my attention and energy, and revitalized my understanding of why religious practice, including prayer, is important. also, it solidified my choice of a jewish name.

#rabbi harold s. kushner

when bad things happen to good people

this author shares a few perspectives that I find limiting, but on the whole, I think this book is invaluable for anyone who struggles with locating suffering in his or her life and relationship to god or the universe. while those are questions that I have spent lots of time thinking through, I found it so refreshing to read rabbi kushner walk through the problems with many concepts of suffering and articulate other ways of thinking about or reacting to suffering.

#rabbi harold s. kushner

the phantom tollbooth

a little gimmicky for my tastes, but a charming and pedantic adventure that was fun for even me, an adult, while on an airplane trip.

#norton juster

the gift of rest: rediscovering the beauty of the sabbath

I never claimed to be a gourmet reader.

the synagogue has lots of copies of this book lying around and shabbat has been an ongoing challenge for me, so I read it. from the presumptive title to the frequent name drops, this book has a lot of irritating quirks, and I can't say that I care much for the author's politics. but it presents a good argument for keeping shabbat and makes some suggestions about how to do so within and outside the jewish context.

#senator joe lieberman

the corrosion of character: the personal consequences of work in the new capitalism

richard sennett helps us better understand the effects of new work systems and structures on our ability to build and maintain careers, families, and communities. it is a useful book and only the more riveting for having been written before the recession that started in 2008. and it's easier to locate myself and my challenges in finding the right kind of work with this different model of work in society today.

#richard sennett

debt: the first 5,000 years

I've already given this book to one person, and I imagine I'll give it to someone else before the year is out. I found it useful not only for shifting my mindset on debt and my understanding of the evolution of debt in economic systems, but also for teaching me to appreciate the anthropological approach to history.

#david graeber

a constellation of vital phenomena

this book was my first introduction to chechnya, and this portrait felt detailed without sacrificing its view of the universal. leaps in time and perspective round out the narrative. and there are words such as these:

Life: a constellation of vital phenomena—organization, irritability, movement, growth, reproduction, adaptation.

#anthony marra

the book of my lives

so this, ladies and gentlemen, is what this little narrative is about: those rare moments of transcendence that might be familiar to those who play sports with other people; the moment, arising from the chaos of the game, when all your teammates occupy an ideal position on the field; the moment when the universe seems to be arranged by a meaningful will that is not yours; the moment that perishes—as all moments tend to—when you complete a pass. And all you are left with is a vague, physical, orgasmic memory of the evanescent instant when you were completely connected with everything and everyone around you.

later, when we learn of the death of his child:

one of the most despicable religious fallacies is that suffering is ennobling, that it is a step on the path to some kind of enlightenment or salvation.

but we can find these transcendent moments of connection, opportunities to encounter others.

#aleksandar hemon

a small corner of hell: dispatches from chechnya

a compelling set of writings from a journalist in chechnya in 2002. she is a good storyteller and a sharp analyst.

#anna politskovskaya

jewish literacy

(ugh, five months out of date. who knows what I will miss in this cleanup?)

this book is a good introduction to and overview of the jewish world. it's an encyclopedia of sorts. but beware of the ideology that creeps in along with the zionism entires. some of it shows up in discussions of modern practices as well.

#rabbi joseph telushkin

common ground in a liquid city: essays in defense of an urban future

this is a great little book (although I could live with a little less voice from our guide through comparative urban analysis) because of its insistent commitment to lofty ethical principles and its stubborn optimism in the face of real challenges for thoughtful people worried about what will happen to the world if we aren't better at living in cities. and in the end, his reliance on his own voice and experience lends the book a credence that it might otherwise lack.

#matt hern

homeland: the illustrated history of the state of israel

this book is a great example of obviously biased writing and publishing.

#mary wolfman #mario ruiz #william j. rubin

back to the sources: reading classic jewish texts

a good transition from all the introduction books to more complex thought on substantive questions.

#barry w. holz

y the last man, vol. 10: whys and wherefores

WHAT THE HELL

#brian k. vaughan #pia guerra

joe the barbarian

this is a great comic. the drawing and color are beautiful, the story is creative and original, and joe is an everyday hero.