Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet
Constitutional scholar Jeffrey Rosen’s new biography Louis D. Brandeis: American Prophet coincides with the 100th anniversary of the confirmation of America’s first Jewish Supreme Court justice.
A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen
In his well-crafted biography, A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen, Tablet magazine senior writer Liel Leibovitz explores Cohen's enduring impact as a poet, lyricist, songwriter, and Jewish icon.
Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen
By the time she was 3 years old, Jazz Jennings (not her original first name or her real last name) knew she was meant to be a girl. In her new book Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teenager, Jazz tells her story, including how she and her family became reality TV stars and outspoken advocates for transgender rights.
Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story
Matti Friedman was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Forces at 20, along with 19 other young recruits, and sent to a border outpost in Lebanon called Pumpkin Hill, which he describes as “a forgotten little corner of a forgotten little war.” Israeli casualties of Hezbollah guerilla attacks were code-named “flowers,” hence the title of his new book, Pumpkinflowers A Soldier’s Story (Algonquin Books, 2016).
The Debt of Tamar
The Debt of Tamar, a self-published online sensation picked up by St. Martin’s Press in 2015, is a Nicholas Sparks-esque pastiche of fated love, hereditary burdens, and international flair. Spanning centuries from an auto-da-fé in Portugal to Nazi-occupied Paris to modern-day Istanbul and New York, Nicole Dweck’s vivid descriptions of iconic cities and idealized characters make for an enjoyable read.
The New Reform Judaism: Challenges and Reflections
The tent of Judaism is expanding. As a result, the ways in which Jews engage in worship and ritual, understand observances and practices, and relate to God and the Jewish community are in constant flux.
Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself
Hardly a week goes by without news of religious extremists committing atrocities against people of other faiths in the name of God or some other holy cause. As a result, “religion” itself has been put on trial.
The Life of Saul Bellow: To Fame and Fortune, 1915-1964
To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nobel Prize-winning author Saul Bellow (1915-2005), Zachary Leader, professor of English Literature at the University of Roehampton, has published the first of a two-volume definitive biography.
Stolen Words: The Nazi Plunder of Jewish Books
In his fascinating and eminently readable new book, Stolen Words: The Nazi Plunder of Jewish Books(Jewish Publication Society, 2016), Rabbi Mark Glickman reminds us that Jews have always relied on books as essential sinews, binding Jews to God, to each other, and to the rest of humanity, regardless of time or space.