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The Year In Books : June 2015

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This is a first in a long time.  I read not one, not two but three books in May!  OK, they were slim volumes, but still! 😉

Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, Please Say Kaddish For Me was a page-turner.  Though a most difficult subject, Rochelle managed to weave throughout all the horror, a lot of beauty.  Her characters were, except for one, all easily fallen in love with.  Through her blog, I was able to read many of her character studies and learnt that this story was based on a true one.  All the more difficult.  A story of survival, of love, of moving forward despite the hardships and pain, Please Say Kaddish For Me was at times cringe-worthy followed by joyful tears.  I couldn’t put it down.

As a result of not being able to put it down, I found myself in the month of May with 16 more days to read!  So, I remained in the Jewish experience by finally reading Elie Wiesel’s Night. I could not put this one down either.  I can’t believe I had it in my bookshelves for so many years without picking it up.  Go figure.  16-year-old Elie, deeply religious, ends up going through many concentration camps with his father, slowly losing his beliefs.  The horrible things he goes through and manages to survive are just beyond imagination.   This one too, I gobbled up in no time.

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Still had a few days left in the month so I picked up Michael J. Fox’ sliver of a book A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Future.  I needed some lighter reading…  I had read his “Lucky Man” years ago and knew I was in for a good read.  I didn’t realize this was a book directed at graduates (kind of ironic, considering he never graduated high school; well, he did get his GED).  His goal was to encourage graduates to recognize opportunities and go with the flow in life.  He compares formal education of various subjects (economics, physics, geography, to name a few) to real-life learnings.  I enjoyed it.  Took me a day and a half to read it but I had no choice.  I had cakes to make!

Sooo… what to read for June?

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Time for dreaming.  Summer is ’round the corner, after all.  Having read the first two “Tuscany” books by Frances Mayes, I know I am totally going to love Every Day in Tuscany.  Between her lovely prose and her wonderful recipes, I’ll just imagine myself there – until I get there for “realz”!

39 thoughts on “The Year In Books : June 2015”

  2. The photo for this post really caught my attention. When I was doing my Masters in Theology we did a module on Christian-Jewish relations and the lecturer recommended reading books by Elie Wiesel. With everything else I had to do I never got around to it so thanks for the reminder. I’ll add him to my never ending to-read list!

    Michael J Fox’s book sounds great too, I’m going to have to hunt that one down.

    Well done for reading so many books – hope you enjoy dreaming of Tuscany (and that you get there in person as soon as possible)! 🙂

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    • I hear you about the never ending “to read” list! “Night” was a very quick read (only 120 pages) and I don’t know why I took so long to finally pick it up. I think I had to be in the mood for this type of book, though.
      The Fox book was a mere 100 pages! He does write well, however.
      Oh, Cathryn, if you knew just how much I want to get there… I’ve been buying a “Tuscany” calendar for four years in a row. Will continue to do so until I’ve reached the destination! Almost made it three years ago – right up to purchasing the airline tickets but had to get refunded as my father was ill… sigh…

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      • Oh I love shorter books. I can be such a slow reader sometimes, so knowing that both of these are less than 200 pages is very exciting!

        I’ve never been to Tuscany but have visited a few other places in Italy and I know you’ll love it when you go there. And you will get there! 🙂

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    • You and me both, Janet. Having read her first two “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Bella Tuscany”, I don’t even doubt it will be as wonderful. I’m only on page 10 or so and am already dreaming… I picture myself in some Nonna’s kitchen, kneading pasta dough with her, among other things; picking grapes to make wine; picking olives, curing them or pressing them into olive oil… (yeah, no, I don’t dream of living there at all!!!)

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    • It is not a joyful read, that’s for sure but well written and honest. Rochelle’s book felt more like a story, though based on truth. Very graphic details at certain points but also some beauty.

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  9. Have just put Please Say and several Elie Wiesel books on the “to read” pile….. all sorts of titles in that pile…. well several piles dotted around the house between boxes of things belongng to Youngest and his spouse…..

    As for Tuscany….. I have ancestors from Moltraiso on Lake Como so I suppose that it would have to be Lombardy for me…..

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    • I know what you mean, David. I’ve piles of books every where!
      Frankly, I would visit anywhere in Italy, just have a soft spot (sight unseen) for Tuscany… rather an obsession, I would say!

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  11. I’ve enjoyed Mayes’ books, too and your others sound just as comprlling for different reasons. I have s book on Israel history to read this summer, and have read quite a few by holocaust survivors. Thanks, Dale. Your salad looks delivious!!

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  13. Pingback: The Year in Books – January, 2016 | A Delectable Life

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