WHERE IS IT???

This takes real brains.  Or actually, no brains.  So I have this "theory" ... I have to read all my books before I put them in Yossi's a'h Library.  So Monday night I started a book.  I read maybe one chapter, maybe two.  I decided I didn't like that book so much, so I picked the other book I had brought into my room.  The second book was really good.  I ended up finishing it that night.  (I read fast when I want to, and I tend to stay up way too late.)  The funny thing is that I was halfway through the book when I kept trying to remember how the girl in the beginning of the book fit in.  Then I remembered that I had started a different book.  Oh yeah.  Duh.  So I finish the book.  I thought the next night I would go back and read the other book.  IT'S GONE!  I can't find it anywhere.  It was not the other book on my night table.  It's not in any piles of books on the coffee table.  It's not in the pile of books on my desk, or in the bookcase in the dining room.  I can't find the book anywhere.

Look, if anyone has read a book about a girl who took her baby to a clinic, and the nurse ended up making a home visit, PLEASE TELL ME THE NAME OF THE BOOK!!!  (The girls house was messy, and she was embarrassed when the nurse came by.  Her sister in law usually went with her to the doctor appointments, but she couldn't go that time.)  I can't remember the name of the character, because I have read so many books lately.  It's driving me nuts, because books don't just disappear.

Now let's talk about Jewish books today.  Years and years ago there were very few Jewish novels.  When a new one came out, it was so exciting.  The books were not ridiculously expensive either.  Now, a frum book costs around $20-$25 a book.  Some of the authors are GREAT!  They really think out their story line, developed their characters, and have great descriptions.  Others leave a lot to your imagination.  I am finding that the books seem to fall into two categories -- too realistic or too far out to believe.  Let's see, I just finished a book about a guy who happened to fall into the diamonds mafia.  He goes to West Africa as an undercover cop.  Really?  Do frum Jews really do these things?  I doubt it.  Then take a book where the girl had a hard time finding a shidduch (marriage partner).  Ok, like that never happens!  I don't want to read a book about how hard it is to lose your job, find a shidduch, have a kid with ADD.  I want to just read something fun.  I don't always want a fairy tale ending, but I also don't want so many characters to die (like in another book where the main character died near the end of the book.  boo, hiss!).  That also hits too close to home. Even with these little complaints, I am still more than thrilled at the amount and the quality of the frum books out there.


I have read a whole bunch of really good kosher books.  Years ago I decided not to read non-Jewish books.  A friend recommended the book, The Time Traveler's Wife. I love fantasy.  I love time travel.  Should be a great book, right? Well, there were parts of the book with real shmutz in it.  It didn't fit in with the story, just there for I don't know what.  I ended up skipping sections. When I was done with the book, I decided that I didn't want to sully my neshama with reading those books any more.  Hence, the need for good Jewish literature.

So here are a few of my recommendations.

First of all, not a book, but Zman Magazine gets my top vote.  The section of News You May Have Missed is worth the magazine alone.  The articles are all "kosher", even if they aren't Jewish in content.  This month there is an article on ice hotels.  Sometimes they add a frum spin on things.  The article about the doctor who killed patients during hurricane Katrina mentions at the end how halacha looks at this.  Two thumbs up.

Now, not in any particular order:
The Double Life of Chani Greenberg by Menucha Beckerman

Set Me Free by Esti Florans

Deep Blue by Meir Uri Gottesman (I can't find this one online to buy, only the ebook.)

All the books by Sarah Kisner and Devorah Rosen (I can't find a link with just her novels on it  Off Limits is one of my favorite of her books.)

A Daughter of Two Mothers by Miriam Cohen (I don't like historical fiction, but I loved this one and )

The Four Sesaons of Golda Mirel by Eva Vogiel (She is a very talented author.  I really enjoy her books a lot too, and she writes in many different styles, adult, young adult, short stories)

Amen Allowed M.C. Millman  She is another fantastic author.  She has written a lot of books that are good for many different ages.  Locked In Time was very thought provoking.

Reality Check by Faigy Peritzman is one of the newer books.  She seems to be a new author; looking forward to reading more of her books.

Brain Waves by Shuli Mensch

Authors Rachel Pomerantz and Riva Pomerantz

Interrupted Journey by Rachel Schorr, as well as her book, One Flight Up.

Mirror Image by Shevy Schottenstein

There are more novels out there, but my fingers are tired of typing.  Please share your favorite frum Jewish novels, even out of print ones.  Amazon and Ebay are my places for finding them, and I am always on the look out for more books for Yossi's (a'h) Library.

I can add more if people want requests.  This is only for novels, not short stories or biographies, historical fiction, or holocaust books.