PLEASE: RSVP and let us know if you plan to come. Hope to see you at an upcoming book discussion! Find the Zoom link in our weekly newsletter or contact us.

Here is the reading list for 2024-2025:

Sunday, July 13, 2025
The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem: A Novel, by Sarit Yishai-Levi (translated by Anthony Berris) (Fiction, 383 pages) [NOTE:  New Book Selection]
FINALIST for the BOOK CLUB CATEGORY of the 2016 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS * #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER * NETFLIX SERIES

Gabriela's mother Luna is the most beautiful woman in all of Jerusalem, though her famed beauty and charm seem to be reserved for everyone but her daughter. Ever since Gabriela can remember, she and Luna have struggled to connect. But when tragedy strikes, Gabriela senses there's more to her mother than painted nails and lips.

Desperate to understand their relationship, Gabriela pieces together the stories of her family's previous generations—from Great-Grandmother Mercada the renowned healer, to Grandma Rosa who cleaned houses for the English, to Luna who had the nicest legs in Jerusalem. But as she uncovers shocking secrets, forbidden romances, and the family curse that links the women together, Gabriela must face a past and present far more complex than she ever imagined.

Set against the Golden Age of Hollywood, the dark days of World War II, and the swinging '70s, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem follows generations of unforgettable women as they forge their own paths through times of dramatic change. With great humor and heart, Sarit Yishai-Levi has given us a powerful story of love and forgiveness—and the unexpected and enchanting places we find each.

Sunday, May 18, 2025
Eternal Life: A Novel, by Dara Horn (Fiction, 256 pages)
NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * BOOKLIST EDITORS’ CHOICE * CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
What would it really mean to live forever? Rachel is a woman with a problem: she can’t die. Her recent troubles―widowhood, a failing business, an unemployed middle-aged son―are only the latest in a litany spanning dozens of countries, scores of marriages, and hundreds of children. Gripping, hilarious, and profoundly moving, Eternal Life celebrates the bonds between generations, the power of faith, the purpose of death, and the reasons for being alive. (Also by Dara Horn: A Guide for the Perplexed, All Others Nights and People Love Dead Jews)

Sunday, March 30, 2025
The Choice: Embrace the Possible: A Memoir, by Dr. Edith Eva Egar (Memoir, 321 pages)
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD AND CHRISTOPHER AWARD
At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.

“I’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger’s story…The Choice is a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times and that we all have the ability to pay attention to what we’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.” (Oprah) “Dr. Eger’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.” (Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate)

Sunday, January 12, 2025
My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir, by Meir Shalev (Memoir, 224 pages)
From the author of the acclaimed novel A Pigeon and a Boy comes a charming tale of family ties, over-the-top housekeeping, and the sport of storytelling in Nahalal, the village of Meir Shalev’s birth. Hilarious and touching, we meet Shalev’s amazing Grandma Tonia, who arrived in Palestine by boat from Russia in 1923 and lived in a constant state of battle with what she viewed as the family’s biggest enemy in their new land: dirt. The result, in this cheerful translation by Evan Fallenberg, is pure delight, as Shalev brings to life the obsessive but loving Tonia, the pioneers who gave his childhood its spirit of wonder, and the grit and humor of people building ever-new lives.

Sunday, November 10
The Paris Library: A Novel, by Janet Skeslien Charles (Fiction, 384 pages)
An instant New York Times, Washington Post, and USA TODAY bestseller. Based on the true story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris during World War II, The Paris Library is a moving and unforgettable “ode to the importance of libraries, books, and the human connections we find within both”. The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest places

Sunday, September 15, 2024
God is Here: Reimagining the Divine, by Toba Spitzer (Non-Fiction, 304 pages)
Toba Spitzer's God Is Here is a transformative exploration of the idea of God, offering new paths to experiencing the realm of the sacred. Rabbi Toba Spitzer understands that traditional ideas of God (too big, too impersonal, too unbelievable) often get in the way. In God Is Here, Spitzer argues that whether we believe in God or fervently disbelieve, what we are actually disagreeing about is not God at all, but a metaphor of a Big Powerful Person that limits our understanding and our spiritual lives. With God Is Here, Toba Spitzer will inspire you to find new and perhaps surprising ways of encountering the divine, right where you are.