Friday the Rabbi Slept Late by Harry Kemelman is a classic mystery novel (originally published in 1964) that I wish more people had read (and am constantly recommending)! The hero of the book is a young rabbi in suburban Massachusetts. After the body of a strangled woman is found at the temple where he leads his congregation, Rabbi Small uses his Talmudic training to help the Irish local police chief solve the crime. Kemelman wrote 11 Rabbi Small novels, so if this is your cup of tea, there’s plenty to keep you reading for a while! This is the book for someone who likes mystery but doesn’t want one that’s too contemporary or dark (like ^).  

Historical Fiction 

Hotel Cuba by Aaron Hamburger is a new novel about a Jewish woman who flees Eastern Europe with her sister after World War I and ends up in Cuba (even though she dreams of making it all the way to America). Pearl and her sister Frieda are great characters, and I couldn’t set this novel down. My own grandfather emigrated to Mexico with his family due to the immigration laws/quotas enacted by the U.S. government after WWI, and this novel really hit home for me. I appreciated that it highlights a less traditional Jewish immigration path that a lot of people may not be as familiar with, and it’s just a good read! This is the book for someone that enjoys historical fiction and a strong female main character! 

Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman is a romance novel set in London in 1832. Isabelle Lira is a wealthy Sephardic Jew looking for a husband to help cement her social standing in a London that is complicated for Jews socially, politically, and professionally. When she meets the custodian at her synagogue (who is Ashkenazi, poor, and without family — so not a candidate for her husband), she enlists his help in selecting her future husband. His being gorgeous and their chemistry changes her plans! This is the book for someone that wants something light, fun, and a little bit hot — but who also wants to learn a little bit (about Jewish English life in the 19th century)! 

Literary Fiction 

Poland, a Green Land by Aharon Appelfeld wasn’t published in the U.S. until this year (he died in 2018), and it’s a gorgeous novel about an Israeli shopkeeper who decides to visit his parents’ Polish birthplace. What he finds when he arrives is heartbreaking and complex, and the novel is a powerful exploration of the child of survivors trying to come to terms with his family history. This is for someone who loves fiction, beautiful writing, and WWII and Eastern European history.  

All-Night Pharmacy by Ruth Madievsky is hard to describe. On its face, it’s about a young woman in California struggling with addiction, a toxic family history, trauma, and just not knowing what to do with her life, but it’s more than that, too. I can’t stop thinking about this debut novel that manages to be both completely contemporary and infused throughout with Jewish themes and references (dybbuks/golems, intergenerational trauma, Shoah grief, Jewish/Eastern European history/memories, struggling with estrangement from Judaism in modern America). This is the book for someone that’s looking for a book that will surprise or shock them – something different!