I have read and reviewed many books in 2008, written by Jewish authors, or about Judaism in some aspect, whether it was a novel or a non-fiction book. I have gained something from each and every one of them, but the books that I list below are the ones that left a strong impression in my mind, or had a profound impact on me. This does not diminish the other books not listed in any way. I have read some of these books listed more than once, and have referred to a page or more in most of them throughout the year.

Dawn, by Elie Wiesel

The Diary of Peter Ginz, by Peter Ginz

Survival in Auschwitz, by Primo Levi

Heschel’s Kingdom, by Dan Jacobson

The Same Sea, by Amos Oz

The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, by Lucette Lagnado

Every Day Lasts a Year, by Richard Hollander

People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks

The Savior, by Eugene Drucker

An Uncommon Friendship, by Bernat Rosner and Frederic C. Tubach

This Has Happened, by Piera Sonnino

Kaddish, by Leon Wieseltier

Rutka’s Notebook, by Rutka Laksier

Flory, by Flory Van Beek

The Dream, by Harry Bernstein

A Late Divorce, by A.B. Yehoshua

Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto, by Walter Reich

Blackmore Park in World War II, by Fran and Martin Collins

Five Chimneys, by Olga Lengyel

The Enemy at His Pleasure, by S. Ansky

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor E. Frankl

The Righteous Among the Nations, by Mordecai Paldiel

Joshua and Isadora, by Michael Benanav

The Reawakening, by Primo Levi

The Gates of November, by Chaim Potok

Sarah’s Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay

Two Lives, by Vikram Seth

Skeletons at the Feast, by Chris Bohjalian

The Holocaust by Bullets, by Father Patrick Desbois

Vita, by Melania G. Mazzucco

The Book of Customs, by Scott Martin Kosofsky

The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust, by Martin Gilbert

Mourning & Mitzvah, by Anne Brener

Where She Came From, by Helen Epstein

The Time of the Uprooted, by Elie Wiesel

Legends of Our Time, by Elie Wiesel

Thanks to My Mother, by Schoschana Rabinovici

The Judges, by Elie Wiesel

The Tranquil Star, by Primo Levi

Hours of Devotion, by Dinah Berland

The Black Seasons, by Michal Glowinski

Everyman, by Philip Roth

The Pianist, by Wladyslaw Szpilman

Messengers of God, by Elie Wiesel

The i Tetralogy, by Mathias B. Freese

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon

Esau, by Meir Shalev

Wandering Star, by J.M.G. Le Clezio

Wise Men and Their Tales, by Elie Wiesel

Italy’s Sorrow, by James Holland

The Fifth Son, by Elie Wiesel

Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction, by Martin Gilbert

Towers of Gold, by Frances Dinkelspiel

The Pages In Between, by Erin Einhorn

The Women’s Torah Commentary, by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein

Yesterday, by Hadassah Rosensaft

BESA: Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II, by Norman H. Gershman

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, by Georgio Bassani

The Zookeeper’s Wife, by Diane Ackerman

A Thread of Grace, by Mary Doria Russell

Novels by Irene Nemirovsky

Children in the Holocaust and World War II, by Laurel Holliday

Lambrusco, by Ellen Cooney

Infidelities, by Josip Novakovich

City of Dreams, by Beverly Swerling

My Grandfather’s Blessings, by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.

Does the Soul Survive?, by Elie Kaplan Spitz

Books are windows to the world, and to the soul.

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Jew Wishes…Peace to you all.
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Tuesday January 6, 2009 – 10th of Tevet, 5769