Readers' Advisory

Recommendations for a variety of interests and tastes from our collection.

HISTORICAL FICTION

If you like The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, try:

The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. This book follows the story of Hannah Heath, a rare-book specialist, as she restores the Sarajevo Haggadah. Interspersed within this main narrative are chapters telling the story of the book itself and the people who owned it throughout different periods of history.

If you like All Other Nights by Dara Horn, try:

Songs for the Butcher's Daughter by Peter Manseau. Focusing on the story of a fictional Yiddish poet named Itsik Malpesh whose memoirs of traveling from Russia to Poland to New York while fleeing anti-Semitism are being translated from Yiddish by a young American Catholic, this book also tells the story of the young translator himself and the process by which the Yiddish text is translated into English.

The World to Come by Dara Horn. Starting from the story of an actual art theft, Horn tells the stories of several characters both real and fictional, including March Chagall and the Ziskind family of New Jersey.

If you like The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory, try:

The Rashi's Daughters Series by Maggie Anton (start with Joheved). This series of three books follows the stories of the three daughters of the medieval Jewish scholar Salomon ben Isaac, also known as "Rashi." Each book focuses on the story of one of the three daughters and tells of their life studying the Talmud.

The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory. This novel of the Tudor court tells the story of Hannah Green, a 14-year old Jewish girl who comes to England to escape the Spanish Inquisition and ultimately becomes a court fool and spy in the Tudor court. Through her eyes, the readers see not only the Tudor court but all both Mary and Elizabeth who were vying for control of the throne.

Shylock's Daughter by Erica Jong. Starting in modern day Venice, this book tells the story of an actress who is transported back in time to sixteenth-century Venice where she meets, and embarks on a love affair with, William Shakespeare.

OTHER HISTORICAL FICTION

Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure by Michael Chabon. Telling the tale of Zelikman, a Frank, and Amram, an Abyssinian, in 10^th-century Khazaria, this book is a historical adventure in the vein of 19^th century dime novels or pulp fiction. Chabon makes use of popular conventions from these types of literature and in keeping with that tradition, this book was originally serialized in the Sunday New York Times Magazine.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. More accurately an alternate-history novel than a historical novel, this mystery takes place in a fictional Sitka, Alaska that has been set aside as a home for Jewish people displaced by World War II. Against that backdrop, Chabon crafts a noir murder mystery that follows Meyer Landsman, a drunken cop, who investigates an underworld of Orthodox gangs with his half-Tlingit, half-Jewish partner and his ex-wife, who is also his boss.

The Source by James Michener. This epic book tells the history of Israel through the story of the fictitious city of Makor. Starting on an archeological dig in the 1960�s, the book then goes back to the time of the earliest artifact found in the dig and continues forward from there with chapters on each of the groups that have inhabited the area.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Made into an Academy Award nominated movie in 2008, this book tells the story of a 15-year old boy who begins an affair with Hanna, a woman twice his age in postwar Germany. Throughout their relationship, she remains mysterious and then ultimately disappears. Years later, the boy, now a law student, encounters Hanna again while she is on trial for crimes committed during the war and slowly discovers her secrets.

The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva. Set in Britain during World War II, this is the story of a history professor, who is enlisted by Churchill himself to serve as a counterintelligence operative for Britain, and his counterpart, an apparent war widow and volunteer, who is really a Nazi spy.

FICTION BASED ON BIBLE STORIES

If you like The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, try:

Sarah : Women of Genesis by Orson Scott Card. Though Orson Scott Card is mostly known for his science fiction and fantasy, this book is a researched retelling of the story of Sarah, Abraham�s wife. The book is told from the perspective of both Sarah and her sister.

The Song of Hannah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy. This book is a fictionalized retelling of the story of Hannah and her son, the prophet Samuel.

The Garden of Ruth by Eva Etzioni-Halevy. Retelling the story of Ruth, this book opens with the discovery of a scroll by a young girl named Osnath, niece of the prophet Samuel, and details her search for the truth about Ruth�s secrets.

The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy. Set in ancient Israel, this book tells the story of three women, including a respected judge named Deborah.

MYSTERIES/DETECTIVE NOVELS

If you like Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, try:

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon. Though no name is ever given to the 89-year old sleuth at the heart of this WWII-era mystery, Chabon includes enough details to suggest to the reader that this man is the retired Holmes. The mystery itself pertains to the theft of a parrot that belongs to a mute boy who is a refugee from Nazi Germany.

Jerusalem by Laurie R. King. Part of an ongoing series of books about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, this book is set in 1918 when Holmes and Russell travel to British-occupied Palestine to flee threats in England and simultaneously investigate a series of murders.

If you like Faithful Place by Tana French or the Kurt Wallander mysteries by Henning Mankell, try:

The Michael Ohayon mysteries by Batya Gur (start with The Saturday Morning Murder). Set in modern day Israel, these mysteries follow the investigations of Chief Inspector Michael Ohayon. The first book in the series is The Saturday Morning Murder which covers the investigation into the murder of a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Psychoanalytic Institute.

If you like the Kay Scarpetta novels by Patricia Cornwell or the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries by Sue Grafton, try:

The Decker and Lazarus novels by Faye Kellerman (start with The Ritual Bath). This series follows an LAPD detective named Peter Decker and an Orthodox widow named Rina Lazarus as they solve mysteries in southern California. In the first book of the series, The Ritual Bath, Peter meets Rina while investigating a crime committed at the mikvah she manages.

If you like the Lincoln Rhyme or Kathryn Dance novels by Jeffrey Deaver, try:

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs. This book is part of an ongoing series about Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist in Quebec. In this entry in the series, Temperance travels to Israel to solve the death of an Orthodox Jewish antiquities merchant.

OTHER MYSTERY SERIES

The Rabbi Small mysteries by Harry Kemelman. This series follows the investigations of a Rabbi who is pulled into murder investigations in his community. The first book, Friday the Rabbi Slept Late, finds the Rabbi investigating the murder of a local nanny to clear his name.

The Ruby the Rabbi's Wife mysteries by Sharon Kahn. These novels follow Ruby, a Rabbi�s widow, who investigates murder in her Texas community. The first book, Fax Me a Bagel, finds her investigating a poisoning death where she might have been the intended victim.

THRILLERS

If you like The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown or The Camel Club by David Baldacci, try:

The Gabriel Allon novels by Daniel Silva. This series follows a former Israeli operative, Gabriel Allon, as he is drawn out of his new life as an art restorer and back into his old life of espionage. The first book in the series, The Kill Artist, deals with the capture of a Palestinian assassin.

SHORT STORIES

If you like short stories by Haruki Murakami, try:

The Nimrod Flipout, The Girl on the Fridge or The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God by Etgar Keret. Keret, an Israeli author with several collections of short fiction available in English, writes in a unique style using slang and simple language throughout his fantastical stories. Most of his stories are very short, with some only three or four pages long, although The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God also includes a novella.

MORE SHORT STORIES

For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander. This collection of short stories includes humorous and touching stories by the author of The Ministry of Special Cases.

Lost Tribe: Jewish Fiction From The Edge edited by Paul Zakrzewski. This anthology brings together stories by 25 Jewish authors each with a unique perspective on modern Jewish life.

GENERAL FICTION

If you like Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foers, try:

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foers. This book tells the story of a young, Jewish-American, named Jonathan Safran Foers, and a Ukrainian translator who embark on journey through Eastern Europe in the hopes of finding the woman who saved Foers' grandfather from the Nazis.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. This book ties together the stories of a Polish author who wrote a manuscript about the love of his life before being separated from her as they each fled Poland during World War II and a teenager named after the protagonist of that manuscript, though the connection is not immediately apparent. While this makes for a complicated narrative, the author handles it skillfully and ultimately reveals the connections and greater meaning of the stories.

Songs for the Butcher's Daughter by Peter Manseau. Focusing on the story of a fictional Yiddish poet named Itsik Malpesh whose memoirs of traveling from Russia to Poland to New York while fleeing anti-Semitism are being translated from Yiddish by a young American Catholic, this book also tells the story of the young translator himself and the process by which the Yiddish text is translated into English.

If you like The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo, try:

The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coehlo. Using the same style of spiritual storytelling that he used in The Alchemist, Coehlo here retells the story of the prophet Elijah.

If you like Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, try:

Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. The story of a girl working with her father to prepare for the national spelling bee, this novel also tells the story of each of the members of the family and their secrets. In addition to its main topics of the spelling bee and the family's dynamic, the story also touches on Jewish mysticism and issues confronted by teens who do not fit in with their peers or families.

If you liked Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese or The Brothers K by David James Duncan, try:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. This book spans several decades telling the story of two cousins, Samuel Klayman, a Jewish boy growing up in New York prior to World War II, and Josef Kavalier, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Prague. The two go on to have create a comic book superhero named the Escapist and the novel traces both their careers in the comic book industry and their lives outside of work. Pulitzer Prize winner.

If you like Sima's Undergarments for Women by Ilana Stanger-Ross, try:

The Romance Reader by Pearl Abraham. This book is the coming-of-age story of a young girl in an ultraorthodox Hasidic family, who secretly reads romance novels and flouts her family's traditions.

Other General Fiction:

The Golems of Gotham by Thane Rosenbaum. This book tells the story of a writer whose Holocaust-survivor parents committed suicide and whose wife left him and his daughter. In an attempt to cure his writer's block, his daughter summons the ghosts of a number of Jewish literary figures. The result is a story that is somewhere between a comedy and a fairy tale about the havoc that these literary figures cause throughout New York.

Readers' Advisory list by Library Intern, Carli Spina.

August, 2010