Book Club Blog Posts

Read author interviews, book reviews, excerpts, reflections on writing, and sneak peeks of upcoming releases by JWA's favorite writers.

December 18, 2023

Grief is a Desert in 'Death Valley'

Abby Richmond

The poignant and often hilarious novel made me consider my own experiences with grief and (metaphorical) lostness.

Topics: Fiction, Theology, Ritual

"Spellbook for the Sabbath Queen" by Elisheva Fox

November 23, 2023

7 Questions For Elisheva Fox

Emma Breitman

JWA sat down with Texas-based poet Elisheva Fox to discuss Spellbook for the Sabbath Queen, her first collection of poems.

October 24, 2023

Q & A with Sarah Lightman, Co-Editor of "Jewish Women in Comics: Bodies and Borders"

Rachael Davis

JWA talks with Sarah Lightman, co-editor of the new book, Jewish Women in Comics: Bodies and Borders.

Topics: Non-Fiction

August 29, 2023

Ambiguous Womanhood in "My Last Innocent Year"

Abby Richmond

My Last Innocent Year details a slippery series of experiences having to do with violence, power, and loss that alter Isabel’s sense of self and womanhood.

Image shows book cover reading "Places we Left Behind - A Memoir-in-Miniature" with the authors name, Jennifer Lang, on an open cardboard box; right hand side shows woman with brown hair and glasses standing ourdoors

August 24, 2023

Q & A with Jennifer Lang, Author of "Places We Left Behind"

Jodie Sadowsky

JWA chats with author Jennifer Lang about her forthcoming book, Places We Left Behind: a memoir in miniature.

Topics: Marriage, Memoirs, Israel

August 15, 2023

"Flower of Vlora": A Memoir of Romaniote Jewish Experience

Mirushe "Mira" Zylali

Kohen fights for her right to flourish in the wake of Albania’s historic antisemitism and the misogyny she faces as a career woman. She is fearless—and she will inspire more Jewish women to be just that.

August 3, 2023

Q & A With Author Sara Lippmann

Sarah Groustra

JWA talks to author Sara Lippmann about suburbia as an irresistible setting for fiction, radical retellings of the Torah, and more.

Topics: Fiction, Rabbis, Bible

July 27, 2023

Review: "Thistlefoot" by GennaRose Nethercott

Abby Richmond

In Thistlefoot, ghosts of the past may sometimes be difficult to confront, but feeling them and telling their stories is necessary for a more loving, meaningful world.

July 25, 2023

Add One (or More) of these Graphic Novels to Your Summer Reading List

Zia Saylor

Add one of these graphic novels with badass female heroines to your summer reading list.

Topics: Fiction

February 28, 2023

Review: "The Jews Of Summer" by Sandra Fox

Rebecca Brenner Graham

At a very basic level, The Jews of Summer captures the essence of camp and explores how Jewish summer camp has become an integral part of Jewish identity formation.

January 31, 2023

Q & A with Samantha Pickette, Author of "Peak TV's Unapologetic Jewish Woman"

Sarah Jae Leiber

JWA talks to Samantha Pickette about her new book and about how TV is establishing a new version of the Jewish woman.

Topics: Non-Fiction, Television, Feminism

January 17, 2023

Reclaiming Europe’s Jewish Past and Present

Savoy Curry

The Nazis stole Alice Urbach’s cookbook. In her new book, her granddaughter, Karina, reclaims Alice’s story—and Jews’ rightful place in European life.

Topics: Recipes, Holocaust, Antisemitism

Book cover that reads Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women from Lilith Magazine and features woman holding pomegranate

October 20, 2022

"Frankly Feminist" Invites Us to Explore Jewish Women's Worlds

Dr. Helene Meyers

This collection from Lilith magazine values, re-values, and preserves diverse Jewish women’s stories.

September 13, 2022

“Shmutz” Subverts the Traditional Ex-Orthodoxy Narrative

Chanel Dubofsky

Felicia Berliner's debut novel Shmutz upends the notion of a binary choice so frequently seen in literature concerning Jews living unhappily in insular communities.

Topics: Fiction, Judaism-Orthodox

Carly Manes and the cover of her book What's An Abortion, Anyway?

May 4, 2022

Interview with Carly Manes, author of "What’s An Abortion, Anyway?"

Chanel Dubofsky

We spoke with Carly Manes about Jewish faith and abortion, the obstacles in getting the book into the world, and how Jewish communities can support the fight for reproductive justice.

Topics: Reproductive Rights, Law, Women's Rights, Non-Fiction