Book picks similar to
The Orange Peel and Other Satires by S.Y. Agnon


spiritual-religion
wit-humor
curious
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A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg


Nathaniel Deutsch - 2021
    . . . To fully understand Satmar, of course, one has to be born into it. But to understand how political prowess and real-estate know-how shaped the group’s current iteration in Brooklyn, it would be wise to start with this outstanding book."—Laura E. Adkins, LA Review of Books The Hasidic community in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is famously one of the most separatist, intensely religious, and politically savvy groups of people in the entire United States. Less known is how the community survived in one of the toughest parts of New York City during an era of steep decline, only to later resist and also participate in the unprecedented gentrification of the neighborhood. Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper unravel the fascinating history of how a group of determined Holocaust survivors encountered, shaped, and sometimes fiercely opposed the urban processes that transformed their gritty neighborhood, from white flight and the construction of public housing to rising crime, divestment of city services, and, ultimately, extreme gentrification. By showing how Williamsburg’s Hasidim rejected assimilation while still undergoing distinctive forms of Americanization and racialization, Deutsch and Casper present both a provocative counter-history of American Jewry and a novel look at how race, real estate, and religion intersected in the creation of a quintessential, and yet deeply misunderstood, New York neighborhood.

The People Want the Fall of the Regime : The Arab Uprisings


Jeremy Bowen - 2012
    Realising this as a game-changing moment in the history of the Middle East, The Arab Uprisings captures the thoughts and feelings of the people involved as the events unfolded, putting these revolutions in their political context, and using them as a prism through which to understand the broader history and landscape of the Middle East. The book will look at the world the demonstrators rejected and its Arab dictators. The author will examine brutal police states, tribal loyalty and foreign help. The West's response and Israel's too, will form part of the narrative. This is an urgent and authoritative account of the seismic political changes rocking the Middle East, from one of the foremost reporters of our time.

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem


Sarit Yishai-Levi - 2013
    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 swingin' '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.

Parsnips in Love


Porochista Khakpour - 2019
    For now, the sublime treasure is his secret. Wrapping it in a silk handkerchief, he nestles it away in a dresser drawer. Day after day, he gazes at their unmistakable rapture, reminded of the long-gone youthful passions he once shared with his wife. So, too, he mourns the inevitable—the eventual decay of the parsnips in love. When he decides to share his discovery with the world, his life and the lives of those around him connect and change in the most unexpected ways.

Mira James Mysteries Fall Bundle, Books 5-7 (September, October, November): Three Full-length, Funny Mystery Novels


Jess Lourey - 2018
    Three laugh-out-loud page-turners in one convenient bundle!Get all three bundles today:Mira James Summer Bundle (May, June, July, and August)Mira James Fall Bundle (September, October, November)Mira James Winter Bundle (December, January, February)

Accidents


Yael Hedaya - 2001
    Yonatan is a marginal writer, a fifty-year-old widower left to raise his child alone. When he meets Shira, a bestselling author paralyzed by stage fright, the thaw begins as man, woman, and girl enter a halting romance, alternately tender and belligerent, generous and withdrawn. To the accompaniment of a full chorus of voices-of friends, neighbors, ex-lovers, parents-speaking from the past as well as the present, this family in the making gropes its way toward the comfort of love while navigating through ordinary pains: a dying father, angry children, wounding moments, and a distressing difference in the writers' levels of success which they wish would vanish even as it grows. An ensemble story marked by Yael Hedaya's exquisite sensitivity, "Accidents" follows its cast through fragility, vulnerability, and joy, accruing the small events of unremarkable days to produce a grand vision of the shared life. Rarely has the fictional world of family been plumbed with such knowingness, humor, and love.

Jewish Humor: What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews


Joseph Telushkin - 1992
    Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is as celebrated for his wit as for his scholarship, and in this immensely entertaining book, he displays both in equal measure. Stimulating, something stinging, and always very, very funny, Jewish Humor offers a classic portrait of the Jewish collective unconscious.

Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World's Most Notorious Nazi


Neal Bascomb - 2009
    Following his escape from two American POW camps, his retreat into the mountains and out of Europe, and his path to an anonymous life in Buenos Aires, his pursuers are a bulldog West German prosecutor, a blind Argentinean Jew and his beautiful daughter, and a budding, ragtag spy agency called the Mossad, whose operatives have their own scores to settle (and whose rare surveillance photographs are published here for the first time). The capture of Eichmann and the efforts by Israeli agents to secret him out of Argentina to stand trial is the stunning conclusion to this thrilling historical account, told with the kind of pulse-pounding detail that rivals anything you'd find in great spy fiction.

The Magic Story


Frederick Van Rensselaer Dey - 1900
    Since its first publication, this timeless parable has sold tens of millions of copies.

In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist


Ruchama King Feuerman - 2013
    After his mother dies, he leaves the Lower East Side and moves to Jerusalem, where he ends up as an assistant to an elderly kabbalist and his wife who daily minister to the seekers who gravitate to their courtyard.One day on an errand, Isaac happens upon Mustafa, an Arab janitor who works on the Temple Mount, holy to both Jews and Muslims. Mustafa suffers from an extreme case of torticollis – his head is turned painfully and permanently to one side. He has been cast out of his own village – a mutant – unloved even by his own mother.Somehow, the luckless haberdasher from the Lower East Side has finally managed to heal someone’s wounded spirit, in this case, Mustafa, and the two men enter into an intense and fraught friendship.Though rejected by his family, Mustafa longs to return and be respected by his village. Isaac yearns to find his place, in the courtyard (where he is forever the assistant), and in the romantic realm (he goes out on innumerable blind dates to seek a wife), and is thwarted on both counts by his own anxieties and memories of past betrayals. When a beautiful young woman in the courtyard, Tamar, becomes electrified with feeling for Isaac, he is too frightened and prudish to respond.Mustafa, wishing to return Isaac’s kindness, finds an ancient shard on the Temple Mount whose value may exceed anyone’s imagination, and brings it to Isaac in gratitude. That gesture sets in a motion a series of unexpected events that land Isaac in the company of Israel’s worst criminal riff raff, put Mustafa in mortal danger, even as Tamar struggles to save them both.

Secret Quickie


Cassandra Bloom - 2017
    That’s the rules.” Now here I am, kissing my brother’s man right before the wedding. So I kissed a guy playing spin the bottle. Who cares? It was just for a lark, just for a moment. It didn’t mean anything. Now I can never be the same. His chest smashing against my breasts, his hands guiding my curves into him—all of it created a whirlwind of tempestuous emotion I can’t ignore. No one ever kissed me like that before in my life. But he couldn’t possibly feel the same way. He’s the billionaire who took Ben under his wing to mentor him in his consultancy firm. Forget it. Just forget the whole thing. That’s the best plan. I will just play my part and stand as my future sister-in-law’s bridesmaid. They’ll get married, and we’ll all live happily ever after. The end. Right? Secret Quickie is a HOT standalone, full length brother’s best friend novella of 20,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhanger, and a bad boy billionaire who finds his happily ever after. Contains steamy scenes and explicit language. Includes bonus content!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!


Jonathan Goldstein - 2003
    Sure, it's the foundation for much of Western morality and the cornerstone of world literature. But let's face it: the Bible always needed punching up. Plus, it raised quite a few questions that a modern world refuses to ignore any longer: wouldn't it be boring to live inside a whale? How did Joseph explain Mary's pregnancy to the guys at work? Who exactly was the megalomaniacal foreman who oversaw the construction of the Tower of Babel? And honestly, what was Cain's problem? In Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!, Jonathan Goldstein re-imagines and recasts the Bible's greatest heroes with depth, wit, and snappy dialogue. This is the Bible populated by angry loners, hypochondriacs, and reluctant prophets who fear for their sanity. Basically, a Bible that readers can finally, genuinely relate to.

Angels in the Sky: How a Band of Volunteer Airmen Saved the New State of Israel


Robert Gandt - 2017
    They were a small group, fewer than 150. Many were World War II veterans; most of them knowingly violated their nations’ embargoes on the shipment of arms and aircraft to Israel. The airmen risked everything—their careers, citizenship, and lives—to fight for Israel. The saga of the volunteer airmen in Israel’s war of independence stands as one of the most stirring—and little-known—war stories of the past century.

Happy Stories!: Real-Life Inspirational Stories from Around the World


Will Bowen - 2013
    The path to happiness is not determined by your circumstances, but by aligning your thoughts, words, and actions to focus on the goal of happiness. Now, through fifty true stories, Bowen shares how people have taken his philosophies to heart—and are becoming measurably happier!

From Paycheck to Purpose: The Clear Path to Doing Work You Love


Ken Coleman - 2021
    In his latest book, he draws on what he learned from his own ten-year journey as well as from coaching thousands of others to walk you through the seven stages to discovering and doing meaningful work. Relevant to any job or industry, you’ll learn step-by-step how to:1. Get Clear on the work you were uniquely made to do and why.2. Get Qualified to do the work you were created for.3. Get Connected with the right people who can open the doors to your dream.4. Get Started by overcoming the emotions and mistakes that often hold people back.5. Get Promoted by developing winning habits and traits.6. Get Your Dream Job by doing work you love and accomplishing results that matter to you.7. Give Yourself Away by expanding the dream to leave a legacy.This is your moment. You are needed, and you were made to contribute. It’s time to exit the daily grind and use your talents to start living your dream once and for all.