Book picks similar to
Jewish Short Stories from Eastern Europe and Beyond by National Yiddish Book Center
short-stories
800s-literature
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Safekeeping
Jessamyn Hope - 2015
Full of romance, tragedy, betrayal, and the constant reminder that chaos is a driving force in everyone’s story, Safekeeping is a wise and memorable debut by a novelist of great talent and originality.” —The Boston GlobeIt’s 1994 and Adam, a drug addict from New York City, arrives at a kibbutz in Israel with a medieval sapphire brooch. To make up for a past crime, he needs to get the priceless heirloom to a woman his grandfather loved when he was a Holocaust refugee on the kibbutz fifty years earlier.There Adam joins other troubled people trying to turn their lives around: Ulya, the ambitious and beautiful Soviet émigré; Farid, the lovelorn Palestinian farmhand; Claudette, the French Canadian Catholic with OCD; Ofir, the Israeli teenager wounded in a bus bombing; and Ziva, the old Zionist Socialist firebrand who founded the kibbutz. By the end of that summer, through their charged relationships with one another, they each get their last chance at redemption.In the middle of this web glows the magnificent sapphire brooch with its perilous history spanning three continents and seven centuries. With insight and beauty, Safekeeping tackles that most human of questions: how can we expect to find meaning and happiness when we know that nothing lasts?
Young Einstein: And the story of E=mc² (Kindle Single)
Robyn Arianrhod - 2014
But what sort of person was the young Albert Einstein, before he became universally acclaimed as the archetypal genius? And how did his genius unfold? In this brilliant new Kindle Single, scientist Robyn Arianrhod blends biography with popular science to tell the story of how young Albert developed a theory that – unknown to him at first – contained the seeds of his extraordinary equation E = mc2. Arianrhod, who wrote her PhD on Einstein’s general theory of relativity, makes the ideas behind the equation accessible to the lay reader, and sets young Einstein’s exploration of these ideas against the backdrop of his first loves, his family and marriage, and, above all, his childlike wonder at the nature of the universe. She introduces his heroes and scientific inspirations, and the friends who believed in him when no one else did. In personalising Einstein, she brings to life both the man and his science, in a short, easy-to-read narrative. In showing how he discovered his famous equation, and what it means, she draws a compelling portrait of this prodigious intellect whose unfathomable grasp of the building blocks of physics would change our world forever. About the Author: Dr Robyn Arianrhod is the author of two critically acclaimed works of popular science and scientific history: Einstein’s Heroes: Imagining the World Through the Language of Mathematics, and Seduced by Logic: Émilie du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution. Both were shortlisted for major book awards and are published in the USA. Einstein’s Heroes was translated into several languages. Robyn was awarded her PhD for research on Einstein’s general theory of relativity and has lectured in applied mathematics (including special relativity) for many years. She is currently an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Monash University in Melbourne, where she is undertaking research on the structure of relativistic space-times. She is also a technical reviewer for the American Mathematical Society. Praise for Robyn Arianrhod's books: Einstein’s Heroes ‘Arianrhod’s achievement is to so masterfully combine history, biography, and mathematics as to absorb and enlighten even the mathematically maladroit’ – Booklist ‘An intriguing blend of science, history, and biography . . . Arianrhod’s well-written, fascinating discussion of intertwined topics is highly recommended’ – Library Journal (starred review) ‘A thrilling story . . . Arianrhod brings out the human side of the scientists’ – Bloombergnews ‘Offers readers an engaging intellectual exercise combining physics, language, mathematics, and biography’ – Science News Seduced by Logic ‘Seduced by Logic offers the lay reader an easy and agreeable introduction to the evolution of some crucial scientific debates . . . One cannot help be captivated by her intellectual honesty and enthusiasm’ – Times Higher Education ‘An elegant and inspiring history of how scientific revolutions make their way’ – Edward Dolnick, The Clockwork Universe ‘Here is a skillfully written tapestry of the science, history and portrayal of two of the most charismatic women of mathematical science. Robyn Arianrhod has produced a captivating masterpiece’ – Joseph Mazur, author of Euclid in the Rainforest and What’s Luck Got to Do with It?
The Family that Lies: Merci Restored
Lakisha Johnson - 2019
Three years ago, Merci realized she’d been a part of something much bigger than she ever could have imagined. Sure, every family has their secrets, hidden truths and ties but Merci had no idea she’d been born into the family that lies ... without caring who it hurts! Now, years later, Merci finds herself in the midst of grief, a new baby and marriage while still learning how to pick up the broken pieces of her life. All while Melvin is still raising hell! In this special edition of The Family that Lies, there will be questions answered and new drama but I have to warn you ... there will also be tragedy, hurt and of course LIES!
Town & Country
Jess Walter - 2020
1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Ruins, a father-son story that underscores why Jess Walter is not only among the funniest writers working today but among the most bighearted and humane.Jay is nothing like his hard-drinking, skirt-chasing, blue-collar dad. He’s college-educated, works as a graphic designer, prefers white wine to whiskey, and is gay—a fact that’s been lost, with so much else, in the growing fog of his father’s dementia. When the woman with whom his dad has lived for decades throws him out (thanks to a little neighborly infidelity), Jay moves his dad to Boise to live with him—at least temporarily—until he can find an eldercare facility for the old man. But the search turns out to be far more complicated than Jay realized—what place will not only care for his dad but let him be who he imperfectly is, bad habits and all? The answer to that question takes father and son to a 1950s-style motor inn, the Town & Country Senior Inn, where the only therapy on offer is nostalgia and happy hour starts at 3:30.In turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Town & Country describes a son’s greatest act of tolerance and acceptance in a world—a distinctly American one—that hasn’t always shown him the same. It’s a story, as only Jess Walter could write it, about all the ways we cannot help but love each other even when, owing to political, regional, and generational divisions, we do not, and maybe cannot, understand each other.
True Crime Stories Volume 11: 12 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases (True Crime Anthology)
Jack Rosewood - 2018
You will find yourself thrust into a world that is often depraved but always intriguing and fascinating, leaving you wanting to read more. These twelve cases, which span the globe, are a true testament to the idea that crime comes in all shapes and sizes. There are a number of themes in this volume, including missing persons, road trips gone wrong, and family annihilations. You will read about a case in New Zealand where two young people celebrating the New Year vanished without a trace never to be seen again, yet a man was still put on trial for their murders. The tragic case of Denise Pikka Thiem—a woman who went on a world trip to find spiritual meaning but ended up murdered—is also profiled in this book. The unfortunate phenomenon of mass murder, particularly family annihilation, is covered in two uniquely bizarre cases in this book. In one case, a man claimed a voodoo demon drove him to murder his family, while in another a man dressed as Santa Claus attempted to murder an entire family during the holiday season. Along with those cases are several others that highlight the strange and dangerous world of the modern criminal. After reading all of the murder mysteries in this volume you will be left wanting to read more. So sit back, relax, and open the pages of this engaging true crime book to learn the secrets of some of the worst criminals to walk the earth over the last forty years!
The Last Boy to Fall in Love
Durjoy Datta - 2018
Two survivors in Delhi - a boy named Amartya and a girl named Erika - are left to fend for themselves. When they first meet, it seems like this love was meant to be. However, there's more to their chance encounter than meets the eye. They are both hiding secrets, and one of these secrets might be too much for this relationship to bear. Their survival may hold the key to the future of humanity, but what does their own future hold?
The Chocolate Tree
Dina Gregory
But when they spot a huge chocolate bar growing from the top of a tree - then another, and another - it is the beginning of a real-life, outdoor quest!
Valor in Vietnam: Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice: 1963-1977
Allen B. Clark - 2012
The Vietnam War lives on famously and infamously dependent on political points of view, but those who have “been there, done that” have a highly personalized window on their time of that history. Valor in Vietnam focuses on nineteen stories of Vietnam, stories of celebrated characters in the veteran community, compelling war narratives, vignettes of battles, and the emotional impact on the combatants. It is replete with leadership lessons as well as valuable insights that are just as applicable today as they were forty years ago.This is an anecdotal history of America’s war in Vietnam composed of firsthand narratives by Vietnam War veterans presented in chronological order. They are intense, emotional, and highly personal stories. Connecting each of them is a brief historical commentary of that period of the war, the geography of the story, and the contemporary strategy written by Lewis Sorley, West Point class of 1956, and author of A Better War and Westmoreland.With a foreword by Lt. Gen. Dave R. Palmer, U.S. Army (Ret.), Valor in Vietnam presents a historical overview of the war through the eyes of participants in each branch of service and throughout the entire course of the war. Simply put, their stories serve to reflect the commitment, honor, and dedication with which America’s veterans performed their service.
An Old Man's Game: An Amos Parisman Mystery
Andy Weinberger - 2019
As he looks into what seems to be a simple, tragic accident, the ante is raised when more people start to die or disappear, and Amos uncovers a world of treachery and hurt that shakes a large L.A. Jewish community to its core.
The Last Flight of Poxl West
Daniel Torday - 2015
Intensely magnetic, cultured and brilliant, Poxl takes Elijah under his wing, introducing him to opera and art and literature. But when Poxl publishes a memoir of how he was forced to leave his home north of Prague at the start of WWII and then avenged the deaths of his parents by flying RAF bombers over Germany during the war, killing thousands of German citizens, Elijah watches as the carefully constructed world his uncle has created begins to unravel. As Elijah discovers the darker truth of Poxl’s past, he comes to understand that the fearless war hero he always revered is in fact a broken and devastated man who suffered unimaginable losses from which he has never recovered. The Last Flight of Poxl West beautifully weaves together what it means to be a family in the shadow of war— to love, to lose, and to heal.
A Bend in the Stars
Rachel Barenbaum - 2019
Since their parents drowned fleeing to America, Miri and Vanya have been raised by their babushka, a famous matchmaker who has taught them to protect themselves at all costs: to fight, to kill if necessary, and always to have an escape plan. Can they bear to leave the homeland that has given them so much?Before they have time to make their choice, war is declared and Vanya goes missing, along with Miri's fiancé. Miri braves the firing squad to go looking for them both. As the eclipse that will change history darkens skies across Russia, not only the safety of Miri's own family but the future of science itself hangs in the balance.
Weekend Getaway
Tom Deady - 2017
He expected a lot of shouting, a lot of tears, but in the end, he hoped to have a stronger foundation upon which they could start rebuilding what they had once had.What he wasn't expecting was the home invasion……and the hell that awaited them beneath the rented cabin.
The Astral Traveler’s Handbook & Other Tales (Bedtime Buddha 1)
David Michie - 2018
His eyes were firmly shut and his consciousness withdrawn from his senses when all this was going on. Yet in his dreams he experienced sights, sounds and even visceral sensations much more intensely than when he was awake. From this he understood that you didn’t need a physical body to see, or smell, or endure any kind of experience with an acuteness that was more real than reality. From an early age he deduced that heaven or hell need not be material places so much as states of mind—and no less glorious or horrifying because of that. There were no limits to a mind untethered from form.” What if you could re-live the enchantment of childhood bedtime—but with magic that is real? What if you felt the wonder you once sensed when you believed that anything is possible? Or were inspired to see the world through fresh eyes? In this compendium of delightful short stories, David Michie draws us into the extraordinary experiences of everyday people as they encounter those tell-tale cracks exposing reality as not quite what it seems. Four female book club members are unexpectedly propelled, by the same black and white photograph, to discover a shared purpose beyond their wildest imaginings. An earnest young seeker finds that drawing aside the veil to an immeasurably more wonderful reality, doesn’t depend so much on the arcane books he reads as on a source much closer to home. A cat-doting woman, who wishes her beloved felines would talk to her, is shaken when she realises what they have been trying to communicate all along.
The Madness Within
Steve Lyons - 2011
Their only hope remains with a Librarian on the edge of sanity, a potentially tainted Astartes who they are forced to trust. His psychic abilities can lead them to the daemon, where Estabann and Cordoba can avenge their brothers’ deaths. But is the greatest threat a foul denizen of the warp, or the power contained within a psyker’s mind?