The Tanakh, New Jewish Publication Society Translation

I've been wanting to read the Bible since I was a little girl. I remember sitting in church, reading through Genesis, convinced I could get through it if I kept reading it every week. Needless to say, eight year old me never got past Exodus. As an adult, I've tried to read the Bible cover to cover multiple times, but always gave up a couple hundred pages in. I thought instead I would try and start with the Hebrew Bible, and I finally did it! This has been a work in progress since last July, reading just a few chapters every day. I also enjoyed reading a different translation (JPS) than I have in the past. Regardless of your beliefs, there is so much in here that serves as a foundation for Western literature and thought.

1622 pages

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

In 1939, a five-year-old named Josef hides under a table and watches as his family is murdered in Transylvania by the Romanian Iron Guard. The family's maid takes him back to the farm where she grew up and pretends he is her son. Five years later, Josef rescues a five-year-old girl named Mila whose parents are murdered while running toward a rabbi they think will save them.

Josef helps Mila find Zalman Stern, a Satmar Jew. Satmars are a very conservative Jewish sect. After the war, Zalman arranges for Josef to be sent to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to become a Satmar scholar. When Mila is 18, Zalman arranges for her to marry Josef and go to America with him.

Josef and Mila have a very loving relationship, within the confines of their faith, which dictates everything they do, sexually and otherwise, in their marriage. Mila has been taught that her purpose in life is to be a dutiful wife, and be fruitful and multiply. But the years go by, and she doesn't conceive. She is tested, but for Josef to be tested he will have to commit a sin. Mila finally takes matters into her own hands, and the result leads to ultimate tragedy.


336 pages

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom was asked by his rabbi, Albert "Reb" Lewis, to give his eulogy. Mitch agreed, but in order to do him justice, decided to meet with Reb on a regular basis to learn more about his life on a more personal level. Their discussions lead Mitch along a faith journey that also is impacted by another clergyman, Henry Covington, a reformed drug dealer struggling to keep his church in Detroit afloat . Have a Little Faith quickly draws you into the lives of all three men and offers many insightful comments about what it means to live a life of faith. 272 p.