I have been keeping track of the books I have read since 2017, and on average I have read about 20 books per year. But 2022 has been different: I have read 49 books.
This increase in productivity results from my new dedication to reading every day. Every night around 7:30, I drop everything else and begin reading. I usually have a minimum of one chapter and a maximum of three chapters that I stick to no matter what.
This year, I also found inspiration from Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin’s I Read This Over Shabbos Twitter feed, which helped me see that I could also use weekends to tackle slimmer books and those I really wanted to read.
Most of the books I read this year covered Jewish topics or featured Jewish characters and themes. Out of the 29 Jewish-themed books I read, these are my favorites, listed in the order that I finished them.
Amoz Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness
What an amazing, extraordinary book. Oz brings to life not only his family and childhood in Jerusalem but also the fearful time just before and after Israel's statehood. The mother's depression was especially gut-wrenching.
Simon Schama, The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BC-1492 AD
I liked Schama's motif of words and the concern/care the Jewish people always seemed to have about them. The antisemitism is so puzzling and just inherent in the existence of the Jews from the outset. The Spanish section is heartbreaking.
Simon Schama, The Story of the Jews Volume Two: Belonging, 1492-1900
This book covers the period after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and into the dawn of the two pillars of 20th Century Jewish history: the anti-Semitism that will culminate in the systematic slaughter of Europe's Jews, and the Zionist movement that will lead to the State of Israel's emergence. Some of the stories are so amazing. I was particularly touched by the Amsterdam period, the life of Moses Mendelssohn, and the importance of Spinoza. The relentless harassment of Jews in both Christian and Muslim lands troubled me deeply.
A. B. Yehoshua, Mr. Mani
A wonderful book that treats a population of themes in five conversations, guiding us into the tortured history of certain men in the Mani family. Jerusalem, fatherhood, Zionism, prophecy, love, judgment, expectation, obsession, and more are embroiled in these conversations where the sins and the passions of earlier generations visit the offspring.
Philip Roth, Operation Shylock
An incredible book, probably better than Roth’s American Pastoral because it's so complex and rich, both in terms of plot and theme. Roth's intensity is unbearable at times. His harried characters teeter at the edge of humanity and sympathy.
Samuel Lebens, The Principles of Judaism
One of the few philosophy books that have ever held me. Lebens is remarkably clear, honest, and unflinching.
David Grossman, To the End of the Land
Grossman is a novelist very much on my frequency. He is utterly bold and masterful in executing the narrative of this book. I found the novel extremely powerful, insightful, and intelligent. A lot of this book is about things falling apart and tearing away. I feel so sad at the end for Ora.
Darren Kleinberg, Hybrid Judaism
A short, amazing book. I see it as a companion of sorts to Micah Goodman's Wondering Jew. In Kleinberg’s analysis, Rabbi Irving Greenberg's “Hybrid Judaism” matches my own wishes for encountering and expressing Judaism and Jewish communities. The conception presents to me as philosophically sound and robust.
Olga Tokarczuk, The Books of Jacob
Maybe the most astonishing novel I have ever read. It's virtually an anthology of connected stories and voices, and rich in detail, empathy, and wisdom. This was a bruising read, not only for the 959 pages but for the long chapters that went well beyond my liking.
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Enemies, A Love Story
I needed to sprint through the book, as I had a hard time with it emotionally. I sympathized with Herman's plight and understood him, and the story affected me.
Arthur Green, Judaism for the World
Green is a "neo-Hasidic" rabbi, a man with a great erudition about Judaism and Yiddishkeit, and a voice unlike any I've encountered before in my reading. In a year of blessings through reading, I gained even more from this book.
I have many more books in the queue for 2023 and cannot wait to crack them open!