Weekly Highlights for Book Lovers
A stage performance and more!
Hi everyone!
This week I’m in L.A. and going to many performances of On Being Jewish Now, the stage performance. Watching it last night in Torrance, CA just reminded me how insanely talented the authors are who wrote essays in the book. What a thrill to see it come to life!
Also, thanks to La Regle du Jeu and Bernard-Henri Levy for writing a feature about me — in French! Merci, merci.
Did anyone read Annabelle Gurwitch’s The End of My Life is Killing Me? Obsessed! This week I’m ready Kathryn Stockett’s follow-up to The Help called The Calamity Club. It’s more than 600 pages but I’m determined to get through it. Would you read a book that long!?
By the way, I often include links to books in the newsletter and see how many of you click! Wondering where you prefer to buy books online? Can you take the poll? I want to make it easy for you!
Totally Booked with Zibby
This week spotlights history!
Monday: Best Writing Advice I’ve Ever Received from The Book Thief’s Markus Zusak
Do you remember The Book Thief? It came out twenty years ago and was a massive bestseller. It was just re-released as a 20th anniversary edition and oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous. I re-read the book to prepare for my interview with Markus and highly encourage you to do so, too — or read it for the first time if you missed it. Spectacular.
It’s a story about a young, book-loving, non-Jewish girl in Nazi Germany, her family’s relationship with the man they hid, her own family’s struggle, and a town reeling from the war. I’m not doing it justice. It’s so good, a coming-of-age in wartime. Also? Incredibly creative. Hear from Markus Zusak about how he wrote the book only he could write.
Tuesday: Bestselling Author Marie Benedict Knows History
I like to think of Marie Benedict as my midlife history professor; every novel she writes teaches me more about periods of time I thought I understood. In Daughter of Egypt, Marie transports us to post-WWI England and Egypt through the eyes of a young woman who is more interested in archeology than cotillion. I interviewed Marie as part of Totally Booked: Live in Palm Beach. Prepare to be transported.
Wednesday: Do Your Kids Like Slime?
We’ve gone through a multi-year slime phase in our house, much to the dismay of our kitchen table. When we discovered there was basically an amusement park for slime called Sloomoo Institute, the kids were hooked! It’s an immersive experience, birthday party venue, and sensory sensation with make-your-own-slime, get slimed walls, walk barefoot in smooth sand, and other tactile experiences.
Now bestselling author Melissa De La Cruz and Mike Johnston have turned founders Karen Robinovitz and Sara Schiller’s destination into a graphic novel Sloomoo: Making Friends. (Karen and Sara united after both of them had been felled by unspeakable losses and found joy through playing with slime.) They’ll be at Zibby’s Bookshop this Sunday (me too!) from 10 am - 11 am and will be hosting a kids’ experience. Listen to the episode and come by!
Thursday: Matti Friedman Introduces Us to Heroes
I spoke to Matti Friedman right before the war with Iran began. He remarked that he and his family couldn’t make any plans as they waited to see what would happen. I’ve been thinking of him as Israelis rush to shelters as Iran retaliates. In his book, Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe, we go back to an earlier war.
Matti, through extensive research, recreates the mission of select airmen and women who fight for freedom, explaining how and why certain streets in Israel are named after these heroes. In writing about them, he has become a hero in his own right.
Friday: TOVAH!!!!!
Who doesn’t know legendary actress Tovah Feldshuh?! (If you don’t, now you will!) Tovah, the subject of an upcoming documentary which just premiered at the Temple Emanuel Streicker Center, is an all-time Broadway and screen great. She’s currently starring at Adam Brody’s mother Bina in Nobody Wants This. I interviewed Tovah for the second time as part of Totally Booked: Live in New York where she received a standing ovation.
Last night in Los Angeles, Tovah joined my mother, Kyle, and me for dinner and opening night of the stage performance of my book On Being Jewish Now and she will star in my brother Teddy’s upcoming film Tuner. She calls herself our family’s babysitter. We just adore her. Hear our conversation and learn more about her memoir Lilyville: Mother, Daughter, and Other Roles I’ve Played.
Events This Week
On Being Jewish Now: The Stage Performance
On Being Jewish Now premiered last night in Torrance, CA! I’ll be participating in all performances this week where I’ll be joined by other contributors to the book. Thanks to the Times of Israel and Jewish Journal for more press about the show!
Tickets here.
These are the in-person performances at which I’ll be doing Q&As this week:
TUE, MAR 24, 7:30 PM PT The Braid Space - SOLD OUT. Address: 3435 Ocean Park Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405.
WED, MAR 25, 7:30 PM PT Valley Beth Shalom. Address: 15739 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91436.
THUR, MAR 26, 7:30 PM PT Congregation Or Ami. Address: 26115 Mureau Rd # B, Calabasas, CA 91302.
SUN, MAR 29, 2:00 PM PT IN PERSON, Wilshire Blvd Temple (Irmas Campus). 11661 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.
There are also virtual Zoom performances April 16th and 19th and Northern California performances plus another Santa Monica performance on April 23rd. And it may be coming to New York, Houston and Palm Beach. Fingers crossed!
Also, see above! This Sunday at 10 am, I’ll be at the Sloomoo event at Zibby’s Bookshop!
Watch: The “Totally Booked” TV Show on JBS
New episodes every Thursday at 7:30 pm ET on the JBS network. Don’t miss the most recent episode with Alisha Fernandez Miranda , author of My What If Year and Someone’s Gotta Give which we published at Zibby Publishing! Watch here.
Item(s) of the Week
Obsessed with my new spring dress. I will be wearing this often! J.McLaughlin sponsored my book tour for Blank so I’m forever indebted! Paired it with a belt and suede boots! My mom helped me pick it out. ;-)
Reading Annabelle Gurwitch's book now and loving it. What courage - matched only by her comedic sense. How she combines those two is beyond me, what a lovely human.
And I LOVED her interview with Bill Maher! Wow, did she hold her own or what!
I also appreciate Thriftbooks (as a teacher), but love that Bookshop.org gives back to our local indie bookstore.