How Beautiful We Were is, in a word, fatalistic. The villagers are fighting a lost cause,– The David vs. Goliath story slowly morphs into a nuanced conflict.

A novel taking place over three decades in Israel, starting in the 1960s after the Six Days War, following the life of a group of friends and their families

What To Do About The Solomons takes place in a supposedly socialistic society, there is still the matter of inheritance whether they live in a kibbutz or not.

I thought this was a sweet, short book. No 12-year-old I know would use the language or vernacular you Mr. Friedman of New Jersey would use, but I understand the mechanics of trying to convey so much information to a young audience.

The lives of the seven paratroopers keep interlacing throughout their lives, whether in war or peace, while they seven maintained different views on what’s good for the state of Israel and society, they mostly managed to keep a friendly and supportive relationship despite their differences.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z – M – Macbeth by Jo Nesbø – A retelling of the Shakespearean tragedy, set in a small European town as a police drama. Maggie’s Wars by Phil Pisani – A novel about Mag­gie Hogan is a strong woman, an ace report who just wants to be treated fairly. She fights, and sleeps, her way through the bat­tle­fields, the Nurem­burg tri­als and the after­math of the World War II, includ­ing the cold war. Magnificent Desolation by Buzz Aldrin – An autobiog­ra­phy of the famous astronaut. Malinalli of the Fifth Sun by Helen Gordon Heightsman – A his­tor­i­cal fic­tion novel tak­ing place in South Amer­ica dur­ing Hernán Cortés’ time focusing on native woman Mali­nalli who was an impor­tant per­son in Cortés’ entourage who have been vil­i­fied through­out the ages. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick – A historical fiction which imagines the axis winning World War II. Man At a Machine by Stef Wertheimer – An autobiog­ra­phy of the Israeli indus­tri­al­ist and statesman. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman –…

This post is my entry in the Book Nerd Out giveaway hosted by Book Riot: Reviews, Recommendations, and Commentary about books and reading (but, you know, fun).   My nerd out moment is not about meeting anyone famous or notable. I really am not the type of person to worship another person whether they be actors, royalty, athletes or authors. I certainly appreciate them, their talents, hard work and will most likely make an effort to meet and create memories with those who had impact on my life but I don’t consider that a nerd out moment for me. Before I go ahead and tell you about my biggest bookish nerd out moment you must have some background. After all, as in any story, a narrative without appropriate context lacks relationship to proper events. As a boy, I lived in an Israeli Kibbutz. During that time all the children were collected and raised together in a common home called “beit yeladim” (literally”childrens’ home). We saw our parents a few hours a day but spent most of the day with our care takes and together. While it seems strange to those who didn’t experience it, heck it seems strange to me…

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z – A –   Abrams, Dan Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case that Propelled Him to the Presidency (with David Fisher) – A mini-biography of the 16th President’s last big trial before running for high office Abnett, Dan Titans Vol. 3: A Judas Among Us (illustrated by Brett Booth) – A graphic novel seeing the team trying to infiltrate H.I.V.E. Adams, Mark Turn Right at Machu Picchu – A nonfiction travelogue/history/investigate report in which the author fol­lows the foot­steps of Hiram Bing­ham III. Afshar, Tessa Pearl in the Sand– Biblical fiction story of Rahab, one of the most famous and controversial figures in the Jewish bible Aguinis, Marcos The Passion According to Carmela (translated by Carolina De Robertis) – A novel which takes place during the Cuban Revolution and follows an an idealistic divorcee who gets caught up in the excitement of the Cuban Revolution, and run away from her wealthy parents to join Fidel Castro and his rebels. Aja, David The Immortal Iron Fist, Vol. 1: The Last Iron Fist Story (with Ed…