TI’s Book Group meets once a month for stimulating discussions of contemporary literature by Jewish authors, on Jewish and Israeli topics, and/or of current relevance to the Jewish Community.
Open to all! New participants are always encouraged to join.
| Date | Room | Title |
| Mar 19 | Conference Room | Shadows of Berlin: A Novel |
| Apr 23 | Room 28 |
Kingdom of Olives and Ashes: Writers Confront the Occupation |
|
May 21 |
Room 28 | TBD |
| June 18 | Room 28 | TBD |
Upcoming Sessions
Mar 19
Shadows of Berlin: A Novel
by David R. Gillham
“Reminding us that history is made up of infinite individual choices, Shadows of Berlin is a masterful story of survival and redemption.” — Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star
A captivating novel of a Berlin girl on the run from the guilt of her past and the boy from Brooklyn who loves her
1955 in New York City: the city of instant coffee, bagels at Katz’s Deli, ultra-modern TVs. But in the Perlman’s walk-up in Chelsea, the past is as close as the present. Rachel came to Manhattan in a wave of displaced Jews who managed to survive the horrors of war. Her Uncle Fritz fleeing with her, Rachel hoped to find freedom from her pain in New York and in the arms of her new American husband, Aaron.
But this child of Berlin and daughter of an artist cannot seem to outrun her guilt in the role of American housewife, not until she can shed the ghosts of her past. And when Uncle Fritz discovers, in a dreary midtown pawn shop, the most shocking portrait that her mother had ever painted, Rachel’s memories begin to terrorize her, forcing her to face the choices she made to stay alive?choices that might be her undoing.
From the cafes of war-torn Germany to the frantic drumbeat of 1950’s Manhattan, Shadows of Berlin dramatically explores survival, redemption and the way we learn to love and forgive across impossible divides.
“A tribute to resilience and starting over. This is heart-wrenching and memorable.” — Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
Apr 23
Kingdom of Olives and Ashes: Writers Confront the Occupation
by Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, et al
A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of fifty years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today’s most renowned novelists and essayists, have teamed up with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence—an organization comprised of former Israeli soldiers who served in the occupied territories and saw firsthand the injustice there—and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories.
Kingdom of Olives and Ash includes contributions from several of today’s most esteemed storytellers including: Colum McCann, Jacqueline Woodson, Colm Toibin, Geraldine Brooks, Dave Eggers, Hari Kunzru, Raja Shehadeh, Mario Vargas Llosa and Assaf Gavron, as well as from editors Chabon and Waldman. Through these incisive, perceptive, and poignant essays, readers will gain unique insight into the narratives behind the litany of grim destruction broadcasted nightly on the news, as well as deeper understanding of the conflict as experienced by the people who live in the occupied territories. Together, these stories stand witness to the human cost of the occupation.
Previous Selections
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
by James McBride
The Postcard
by Anne Berest
Take What You Need
by Idra Novey
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew
by Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby
My Last Innocent Year: A Novel
by Daisy Alpert Florin