Linden Curhart

1. "Eating on The Street: Teaching Literacy in a Multicultural Society," by David Schaafsma - Describes what a group of teachers from different cultural and teaching backgrounds learned from their students and each other during an inner city summer writing program. An excellent read if you're an educator or a parent.

2. "Inside Organized Racism: Women in The Hate Movement," by Kathleen M. Blee - Discusses the unique paths that white women take into organized white supremacy, and explores how we might prevent racist conversion and deprogram racists. It's a difficult read emotionally, but valuable.

3. "The Jew in The Lotus," by Rodger Kamenetz - Explores the phenomenon of Western Jews converting to Buddhism, through the lens of a group of notable Jewish writers traveling to meet the Dalai Lama. I found this book heartwarming.

4. D"Standing Again at Sinai," by Judith Plaskow (re-read)- A classic which outlines the possibilities for practicing Judaism through a Feminist lens. Definitely glad I revisited this one. Inspired me a lot when I was getting things together to start our Chavurah.

5. "The Color Purple," by Alice Walker (re-read) - A timeless novel about the web of relationships between a group of Black women in Georgia. A cornerstone of Black Queer literature for a reason. It made me cry just like it did the first time I read it. If you haven't read it, please do. If you have, read it again.

6. "The First Bad Man," by Miranda July - A weird and fascinating novel that's kind of about reincarnation, and kind of about the ways that we seek out repeating patterns of trauma. I'm still deciding how I feel about this book, which is itself a sort of recommendation. Whether or not I can say that I "liked it," it left a powerful emotional impression, and I'm still thinking about it.

7. "The New Joys of Yiddish," by Leo Rosten - A useful, thoughtful, and funny Yiddish primer. I'm glad I have a copy in my house. It reminds me of my grandmother, and as a writer who tells Jewish stories, it's useful when I'm writing dialogue between characters.

8. "The Other Jews," by Daniel J. Elazar - An exploration on the cultural and political role of Sephardic Jews in Israel and elsewhere (from 1984, so it's definitely dated). A little dry, but I definitely learned some new bits of history, and I do love a good fun fact. I think my favorite part was the descriptions of different Sephardic communities around the world.

9. "Saving Fish From Drowning," by Amy Tan - A beautiful, improbable, intimate book about a group of rich tourists in Burma. This book thoroughly surprised and delighted me.

10. "Madame Bovary," by Gustave Flaubert - A banned and much contested French classic full of lush descriptive language and people with questionable morals but great fashion sense. Thoroughly and licentiously entertaining.

11. "A.D., After Death," by Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire - A very emotionally engaging graphic novel about immortality and change, full of watercolor artwork. I found it deeply moving, and I don't want to spoil it.

12. "Home Improvement: Undead Edition," edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner - An anthology of urban fantasy and horror stories related to the subject of home improvement. This book was an absolute hoot. Fun, widely varied, and often hilarious.

13. "Her Body and Other Parties," stories by Carmen Maria Machado - This book gutted me. It's been on my TBR list for ages and I'm so glad I finally sat down with it. A startlingly intimate window into the violence that permeates women's lives.