April 2025: Hunting for light and quirky listens, our latest heroes, and Pesach on my mind

Writing, reading, resources and recipes + an update from day 544

Dear friends,

I hope you are all well, or well enough, hanging in there wherever you live, and that you’re finding a modicum of joy and light these days. Scroll down your monthly dose of book reviews, upcoming literary events, a story, recipes, and an update from my corner of Israel.

Brief writing update: For reasons I may share at some point in the future, most of my writing time this past month was spent revising one of my stories that’s already been published! Not what I expected to do at this point, but I’m happy with the revision, and hopefully you’ll be reading it in my new novel-in-stories at some point in the future. In the last few days, and thanks to a class I took with the wonderful Joan Leegant, I’ve started some new scenes for my novel-in-progress, one of which has to do with a martinet.

More good literary stuff: 1) My session discussing The Book of Jeremiah for the Qesher Book Club went well, and a recording is available here. 2) Our March Literary Modiin event with Avner Landes, Joan Leegant, and Ayelet Tsabari was terrific and record-breaking - great to be in-person and on Zoom with so many people, and you can watch a recording here. 3) I led a session on creative writing for my colleagues at work; it was fun to show them my literary side (which they knew nothing about) and interesting to do writing exercises with engineers (among others)!

Recommended Reading

I finished eight books in March, so I’m up to 19 total for the year, catching up to being on schedule for my self-imposed 2025 reading challenge. Here are this month’s recommendations, followed by a request from me:

Amerikaland by Danny Goodman: I came across Danny Goodman on Substack, and when I heard about the premise of his book — “In a reimagined present day, Sabine, a guarded, independent German tennis player, and Sandy, a Brooklyn-born Jewish baseball player, find themselves in New York City for World Day-a sporting event meant to celebrate international peace.” — I ordered it immediately and wrote to the author, saying, “you had me at ‘Brooklyn-born Jewish baseball player.” Sandy and Sabine are old friends from their Florida training days, but by the time the book opens, they’ve drifted apart, and both are struggling: Sabine following a violent attack that threatened her career and Sandy after the loss of his father and a recent antisemitic crime. It’s not a spoiler to say that both Sandy and Sabine survive a massive terror attack on World Day. As sports celebrities and exemplars of resilience and integrity, they must figure out how to move forward in light of the attack and revelations about their families—for their teams, their fans, their communities, and themselves. This book would make a great selection for a book club, possibly paired with Benjamin Resnick’s Next Stop. I agree with a reviewer on Amazon who said the book is like “watching a high-stakes athletic event” that “rallies back and forth between being a literary novel, sports novel, dystopian novel, and thriller.” Danny will be speaking at the June Literary Modiin event - stay tuned for details.

Hill of Secrets by Galina Vromen: Occasionally I end up reading a book featured at Literary Modiin only after the event, which was the case here, as my copy only arrived the day after our event in January. Full disclosure: Galina and I overlapped in a writing group for a short time, pre-Covid, so I’d read early drafts of a few of the scenes, and it was a delight to pick up the novel and read the final product. This historical novel, set in 1943, deals with the Los Alamos nuclear scientists and their families as they struggle under the heavy burden of secrecy and isolation. The characters must also confront the emotional and moral costs of working on the bomb. Christine is a young wife who must give up her career for her husband’s, even as he becomes more distant; Gertie, the curious, bright teenage daughter of German Jewish refugees has been plucked from her life on the east coast but tries to make the best of her new life in the desert; Kurt, Gertie’s father, is one of the nuclear scientists, racing against time to build something to defeat the Nazis while grappling with his wife’s despair over their family in Europe; Jimmy, a young army technician, is full of self-doubt. The alliances between these richly-developed characters drive a number of storylines and offer glimpses of what life was like in Los Alamos at the time. I like this blurb from Booklist: “In Vromen’s twisty, infectiously readable debut, secrets are simmering within Los Alamos…young love, a clandestine affair, intense guilt, and suppressed yearnings [that circulate] in this high-pressure environment.” Watch a recording of Galina discussing her book at Literary Modiin’s January event.

The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe: I picked this book after adoring the author’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles…it’s not quite the blockbuster “fun listen” that Margo was, but The Knockout Queen is an excellent book, yes, with quirky characters who must deal with heavier topics…Bunny is a 6’3” Olympic volleyball hopeful with a rich but narcissistic father, and her next-door neighbor Michael, living with his aunt after his mother’s incarceration, is a Rite-Aid worker with a secret Grindr account. The two form an unlikely friendship, helping each other make it through high school, but when a vicious rumor circulates about Michael, a few acts of brutal violence shock their peaceful town and change the course of Bunny and Michael’s lives forever. The narrative, which follows Bunny and Michael through high school and into their adult years, is a layered story that delves into the complexities of friendship, family, ethical conflicts, and the fragility of adolescent angst. I like this blurb from Kirkus (starred review): “In Thorpe’s Technicolor world, everyone is an innocent and everyone is culpable and no one is absolved, and the result is a novel both nauseatingly brutal and radically kind. Brilliantly off-kilter and vibrating with life.”

Perhaps, dear readers, you have recommendations for me. Specifically for my audiobook listens, I’m looking for books that are on the light side, with quirky characters (things like Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles; Kevin Wilson’s Nothing to See Here; Ron Currie Jr.’s Everything Matters!; Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting; Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida - many of which I’ve recommended here) and, of course, excellent narration. What do you suggest? Please put your suggestions in the comments - thanks!

Events

I’m looking forward to Literary Modiin’s April event on Sunday, April 27 - on Zoom - at 20:00 Israel time / 1 pm Eastern. This year, for the first time, we are holding the event a few days after Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel), and all three books are Holocaust-related. We’ll be hearing from Julie Brill (HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT), Brooke Randel (ALSO HERE), and Lisa Barr (THE GODDESS OF WARSAW). Register here.

• Save the dates for our May and June events - May 18 and June 15 - details to follow!

Story of the Month: Beyond This Time

Beyond This Time by Sagit Emet, translated by Yardenne Greenspan (Jewish Fiction): This post-Oct 7th story is set on the eve of an Iranian missile attack (the first of which which was right before Pesach last year). I enjoyed the story for its portrayal of the lifelong friendship between two women, one a widow and one recently divorced, who spend the night of the attack together. Obviously, it hits close to home, especially these lines, when the narrator is talking about her neighbors who have relocated, “a fancy way of saying they left Israel.”

I don’t blame them, but I’m sad about it. We liberal Jews here will end up a persecuted, disenfranchised minority surrounded by terrorists and fascists, under constant threat of pogroms from within and without. And still, we’ll be required to send our kids into the military, and still our tax money will be demanded, and we won’t even notice the air growing thinner and more devoid of oxygen, just like on that trip Hanan and I took years ago to Ladakh, northern India.

Yup, yup, yup. The characters may be fictional, but the words are true.

Department of Mazal Tovs and other Jewish literary news

• Mazal tov to Iddo Gefen on the English release of Mrs. Lilienblum’s Cloud Factory yesterday. Iddo has appeared at Literary Modiin twice, and I hope to have him a third time soon!

• My FB and Substack feeds and inbox have been full of this news, but in case you haven’t heard: JTS (the Jewish Theological Seminary) is opening a low-res MFA program, directed by none other than Etgar Keret and featuring an all-star list of creative advisors. Get the details here.

• Issue 39 of Jewish Fiction was just released, with 15 stories originally written in Italian, Polish, Hebrew, and English.

Recipe of the Month: Cheesy Tofu Rolls

Welcome to the near end of the newsletter, where you are rewarded with a yummy recipe. I adapted this recipe from Tamar Cinamon, a friend of a friend of my daughter, and it is a great, protein-filled breakfast snack. (She is a dietician and her recipes are in Hebrew). Plus, these rolls are Pesach-friendly (for those who eat kitniyot).

1 300 g. package of tofu, grated

125 g. (half a container) of Bulgarian cheese (I don’t know what this is called in America…closest thing is feta).

1 container (250 g) of cottage cheese

3 slices of yellow cheese, broken into small pieces. I used Emmental (טל העמק in Israel)

3 eggs

2 TBSP spelt flour (or any gluten free/Pesadic flour)

1 tsp baking powder

Optional: can of mini corn kernels

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and spread evenly into cupcake tins. Bake at 180 C / 355 F for about 30-35 minutes, until the tops are browned. Makes 15-16. A great, healthy breakfast.

Pesach (Passover) on my mind

My Passover Recipe Book

When I was new to this newsletter and new to Canva — plus, Covid! — I put together some Passover recipes that are featured in The Book of Jeremiah, just for fun. I updated it two years later. Download the cookbook here.

Pesach writings

In case you missed these when they came out, here are my own Pesach writings:

• On Pesach, She, an essay published a few years ago by TC Jewfolk

• “A Strong Hand and an Outstretched Arm” is the first story in The Book of Jeremiah, and takes place, partly, at a seder. Hope you’ll give it (and the whole book!) a read. Get your signed copy here!

Israel Update

It’s hard to know where to start my update this month, so much happening and changing on a daily basis, and none of the news going in the right direction.

In Hope Held Hostage, a recent blog in the Times of Israel, Moshe Emilio Lavi, whose brother-in-law Omri Miran has been held hostage in Gaza for 544 days, writes of his sister Lisahy’s hope that Omri would be home by his birthday in April. With the resumption of fighting and the possibility of a phase II of a hostage deal-ceasefire slipping father away, many of us here were plunged into despair. And if this is what average citizens are feeling, it is certainly a thousand times worse for the families:

Then, in an instant, that hope vanished. The ceasefire collapsed. It was a gut punch – but not a surprise. Hamas never negotiated in good faith. It offered impossible terms. But Israel’s failure to manage the talks made everything worse.

For those of us with loved ones held hostage, every day is a battle between despair and hope. The past few weeks, as hostages were returned, gave us a fragile lifeline. But now, we’ve been plunged back into darkness….

The government seems hell-bent on taking our attention away from the hostages and on sewing political discord, and it just keeps getting worse. A small sample from the above blog:

Ben Gvir’s party rejoined the government as fighting resumed. Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was fired. A hearing was set for Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. And the judicial reform legislation returned – again.

And since then, just yesterday and today: Qatargate, settlers rampaging in the West Bank, an expanded ground op in Gaza.

People are protesting, but it’s not enough. Many are tired, and unconvinced that protests will help. What can we do? As Rebecca Bardach writes in a recent post (I recommend subscribing to her aptly-named Substack, Between Despair and Determination):

These protests are an imperfect tool. I don’t always agree with all of the rhetoric, means or routes taken. But this is why the hostage demonstrations, for example, have multiplied to include a range of organizers and types - from speeches, to bullhorns, to prayer, to silence - so that people can choose the means that feels right to them. These collective efforts are an essential – possibly the only - way for citizens to make it clear that a significant majority profoundly disagree with where the government is taking this country; and that electoral victory does not give the government such an unchecked mandate….

But - whether through demonstrations, debate, dialogue or any range of means - this is the work that must be done.

I’ve done a bit of this, though not nearly enough.

Last Thursday, I joined my daughter in Tel Aviv, where the family and friends of Gali and Ziv Berman hold a walk every week from Dizengoff Square to Hostage Square. We walked holding pictures to remind everyone on our route that Gali and Ziv, 27-year-old twins from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, are still being held in terrible conditions. We walked to show the family they have not been forgotten, and to demand that the hostage issue remain a high priority - the highest - on the public agenda, despite everything else going on. As of February, Gali and Ziv were known to be alive. Halavai that talks will resume and we will find a way to bring all 59 remaining hostages home without delay.

It is to the recently released hostages that I find myself turning for inspiration and hope. Hearing their stories, watching videos and seeing pictures serve to remind me of our resilience. איזו גיבורים - what absolute heroes these people are. The תתצפניות (female observer soldiers) visiting children’s hospitals on Purim. Keith Siegel’s pop up pancake stand to raise money and awareness. The image of Omer Shem Tov, Keith Siegel, Eli Sharabi, Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy and Iair Horn draped in yellow ribbons and holding their own posters standing in front of the US Capital only weeks after they’d been freed, traveling to the US to fight for the release of the remaining hostages. Again, if you haven’t yet seen it, I’d recommend watching Uvda’s hour-long interview with Eli Sharabi. (Link is to a subtitled version).

As always, volunteering with our farmers, as well as biking, running, swimming, writing, reading, and spending time with family and friends help keep my sanity, and last month, I was fortunate to get away to Greece with my husband for a week. This month - two days from now - I’m looking forward to running a half marathon in Jerusalem, one of my favorite days of the year. And then Pesach, my favorite holiday.

May our holiday of freedom see the swift return of our hostages and usher in a more peaceful future and true freedom for everyone in the region.

Until next time, b’sorot tovot. May we hear good news soon. Am Yisrael Chai.

I’ll leave you with a few images from my month.

Top row: Avocados (Kfar Bilu), lettuce packing (Bet Ezra), oranges (Kfar Bilu). Bottom row: Meteora and Athens, Greece!

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Julie Zuckerman's debut novel-in-stories, The Book of Jeremiah, was published in May 2019 by Press 53. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in CRAFT, Tikkun, Jewish Women’s Archives, Crab Orchard Review, The Coil, The SFWP Quarterly, Ellipsis, MoonPark Review, Sixfold, and The MacGuffin, among others. She is the founder and host of Literary Modiin, a monthly author series celebrating fiction, memoir and poetry with Jewish content. A native of Connecticut, she lives in Israel with her husband and four children. www.juliezuckerman.com