May 2020: Virtual events, Moby Dick, and Yom Ha'atzmaut
Writing, reading, recommendations & recipes
Dear friends,
Happy May! I hope this finds you staying safe and staying well, with enough mind space to read or write or exercise or whatever you do to keep your spirits up. Read on for book recommendations, info about upcoming literary events, a writing prompt, a recipe and more.
Quick writing update: Progress is slow-going on my new story, but there are several sentences/paragraphs I’m fond of and characters in which I’m invested, so I’m keeping calm and writing on. One tip that’s helped: writing scenes by long-hand. For me, the words flow easier and that pesky “backspace” button is nowhere in sight. Two more happy notes:
On the eve of Passover, I received my first 2020 acceptance for a flash fiction (i.e. very short) story from CRAFT literary journal. The piece is slated for publication in late June. Hooray!
This coming Sunday, May 3, I’m doing an online book talk and reading through Hidden Timber Books. It’s at 10 am EDT / 5 pm Israel time. It’s free, of course, but you need to register here.
Recommended reading:
Goodreads tells me that I’m now back on track for my 2020 reading challenge. Yeah! Here are my top recommended reads for this month:
The Essex Serpent - by Sarah Perry - This gorgeous novel is about a recently-widowed woman in Victorian England who finds the freedom to become what I would call her “full self,” exploring the boundaries of love, friendship, religion and science. The prose is lush and it was a joy to read. As a review in the NYT put it, “…lush and fantastical…It’s part ghost story and part natural history lesson, part romance and part feminist parable.”
Washington Black - by Esi Edugyan - This novel follows a field slave from a Barbados plantation who is chosen to be a manservant to his master’s eccentric brother. (Fortunately for the young slave, the brother is an abolitionist, as well as a naturalist, explorer, and inventor). The relationship between the two provides a fascinating exploration of freedom, dignity, self-invention and betrayal, and takes the reader on a journey from the Caribbean to “the frozen far north, from the earliest aquariums of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco.” Great for a book club discussion!
Your Duck is My Duck - by Deborah Eisenberg - I’ve heard that Deborah Eisenberg is a master of the short story form for years, and I affirmed this for myself when I read this collection. As the book description asserts, “In Eisenberg’s world, the forces of money, sex, and power cannot be escaped, and the force of history, whether confronted or denied, cannot be evaded.” Definitely true. And to quote another reviewer, the six stories reveal “the subtlety of human motivation and emotion - sometimes hilariously, and other times tragically.” For fans of literary fiction.
Something new I’m trying: in addition to my “regular” hard-copy book and audio book, I’m reading a few chapters of a classic every morning. When it comes to classics that I’ve always meant to read, my own personal white whale is literally Moby-Dick. My copy has some underlining in it, so I suppose I read bits in college, but now I’ve started from the beginning, and I know I’ll appreciate all the extras (diagrams, reviews, letters, etc.) in this Norton Critical Edition when I’m done. I’m about 110 pages in right now, and finding it delightful.
Story/poem of the month:
Sometimes in this space I’ll share something I’ve written, and other months I’ll share works by different authors. Since we could all use some upbeat stories at the moment, here’s one of mine, published in 2018 in Ellipsis: Read Julie’s story “Transition”
Supporting new book releases during the pandemic:
I made another video about new book releases, including two from Press 53 which I’m very excited about. Check out the video here. If you are able, please help keep literature alive during the pandemic by supporting these authors, small publishers, and your local independent bookstores. Pro tip to help any author whose books you’ve enjoyed: post a brief review!
Upcoming events:
May 3 - 5 pm Israel time / 10 am EDT - join my (free) online book talk and reading at Hidden Timber Books.
May 31 - 8 pm Israel time / 1 pm EDT - Literary Modiin is hosting its first ever virtual author event. Since we can’t meet in person these days, I reached out to three authors based in the US, and I am super-excited to host Erika Dreifus (Birthright), Sandell Morse (The Spiral Shell), and Ellen Meeropol (Her Sister’s Tattoo). Register on my website here, or through the Literary Modiin Facebook group.
Also coming up this month: I’m meeting with a private book club in San Diego and a synagogue book club in Boca Raton. As always, if you’re in a book club or know someone who is, please consider The Book of Jeremiah for a future selection.
Monthly writing prompt: bags of flour and bottles of gin
The other day my husband and I were joking that the current theme of life around here can be summed up with the words “bags of flour and bottles of gin” (too much baking and a G&T in the evenings). To my writerly ears, this sounds like a great title for a short story. So, have at it - write something (not necessarily pandemic-related) that includes this phrase (or whatever your current “quarantine” theme is), and let me know how it goes!
Recipe: Yom Ha’atzmaut Salad
Congratulations for making it to the end of the newsletter, where you are rewarded with a recipe. This week, we celebrated 72 years of Israel’s existence. Although our gigantic Yom Ha’atzmaut BBQs with 100 people are a thing of yesteryear (~18-20 years ago), even our usual plans (beach and BBQ with a few close friends) couldn’t happen this year for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, I made my traditional Yom Ha’atzmaut salad. Enjoy:
1 head of romaine lettuce (iceberg also okay)
100 gr peanuts
100 gr raisins
4 TBSP sesame seeds, lightly toasted
3 Granny Smith apples, chopped
1-2 scallions, chopped
Dressing:
1/2 c olive oil
2 tsp vinegar
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP apricot jam
1/2 tsp curry
1 tsp mustard seed
dash of tabasco
Mix all salad ingredients and then add the dressing.
See you next month with more book recommendations, writing tips, recipes and more!
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 Tikkun, Jewish Women’s Archives, Crab Orchard Review, The Coil, The SFWP Quarterly, Ellipsis, MoonPark Review, Sixfold, and The MacGuffin, among others. A native of Connecticut, she now lives in Israel with her husband and four children. www.juliezuckerman.com