Book Week and the Festival of Light

Hebrew Book Week takes place every June in Israel. While I will rant another time about why every event has to take place at First Station when they are many beautiful venues around Jerusalem, it is always nice to see so many people enthused about books, especially children. Alas for me, but maybe good for my wallet, almost everything was in Hebrew. Equally impressive was the variety of books for so many different interests.






I missed seeing Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner Penina Moed Kass when she was there, but I spotted her Berele the Snail books:

I also enjoyed seeing the Hebrew versions of the Minions from Despicable Me and, of course, Captain Underpants:

From First Station, it was on to the Old City for dinner and a dose of bad grammar:

As the sun began to set, the lights came on and the crowds teemed.  Although I did not get to see all the installations and displays, I really enjoyed "The Large Pendulum Wave" and "Tower of David Ramparts:"

This month's reading did not include any standouts, but my book club read The Aleppo Codex by Matti Friedman. We had a lively discussion about the sadness of this story and what an amazing job Friedman did in laying out the saga with its cast of characters and cultural nuances. I had read the book when it first came out in 2012, and one of the first things I did was go see (what's left of) the Codex in the Israel Museum:

This manuscript was beautifully "written out" in 925 and was used by the Rambam as a reference.  Although "stranger than fiction" and "non-fiction that reads like fiction" are quite trite and overused, the book is both of these and more.

More pictures than words this month, but looking ahead:

A book about challah

A memoir

Beating the Elul Rush

Happy Reading!