The Five Books: Jewish Authors on the Books That Shaped Them

Toby Lloyd discusses Fervor, his haunting debut novel inspired by a rereading of the Bible. Struck by the richness, ambiguity, and moments of horror in Genesis and Exodus, Toby explores how these ancient stories can speak to modern readers. We talk about his aim to write for a broad audience, the place of British Jews in the heart of English literature, and why Marcel Proust’s portrayal of Jewish identity feels as urgent today as it did a century ago.

In Fervor, Hannah and Eric Rosenthal are devout Jews living in North London with their three children and Eric’s father Yosef, a Holocaust survivor. As Hannah prepares to publish an account of Yosef's years in war-torn Europe—unearthing a terrible secret from his time in the camps—Elsie, her perfect daughter, starts to come undone. And then, in the wake of Yosef’s death, she disappears. When she returns, just as mysteriously as she left, she is altered in disturbing ways.

Toby Lloyd studied English at Oxford University before moving to America to pursue an MFA in creative writing at NYU. He has published short stories and essays in Carve Magazine and the Los Angeles Review of Books and was longlisted for the 2021 V. S. Pritchett Short Story Prize. He lives in London.

Toby Lloyd’s Five Books:

1. The Jewish Joke by Devorah Baum

2. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

3. The Truce by Primo Levi

4. The Furrows by Namwali Serpell

5. Fervor by Toby Lloyd

Other Media Mentioned

- Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

- The Witch (film)

- The Exorcist (film)

- Collected Poems by Phillip Larkin

- My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard

- Jews Don’t Count by David Baddiel

Other Five Books Episodes That Discuss Horror Fiction: 

- Jeremy Dauber on Jewish Literature, Pop Culture, and What the Horror Genre Reveals About America

- Allison Epstein on Taking on One of Literature’s Most Antisemitic Characters

- Yael Van Der Wouden on Rage, Desire, and Magic

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

Sharon Kurtzman shares how an interview with her mother became a defining moment of connection. She was haunted by her mother’s description of just how much danger still lingered after surviving the Holocaust and that revelation became central to her writing of The Lost Baker of Vienna, set in the years after WWII between liberation and immigration.

She also shares how a childhood reading of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret planted the seed for her to define her own Jewish identity, and how writing her debut novel fulfilled a promise she made to her mother.

The Lost Baker of Vienna weaves together two timelines: postwar Vienna and present-day America. When Zoe Rosenzweig loses her beloved grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, she becomes determined to uncover the truth about her family’s past. Meanwhile, in 1946 Vienna, her grandmother Chana bakes through grief and danger, caught between love, hunger, and the lingering threat of violence.

Sharon Kurtzman worked in television marketing before pursuing her dream of becoming a writer. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies and has been nominated for the Pushcart prize.

Sharon Kurtzman’s Five Books:

1. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

2. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

4. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

5. The Lost Baker of Vienna by Sharon Kurtzman

Other Episodes about Books Inspired by the Author's Family Story: 

- Georgia Hunter on Discovering her Family's Jewish History

- Elizabeth Graver on Lost Worlds and New Doorways

- Bonny Reichert on Feed, Fear, and Finding Beauty

- Rachel Cockerell on the Zionist Dream that Sailed to Galveston

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

On June 7, 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamed, but to Texas. The man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell’s great-grandfather. The journey marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, a forgotten moment in history when ten thousand Jews fled to Texas in the leadup to World War I.

In a highly inventive style, Cockerell captures history as it unfolds, weaving together letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper articles, and interviews into a vivid account. Melting Point follows Zangwill and the Jochelmann family through two world wars, to London, New York, and Jerusalem―as their lives intertwine with some of the most memorable figures of the twentieth century, and each chooses whether to cling to their history or melt into their new surroundings. It is a story that asks what it means to belong, and what can be salvaged from the past.

Rachel Cockerell was born and raised in London, the sixth of seven children. She did her BA at the Courtauld Institute and her MA at City University. Melting Point is her first nonfiction book. Her research has taken her to Texas, Ohio, New York, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.

In our conversation, we explore assimilation — both as a theoretical concept and as a deeply personal experience. We also discuss the power of reading history through primary sources, and the ways we often misunderstand our own significance.

Rachel Cockerell’s Five Books:

The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal 

When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father’s War and What Remains by Ariana Neumann

Orbital by Samantha Harvey

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land by Rachel Cockerell

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect ), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

In this bonus episode of The Book of Life Podcast: Jewish Kidlit (Mostly), host Heidi Rabinowitz talks to host of The Five Books, Tali Rosenblatt Cohen. Heidi and Tali trade recommendations for books new and old. If you’re keeping a list of great kids books with Jewish themes, this is a great episode for you!

RECOMMENDED TITLES

Book #1: Favorite Picture Books

The House on the Roof by David Adler (Tali)

The Rabbi and the 29 Witches by Marilyn Hirsh (Heidi)

Savta Simcha series by Yaffa Ganz (Tali)

The Passover Parrot by Evelyn Zusman (Tali)

Once Upon a Shabbos by Jacqueline Jules (Heidi)

The Hardest Word by Jacqueline Jules (Tali)

Book #2: Favorite Middle Grade

All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor (Tali)

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloane and Meg Wolitzer (Heidi)

The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss (Heidi)

Not Nothing by Gayle Forman (Tali)

When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman (Tali)

Max in the House of Spies/Max in the Land of Lies by Adam Gidwitz (Heidi)

Book #3: Favorite Young Adult

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb (Heidi)

Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero by E. Lockhart (Heidi)

Boys of the Beast by Monica Zepeda (Heidi)

Recipe for Disaster by Aimee Lucido (Heidi) - actually Middle Grade but mentioned at this point

Book #4: What books are you excited about right now?

More Than Enough: Inspired by Maimonides’s Golden Ladder of Giving by Richard Michelson (Heidi)

Mendel the Mess-Up by Terry LaBan(Heidi)

Night Owls by A.R. Vishny (Heidi)

Honey and Me by Meira Drazin (Tali)

Book #5: Adult Books

One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World by Michael Frank (Tali)

My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar (Tali)

Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom by Ariel Burger (Tali)

People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn (Heidi)

Thistlefoot: A Novel by GennaRose Nethercott (Heidi)

The Cohen sisters are at a crossroads. And not just because the obedient middle sister, Fortune, has secretly started to question her engagement and impending wedding. Nina, the rebellious eldest sister, is single at 26 (and growing cobwebs by her community's standards) when she runs into an old friend who offers her a chance to choose a different path. Meanwhile, Lucy, the youngest, a senior in high school, has started sneaking around with a charming older bachelor.

As Fortune inches ever closer to the chuppah, the sisters find themselves in a tug of war between tradition and modernity, reckoning with what their tight-knit community wants—and with what they want for themselves.

Esther Chehebar is a contributing writer at Tablet magazine, where she covers Sephardic Jewish tradition and community. She holds an MFA from the New School and has had her work featured in Glamour and Man Repeller. Chehebar’s first book, I Share My Name, was an illustrated children’s book explaining the Sephardic tradition of naming children for their grandparents. This is her debut novel.

In our conversation, we spoke about the culture of hospitality in Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish community, the assumptions people make about such a close-knit group, and the inherent tension between tradition and individuality.

Esther Levy Chehebar’s Five Books:

1. The Diary of Anne Frank

2. Beware of God by Shalom Auslander 

3. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami 

4. No Fault by Haley Mlotek 

5. Sisters of Fortune by Esther Levy Chehebar

Other Books & Authors Mentioned:

-  Corie Adjmi The Marriage Box

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect ), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

A kaleidoscopic portrait of one family’s displacement across four countries, Kantika―“song” in Ladino―follows the joys and losses of Rebecca Cohen, feisty daughter of the Sephardic elite of early 20th-century Istanbul. When the Cohens lose their wealth and are forced to move to Barcelona and start anew, Rebecca fashions a life and self from what comes her way―a failed marriage, the need to earn a living, but also passion, pleasure and motherhood. Moving from Spain to Cuba to New York for an arranged second marriage, she faces her greatest challenge―her disabled stepdaughter, Luna, whose feistiness equals her own and whose challenges pit new family against old.

Kantika was awarded a National Jewish Book Award, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, the Julia Ward Howe Award, and the Massachusetts Book Award.

Elizabeth Graver is the author of several novels, including The End of the Point, which was long-listed for the 2013 National Book Award in Fiction, and her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and Best American Essays. She teaches at Boston College.

In our conversation, we’ll explore the power of witnessing erased histories, Sephardic migrations, and the way historical fiction speaks to the present moment.

Elizabeth Graver’s Five Books:

1. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute by Grace Paley

2. One Hundred Saturdays by Michael Frank

3. Beloved by Toni Morrison

4. Isola by Allegra Goodman

5. Kantika by Elizabeth Graver

Other Books & Resources Mentioned:

- A recording of Elizabeth’s Grandmother

- The Postcard by Anne Berest

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

When Hazel Blum’s father gets a tenured job at a prestigious college, she and her family relocate from Brooklyn to a middle-of-nowhere college town in Maine. With her mother, Claire, a clothing designer, and her father, Gus, an American Studies professor, Hazel and her eleven-year-old brother, Wolf, spend the summer at the town pool, where they acclimate to their new lives and connect with the town’s sprawling community. That is, until a dramatic fallout on the very first day of her senior year tips the fickle balance of idyllic Riverburg and impacts everyone in her family.

Jessica Berger Gross is the author of the memoir Estranged: Leaving Family and Finding Home. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Cut, Longreads and many other publications. She graduated from Vassar College and has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally from New York, she lives in Maine with her husband and teenage son. Hazel Says No is her first novel. 

In our conversation, we’ll explore finding creativity after trauma, the joy of being “culturally” jewish, and how a high school production of Brighton Beach Memoirs changed the course of her life. We also talk about the power of saying no – not just as a personal boundary, but as an act of resistance, deeply rooted in Jewish tradition.

Jessica Berger Gross’ Five Books:

1. Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon

2. Howard Stern Comes Again by Howard Stern

3. The Postcard by Anne Berest

4. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

5. Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross

Other Books Mentioned:

- Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

- Are you there God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume

- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank- Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon

- She Said by Jodi Kantor & Megan Twohey

- Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

- Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

Thirty years ago, Laura’s mother, Viola, went missing. She left behind her purse, her keys and her mysterious paintings of a red house. Viola was never found, and her family never recovered. Laura, an artist herself, held on to the paintings. On the back of each work, her mother scrawled in Italian, “I will not be here forever.” The family never understood what Viola meant. 

Blending elements of true crime with settings that evoke Elena Ferrante, Laura follows her mother’s trajectory as she ventures north to Naples, Turin and finally home. Along the way, she confronts the dark truth of her mother’s story and at last makes sense of her own.

Mary Morris is the author of numerous works of fiction, including the novels The Jazz Palace, and Gateway to the Moon, and of nonfiction, including All the Way to the Tigers and the travel memoir classic Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in literature and the 2016 Anisfield-Wolf Award for fiction. Morris lives in Brooklyn, New York.

In our conversation, we’ll explore the roots of the name, Mary, and how it has shaped her Jewish experience, what draws Morris to uncover buried histories in her work, and her unexpected and painful association with To Kill A Mockingbird.

Mary Morris’ Five Books:

1. The Last of the Just by Andre Schwartz-Bart

2. The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

4. The Paris Stories by Mavis Gallant

5. The Red House by Mary Morris

Other Books Mentioned:

- The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller

- Poems by Constantine P. Cavafy

- Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Rabbi Sharon Brous (Senior Rabbi at IKAR, and author of The Amen Effect ), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts and more find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

Hi everyone! If you’re new here, welcome! At The Five Books, we’re all about connecting through stories. What role do books play in shaping who we are? Which beloved books do you share with your favorite author? What’s the next great read that might shift your worldview? Stick around and we’ll have your summer reading pile stocked in no time.

In case you missed it, we’re moving to an every-other-week publishing schedule! That means no more long breaks between seasons – you’ll now be able to discover great Jewish authors and the books they love, all year long. We’ll be back next Tuesday and every other Tuesday after that.

If you’d like to get reminders when new episodes drop plus a full list of the books discussed - with links - delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter! You’ll find the link in the show notes of this episode or on our website: fivebookspod.org

Our newsletter was inspired by listener feedback! So if YOU have a suggestion, or an author you’d love to hear from, email us anytime at [email protected]. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Thank you so much for listening, reading, and supporting Jewish authors. Whether you’re here for literary insight or cultural connection, The Five Books is a space for book lovers and curious minds to explore what it means to live, write, and read as a Jewish American today. 

See you next week!

In a time of loneliness and isolation, social rupture and alienation, what will it take to mend our broken hearts and rebuild our society?

Sharon Brous—a leading American rabbi—makes the case that the spiritual work of our time, as instinctual as it is counter-cultural, is to find our way to one other in celebration, in sorrow, and in solidarity. To show up for each other in moments of joy and pain, vulnerability and possibility, to invest in relationships of shared purpose and build communities of care. 

Sharon Brous is the founding and senior rabbi of IKAR, a trail-blazing Jewish community based in Los Angeles. A leading voice at the intersection of faith and justice in America, she has been named #1 Most Influential Rabbi in the U.S. by Newsweek/The Daily Beast. She blessed both President Obama and President Biden at their National Inaugural Prayer Services, and her TED Talk “Reclaiming Religion” has been viewed 1.5 million times. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. She lives with her husband, David Light, and their children in California.

In our conversation, Rabbi Brous shares what it took for her to carve out a place for herself in a community that didn’t always feel welcoming. We’ll also discuss the power of foundational stories, the idea that religion begins with asking the right questions, and how to stay in conversation even when it’s difficult.

Rabbi Sharon Brous’ Five Books:

1. Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America by Letty Cottin Pogrebin

2. The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel and The Prophets by Abraham Joshua Heschel 

3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 

4. The Postcard by Ann Berest

5. The Amen Effect: Ancient Wisdom to Mend Our Broken Hearts and World by Sharon Brous

Other Books Mentioned:

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays by Rabbi Irving Greenberg 

The Book And The Sword: A Life Of Learning In The Shadow Of Destruction by  David Weiss Halivni 

The Five Books is a podcast that celebrates the role of books in Jewish culture. Through author interviews, we delve into Jewish identity and discover each author’s favorite novels. Join us every week for new Jewish book recommendations! Some of our episodes have included conversations with Yehuda Kurtzer (host of Identity/Crisis), Yael Van Der Wouden (author of The Safekeep), and Dara Horn (author of People Love Dead Jews.)

⁠⁠Sign up for our newsletter⁠⁠ to get new episode reminders, authors’ five book picks, and more delivered straight to your inbox.

Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod or on Facebook at The Five Books Podcast.

For feedback or author recommendations please email us at [email protected]

For transcripts etc find us online at www.fivebookspod.org 

The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate

The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity. 

Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen

Produced by Odelia Rubin

Editorial and website support by Sarah Waring

Artwork by Dena Friedman

Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.