The Book of Life

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     |    LISTEN TO THE FIVE BOOKS     🕮    The Five Books is a new literary Jewish podcast hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen, in partnership with the Jewish Book Council. I'm very happy to welcome another show to our little corner of the book world, so I invited Tali to do a mutual interview. We interviewed each other, and the episode will appear on both our podcast feeds. Go to the Substack post for this episode for links to other podcast swaps I've done over the years! LEARN MORE: The Five Books Podcast website   Highlights of past episodes: o Yale Strom on The Book of Life o Gayle Forman on The Five Books   Recommended podcasts: o Heidi: Nice Jewish Books , Recognizably Jewish , Fuse 8 and Kate o Tali: Identity/Crisis , Call Me Back , The New Yorker Fiction Podcast , How to Fail   RECOMMENDED TITLES: Book #1: Favorite Picture Books The House on the R...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     |    READ THE TRANSCRIPT     🕮    I was pleased to be a guest on the podcast Everyone Loved It But Me , hosted by Lisa Hedger. I spoke about the many issues I have with the middle grade Holocaust novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. This fall, a sequel will be released, entitled All the Broken Places . I urge you to approach this sequel with great caution. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is rife with historical inaccuracies, impossible scenarios, emotional manipulation, and tone-deaf messaging, and the author has shown only defensiveness in the face of the many criticisms he has received. I don't hold high hopes for the sequel to be any better, and I don't want this author to continue to profit from literary exploitation of the tragedy that was the Holocaust. In my personal opinion, Boyne's books should be put aside and attention should instead be paid to more authentic works of fiction and nonfiction ...

The Association of Jewish Libraries Launches Nice Jewish Books Podcast The Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) is pleased to announce the launch of Nice Jewish Books, a monthly podcast focusing on adult Jewish fiction. Nice Jewish Books will bring attention to works of literary fiction, genre fiction, and literature in translation, as well as books and authors that have been considered for AJL’s annual Jewish Fiction Award. Nice Jewish Books can be found at https://jewishlibraries.org/nicejewishbooks /. The first episode, available now, features Mary Marks, author of the Quilting Mysteries series, in which Jewish protagonist Martha Rose and her circle of quilting friends seem to bump into dead bodies with alarming frequency. Luckily, they are able use their observational skills, intuition, and persistence to "help" the police catch the killers. In this wide-ranging conversation, host Sheryl Stahl and Mary Marks discuss Jewish practice, the representation of female charact...

I am thrilled to be a guest on the podcast Star Trek and the Jews, a monthly podcast using Star Trek to boldly explore the world of Jews and Judaism! We discussed the Star Trek stories Creative Couplings about a Klingon/Jewish wedding, and the revenge/forgiveness story "An Easy Fast" in Tales from the Captain's Table . My interview appears in Part I of a two-part series. The second part features an interview with the authors of the above stories. Check it out at StarTrekandtheJews.Podbean.com . Here's my episode: Part I - Captain David Gold: Don't Call It a Midrash   Heidi's Star Trek cosplay at the local science museum  Additional books and media discussed in this episode: Star Trek: The New Voyages 2 edited by Sondra Marshak & Myrna Culbreath  Atalanta from Free to Be You and Me K'Tonton's Sukkot Adventure by Sadie Rose Weilerstein All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor [ Book of Life, October 2007 ] The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screami...

Gianna Floyd, daughter of George Floyd, on the shoulders of friend Stephen Jackson   On the one hand, I want to speak up about systemic racism and to express my support for the Black community. On the other hand, as a White person I don't want to make this about me. So I'm going to take the advice of my friend and fellow podcaster Jaime Legagneur and boost Black voices. And I'm going to start with hers. Jaime recorded this heartbreakingly honest podcast about her experience as a Black woman in America. Please listen, and follow the links to the many, many resources she has kindly provided. LISTEN HERE Above you can see Gianna Floyd, the 6 year old daughter of murder victim George Floyd, whose death sparked the long-overdue demands for racial justice now sweeping the globe. A video clip of Gianna saying "Daddy changed the world!" has gone viral. Let's help make sure she's right.

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    An impromptu discussion among Heidi Estrin, Mark Blevis of the Just One More Book podcast, author Richard Michelson and author/readiologist Esme Raji Codell during a party at the Planet Esme Book Room . Of seasonal interest: among other things, we discussed potential winners of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award. We'll find out if we were right next month in January 2010! CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod   Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com or call our voicemail number at 561-206-2473.

The inimitable QN Podcast (formerly "Quirky Nomads") put out a call for librarians to share their thoughts on their lives' work. I answered that call, and my voice is one of the "5 Voices" on the new librarian-centric episode of QN! Thanks to Sage Tyrtle for the invitation and for the terrific editing. I love the way she's woven the different voices together into a sort of group story. Click here to listen to Librarian: 5 Voices . ( Sadly, no longer available.)

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    Why be social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Here are the earlier segments: Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 . This is Why Be Social, Part 4. In this episode, blogger and podcaster Mark Blevis, the one who started this entire conversation, joins Heidi to talk about what it means to participate in life online. Scroll down for links to Mark's many online projects and for links to some non -Jewish social media sources I want you to know about (you'll hear why on the show). ...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Here's Part 1 and Part 2 . This is Why Be Social, Part 3. I hope the earlier episodes in this series have gotten you interested checking out some real live blogs and podcasts. There are zillions of blog and podcast websites online, so where do you get started? Here with some suggestions of blogs and podcasts relating to Jewish literature is Alx Block , Online Sales and Marketing Manager for the Jewish Publication Soci...

  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Click here for Part 1 . This is Why Be Social, Part 2. The morning after the social media session at the convention, I conducted some quick "man on the street" interviews, asking people for their own definitions of blogging and podcasting. Every single person had a good answer! VIDEO: Here are two videos from Common Craft that give additional definitions of blogging and podcasting: "Blogs in Plain English" an...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    Why Be Social? To add a Jewish point of view to the social media landscape! At the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention in Chicago this summer, podcaster Mark Blevis led a session on Social Media that opened the floodgates of people's curiosity. Convention attendees wanted to learn more about social media: what it is, what it means to participate, and how to get started. As a continuation of that conversation, The Book of Life is offering a series of podcast episodes called "Why Be Social?" Part 1 in the Why Be Social series considers the philosophical aspects of technology in our lives. The wide-ranging conversation was held during breakfast at the Association of Jewish Libraries 2009 convention, the morning after the social media convention session. The very funny video above (in Norwegian! but with English subtitles) reminds us of how difficult an unfamiliar technology can seem at first, and how s...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST      🕮    More interviews from Book Expo America 2009 , this time with authors who've written Jewish books for adults. Plus, we find the Jewish angle on the National Book Award and the Books on the Nightstand blog and podcast. Yiddish Yoga by Lisa Grunberger Harold Augenbraum of the National Book Foundation What Happened to Anna K? by Irina Reyn Ostrich Feathers by Miriam Romm From Shmear to Eternity by Fred Kogos Michael Kindness of Books on the Nightstand CREDITS: Produced by: Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel Supported in part by: Association of Jewish Libraries Theme music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band Facebook fan page: facebook.com/bookoflifepodcast Twitter: @bookoflifepod Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com !

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    In this picture we see Mark Blevis & Andrea Ross, the husband-and-wife team behind the kidlit podcast Just One More Book . They're holding the Six String Nation guitar, and they're at the Podcasters Across Borders conference, of which Mark is one of the founders and organizers. Mark also co-hosts, with Bob Goyetche, an excellent show by and for podcasters called The Canadian Podcast Buffet . While I was at Podcasters Across Borders, I grabbed Mark for an interview about his upcoming gig at the Association of Jewish Libraries convention , which takes place in July in Chicago, IL. Mark's talk is entitled "How I Learned About Amazing Jewish Books Through Social Media." As we chatted, he posed a question for listeners: what are your concerns about the visibility of Jewish books, especially books for children? Please share your thoughts with Mark at markblevis@gmail.com or post a comment here at The Book of Life. CREDITS:...

Whew. I'm back from my first Podcasters Across Borders (aka PAB) conference in Kingston, Ontario, and I am just completely blown away. I'd been listening to podcasts of the conference sessions for the past several years on the Canadian Podcast Buffet , a show by and for podcasters, so I knew there would be high quality content. What I didn't expect was how moving the experience would be. The opening keynote was by Jowi Taylor, creator of the Six String Nation guitar . This guitar was constructed of 64 pieces (wood and other materials) representing all different regions and peoples of Canada. The idea is to bring Canadians together to bond with eachother and to contemplate Canadian identity. It's a beautiful piece of usable art, and it's a wonderful vehicle for sharing history and storytelling... as well as music! Jowi is a Peabody Award winning writer and broadcaster, and he really touched us when he shared stories of the guitar's source materials and th...

I will be attending the Podcasters Across Borders conference for the first time this year, in June in Kingston, Ontario, and I am so excited! I've listened to recordings of past years' conferences and I've always wanted to go. This short audio clip is the "teaser" that I've created about The Book of Life, to give other conference attendees (who are podcasters too) an idea of what my show is like. It's an outtake from my December 2007 interview with author/illustrator Ann Koffsky . I hope it makes sense - please let me know if you think it works as a promo for The Book of Life. I get a big kick out of the bit at the end where we start playing "Jewish geography."

As if podcasting weren't "Web 2.0" enough already, now I'm getting deeper into social media by offering a Book of Life Facebook fan page and Twitter feed! A shout-out and welcome to those of you who are receiving this post through Facebook right now. Thanks for "fanning" my page! For others who want to know what I'm talking about, click here to see The Book of Life's Facebook fan page, which allows you to receive podcast episodes and news right on your Facebook wall in your feed, and gives you an interactive space to post your comments, or even to post related links, pictures, or videos. You can view the page whether you are a Facebook user or not, but to become a fan and use all the page's features you'll need a Facebook account. I'll be posting Book of Life Twitter updates at twitter.com/bookoflifepod . If you use Twitter, please "Follow" me to stay up to date on Book of Life news. Also, I'm interested in using this T...

The Book of Life's first-ever episode was posted in December, 2005, which means that we've been podcasting for three whole years! Here are the Chanukah episodes for 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005, so you can enjoy them all at once. Makes great background listening while you are wrapping presents or frying latkes!  

Along with hosting The Book of Life, I am now assisting the Association of Jewish Libraries with getting its own podcast up and running. Here's the press release we sent out to announce the launch of the podcast. Be sure to check out the book give-away promotion in the last paragraph! New Podcast Author talks, lectures on Jewish literature, panel discussions, and workshops are among the offerings of the newly launched Association of Jewish Libraries Podcast . Available at www.jewishlibraries.org/podcast , the program provides audio that enhances and enriches the listener's appreciation of Jewish book culture. The podcast will include material recorded at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual convention, as well as recordings of Jewish literary events across North America. A wide range of topics will be covered, from the academic to the hands-on, from children's literature to technology. "Jews are book lovers, and Jewish librarians even more so,"...

The scene: Book Expo America in the sprawling Los Angeles Convention Center ME: Hi, I'm Heidi Estrin from the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee and The Book of Life podcast. Do you have any new Judaic titles I should know about? FRIENDLY PUBLISHING PERSON: Oh yes, let me show you this exciting book on our fall list... ME: Do you mind if I record you for my podcast while you tell me about the book? FRIENDLY PUBLISHING PERSON: Record ME???? NOW??? Wait, maybe I can get my colleague over here to do it.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It's remarkable how much fear can be inspired by a tiny little handheld microphone, especially one with cute Mickey Mouse ears. But seriously, I really want to thank the many brave souls who spoke to me about their wonderful new books at BEA, and to reassure them that I will be editing the audio before I post it. Everyone sounded great in the first place, and I'll polish it up so we'll all sound even better, not to worry...

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST     🕮    I will be attending Book Expo America 2008 in Los Angeles, CA to record material for The Book of Life podcast and to promote the Sydney Taylor Book Award for Jewish children's literature. If YOU will be at Book Expo too, drop me a line at bookoflifepodcast@gmail.com ! (If we meet up, I'll even give you a shiny gold Sydney Taylor Book Award lapel pin! As always, background music is provided by The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band. And also as always, The Book of Life is a production of the Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel , with additional support from the Association of Jewish Libraries .