Bring family and friends to the Jewish Community Center of Houston’s 37th Annual Jewish Book and Arts Fair this week. From film showings to concerts to old-fashioned book readings, this fair is sure to have something for book lovers of every variety.
The fair kicked off Nov. 1 with readings and author conversations. This week, visitors looking for a fresh perspective can expect a smorgasbord of books on different topics and experiences.
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Today
Today’s readings focus on the experiences of older people. In ‘Bubbe Day at the J!,’ grandparents can purchase goody bags for their kids and enjoy readings from Barbara Graham’s Eye of My Heart: 27 Writers Reveal the Hidden Pleasures and Perils of Being a Grandmother.’
At 6:15 p.m., the JCC will highlight Ernest Adams’ memoir of his conversion to Judaism. Adams recalls that as a black man growing up in Harlem before the civil rights movement, he was initially prejudiced and anti-Semitic.
‘ Advertised as a ‘tale for the new post-racial America’ by the JCC, this honest and gritty biography is worth a read and some thought by readers of all races and faiths.
The day will conclude with Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry’s Family Meals, a heart-warming reflection on taking care of an aging parent and how it brought their family together.
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Tuesday
If today’s focus was on memoirs and the wisdom of experience, Tuesday definitely takes a turn toward the humorous and outlandish.
The day will begin focusing on comedy with Lisa Grunberger’s Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss, and the Lotus Position and Daniel Asa Rose’s Larry’s Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant – And Save His Life. Take some time to enjoy these side-splitters and their engaging authors.
Dan Brown fans that need a fix after finishing The Lost Symbol can’t miss Daniel Levin’s The Last Ember, a suspense thriller about a conspiracy to protect a mysterious artifact.
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Wednesday
Appreciate the thoughtful memoirs from writers on everything from the Holocaust to surviving cancer.
At noon, S.L. Wisenberg will speak on The Adventures of Cancer Bitch, a profound tale of how she survived breast cancer despite awkward doctors and everyday foibles.’
Taking a page from everyday life, Andrew Blauner’s Brothers: 26 Stories of Love and Rivalry examines the complex and unique fraternal bonds in many families.
Sam Apple’s American Parent: My Strange and Surprising Adventures in Modern Babyland examines the Houston-born author’s material voyage through parenthood.
Neal Bascomb’s Hunting Eichmann tells the true story of several Holocaust survivors and a spy agency’s capture of one of history’s most despicable criminals.
Later, Steven V. Roberts’ will present From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America, the heart-wrenching and poignant tales of several immigrant families.‘
Finally, Avivah Zornberg will conclude the night with a study of Jacob’s Biblical encounter with God.’
Those interested in this session can look up information about Zornberg’s featured book, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious ‘And I Did Not Know: The Secret of Prayer.’‘
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Thursday
Thursday turns to the political and historic, with books on Israel, Holocaust survivors and an analysis of a Jewish folktale.
Jewish composer Ofer Ben-Amots will discuss a folktale about a couple that fought to stay in love, even after one of them passed on to the afterlife, and the chamber opera that he wrote about it.
Avinoam J. Patt will talk about his book on Israel, Finding Home and Homeland Jewish Youth and Zionism in the Aftermath of the Holocaust, while Daniel Gordis will discuss Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End.
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Concert Saturday
Take a break from the books on Saturday and enjoy Ben-Amots’ new chamber opera on The Dybbuk.
This innovative, multimedia presentation is sure to amuse and enrich listeners.
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Stellar Sunday
Sunday’s line-up is particularly promising, with guest speakers on civil rights, a music performance by The Dybbuk and The Know-It-All author A.J. Jacobs concluding the night.
At 10:15 a.m., guest speaker Rabbi Bradley Artson will lecture on the importance of including people of all abilities in the community.
This will accompany a reading from God Loves Everyone: Lessons from the Torah and My Autistic Son.
Foodies can look forward to a conversation with Tina Wasserman on Entr’eacute;e to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora.
In addition to offering delicious recipes, this book also explores the culture behind each dish.
NPR listeners know A.J. Jacobs as the author of the hilarious and poignant memoirs The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, the tale about his attempt to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, and The Year of Living Biblically, which follows his attempt to follow every single Biblical law for an entire year.
In his latest novel The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment, Jacobs follows two different experiments.
For one, Jacobs makes an online dating profile and pretends to be a woman as he seduces men online to see what he uncovers about the trials of dating and the Internet’s potential for deception. For another, Jacobs outsources all of his jobs and needs to India, including a letter of complaint to an airline service.
Enjoy Jacobs’ side-splitting comedy at 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
