More Reqs & Recs + New Releases

Our recommendations segment is back, thanks to all of your fabulous feedback and requests. I would love to hear what ideas you can add - leave your recommendations in the comments.

Plus, a quick roundup of new releases and upcoming titles to look forward to.

Q1

Can you recommend biographies like 90 Seconds, Incredible, or the one about Rabbi Grossman? Engaging and fun to read. - BN

Nachman Seltzer invented his own genre, adventurous biographies about living figures. So there’s nothing I can give you that’s exactly like that, other than more Nachman Seltzer books (Incredible 2, The Insider, and Our Man in Jerusalem are all a similar style). However, if you enjoy fast-paced and engrossing true storytelling, below are some other books that you’d enjoy.

1. Lieutenant Birnbaum, Yonasan Rosenblum (biography)

2. Go My Son, Chaim Shapiro (holocaust/memoir)

3. From Central Park to Sinai, Roy Neuberger (memoir)

4. The Mountain Family, Tzirel Rus Berger (memoir)

5. Rebel with a Cause, Sara Yehudis Djalmand (memoir) (adult reading)

Q2

My 13-year-old granddaughter is an avid reader, and her greatest interest these days is fantasy. Most books of this genre are filled with objectionable content. Any ideas for her? (She reads adult books as well as YA.) - ER

Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can give you that’s pure high-fantasy. As we’ve discussed in previous interviews, frum authors are very hesitant to fully lean into fantasy world-building. But speculative fiction is a wide range, and there are titles that include supernatural or speculative elements woven into the real world, to different extents (what secular fiction might call magical realism). Here are some titles with various speculative elements, in order of reading level. You can also find middle-grades futuristic and science fiction books here. 

1. Who is Coby Dubin?, Dina Nueman (speculative history) - grades 5-7

2. Out of Mind and its sequel Back of Mind, Rochel Burstyn (magical realism) - grades 6-10

3. Between Two Worlds, Chayale Cohen (speculative history + science fiction) 

4. The Trepid trilogy, A. Yarden (speculative history + magical realism) 

5. Aleph Shin and its prequel Ten Lost, Sender Zeyv (futuristic)

Q3

Can you recommend books that novelize torah stories like the Let My Nation series, Gilded Cage, and The Last Slave? Specifically teens and adults. - BN

Interesting question! I hadn’t previously thought of these as belonging to a particular set, and this got me dividing historical fiction by time period and source. I’m going to take the liberty to expand your question a bit past Tanach to the second Beis Hamikdash as well. 

1. Dual Discovery, Zecharyah Hoffman

2. Nezirah: The Story of Queen Helene of Adiabene, Tzirel Greenberg (non-fiction)

3. The Harp, Meir Uri Gottesman

4. Chains, Leah Gebber

5. The Return to Yerushalayim, Yehudis Litvak (short stories)

Q4

Hi, I would love to get book recommendations, as I am an avid reader and often feel like there aren't enough books to satisfy me! Although I have read most books out there, I'm hoping maybe you can recommend some to me that I haven't read yet. I like both plot and character-driven books in most genres (besides for 'Mossad thrillers'), but I'm picky about the writing - it needs to be excellent. Some examples of books that I've really enjoyed: The Trepid Trilogy, Hospital Corridors, Deception and the Last Lie, A Veiled Truth, Rappaport 55, Rule of Three, and Yardsticks. - SM

Tough one, because these books don’t have so much in common! They’re all pretty fast-paced with a bit of intrigue while being character-centered, so I’m going to recommend a few more like those that also feature fantastic writing. 

1. Daddy’s Girl, Dina Nueman

2. The Thirteenth Gate, Esther Zirkind

3. Sisters and Strangers, Suri Epstein

4. Normal Like Me, Ruti Kepler (translated)

5. Brain Waves, Shuli Mensch

Q5

I would love ideas for a Mesivta bochur that doesn’t involve female protagonists or very girly storylines. Bonus points for books with historical or scientific background so I can sneak in some learning! - CR

Lots of boys get hooked on thrillers, which most often are male-centered and feature plots across multiple timelines, crisscrossing through history. We have a collection for that: start here. Fast-paced and high suspense doesn't work for everyone though! Here are some other ideas of contemporary and historical fiction with male protagonists.  

Contemporary:

1. One Shot, Mattie Wiseman

2. Deep Blue, Meir Uri Gottesman

3. First Identity, Yitzchok Goldman

Historical:

4. Ruach Ami Series, Avner Gold 

5. Wildlands, M. Kenan

6. Split Loyalties, Sarah Feldbrand

7. My Name is Isaiah, Debbie Strom

8. A Stranger to My Brothers, Henye Meyer

Q6

I really enjoy books by Riva Pomerantz, Devorah Weiner, Esty Heller, and Dov Haller. What other books and authors would you suggest? Tysm! - LC
Common denominator of these authors: They’re all leaning into contemporary issues and conflicts that revolve around juicy gossip and drama. Here’s some more like that: 

1. Three Steps, Shoshana Schwartz

2. Stay With Me, Libby Lazewnik

3. Dual Secrets, Yael Mermelstein

4. Silent Storms, Ariella Schiller

5. Outlook, Tzippy Kestenbaum

Have a recommendation of your own to add to these answers? Leave your ideas (together with the question number) in the comments below. 👇

Book News

New Releases

• Angels in Orange, Nachman Seltzer - On Simchas Torah morning, Eli Beer and his United Hatzalah army sprang into action, putting their resources, network, and expertise to aid their nation during its darkest hour. The book features the experiences of a wide array of United Hatzalah volunteers and showcases the horror of October 7th, as well as the kindness and heroism that emerged in the aftermath. Each chapter features one volunteer’s story, and together they provide a chronological account of the agony, chaos, and confusion as the country learned about the attack and began the slow rescue of the injured. Some of the stories are a bit repetitive, but the quick pace and important message keep the pages turning. Note that descriptions have been made family-friendly, but are still graphic.

• The Last Rebbe of Lodz, Yonah Klein - The dispersed Ginzburg family is working to rebuild the glory of their past, but a hidden adversary is working against them. Izzy is settled into his monotonous single life and good enough job, until upheaval disrupts his comfortable routine and he finds himself adrift. Zach has everything going for him and is gearing up for a House bid when longtime allies turn on him and release accusations that will end his career. Two distant cousins at a crossroad in their lives, brought together by a shared mission. A slow build-up to a dramatic string of events, blending humor, introspection, and suspense.

• Lamb on the Loose (23 Under 1 Roof #12), Ruth Arieli Rappaport

• Land of Health, Shmuel Chaim Naiman - looking at the geology and nature of Eretz Yisrael to learn about being a whole and well Jew

Coming Soon

Coming for Pesach

• Captives Reunited, Rochel Istrin - the release of the third and final installment in the trilogy has been pushed up

• Take 2, Riva Pomerantz - contemporary drama 

• Shades of Normal, Rochel Samet - teen novel

• Hold the Line, Brocha Miller - historical fiction set in middle America during the early 1900’s 

• Storm Clouds, Sarah Feldbrand - teen historical fiction set in chassidish Poland during times of change

• Leaving Mitzrayim, Chaim Greenbaum - middle-grades adventure, sequel to My Last Year in Mitzrayim, from the author of The Will

• The Beis Yisroel, Yisroel Besser - a biography about survival and rebuilding

Coming Later

• Truth Meets Fiction, Nachman Seltzer - fictional short stories

• True Blue, Libby Lazewnik - the second of the new middle-grades Starlight Sisters series, featuring Penny’s story 

• Out of the Woods, Rochel Samet - middle-grades adventure

In Other News

• M. Kenan’s fourth book, which was previously scheduled to be released for Pesach, is still in editing and will likely be pushed off (again)

• Yonah Klein talks about the business of publishing in this video

• Ora McCarthy, one of the frum world’s best short story writers, published Welcome to Williardton, a story about identity and conformity from behind the mask of a fortune teller.

Have a book request for next time? Email your detailed question to frumbooks@substack.com.