East Bay synagogue Chochmat HaLev will conclude a six-night program of virtual events for the Days of Awe with an atypical guest: Bay Area writer Anne Lamott. On Sept. 26, about 24 hours before the start of the Yom Kippur fast, the celebrated Marin author, who is Christian, will speak and read from her forthcoming…
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Books
Off the Shelf
On the Riviera, in Bolivia … Jewish historical fiction that travels
Two new coming-of-age novels set against memorable geographical and historical backdrops remind me of what I especially value in reading historical…
Books
Tales of lockdown give immediacy to Palo Alto retiree’s short story collection
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. Ben, a 42-year-old theater manager, lives alone in a Brooklyn…
Books
New book explores taboos around women’s sexuality in the Orthodox world
A religious woman struggles with discovering her attraction to women while being married to her husband. Another grapples with being sexually assaulted by…
Parenting
I’m baffled by the books my kids love — and thrilled
“I was determined to be the best and fastest tree climber in the family,” my husband told my children. “So I kicked him in the head while he was standing…
Books
Local rabbi’s mom chooses post-Holocaust theme for first novel
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. Meryl Ain’s debut novel, “The Takeaway Men,” which follows a Polish…
Art
Tawonga staffer's coloring book encourages you to color 'Outside the Lines'
Sometime during this unprecedented year, Bay Area illustrator Meg Adler decided that what the world needed most was a coloring book. Not just any coloring…
Off the Shelf
Secrets kept, secrets revealed in two debut novels
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. When somebody close to us dies, we cannot predict the shadow that…
Books
SFSU professor wins Cowan literary prize for Biblical whodunnit
Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund. Journalist and San Francisco State University associate professor…