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Posted by Naomi Firestone-Teeter
We’ve just finished inputting four full years of recent reviews (not to mention hundreds of reviews from previous years), bringing our online review count to over 2,000. In honor of this milestone, I’ve provided a breakdown of some the interesting figures that have emerged as we’ve sorted through titles and topics:
72 books with discussion questions
48 books that discuss the Talmud
25 graphic novels or books about graphic novels (thanks, Wendy!)
19 books that touch on Anne Frank16 book trailers
10 books by or about Sholem Aleichem
14 books on Kabbalah
11 guides to learn or do things (e.g., to fitness and fathering, Tel Aviv, the Five Books of Moses, etc.)
9 books on “a life” (e.g., Ariel Sharon, Isaac B. Singer, Louis D. Brandeis, Modigliani, etc.)
7 books that focus on matzoh
6 books by Philip Roth
5 books on Rashi (or his daughters)
4 books about Iraqi Jews
3 books on Babylonian Jews
3 books on Ethopian Jewry
2 books on Sandy Koufax
2 books on potatoes (or potato pancakes)
2 books on Birthright Israel
2 books on Churchill
As you do your own book searching, let us know if any other interesting figures or trends emerge. Now, only 26 more years of reviews to go…
Originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Naomi Firestone-Teeter is the CEO of the Jewish Book Council. Prior to becoming executive director and then CEO, she served as founding editor of the JBC website and managing editor of Jewish Book World. Naomi sits on the board of Jewish Creativity International.Naomi was named to the New York Jewish Week’s 2019 “36 Under 36” and Algemeiner’s 2018 list of the 100 people positively influencing Jewish life and was included on the Global Jewish 100 list by Izzy in 2020. She graduated from Emory University with degrees in English and Art History and, in addition, studied at University College London. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.