Books coverage is supported by a generous grant from The Milton and Sophie Meyer Fund.
Northern California is rich in writing talent. Here are a handful of recent books with Jewish themes or characters, written by local Jewish authors, for anyone looking for a read or resource.
“Connecting Dots: A Blind Life”
By Joshua A. Miele (Grand Central Publishing, 304 pages)
Joshua A. Miele’s autobiography recounts an unusual — and unusually brilliant — life. Originally from Brooklyn, Miele was blinded and heavily burned at age 4 when a mentally ill neighbor threw acid in his face.
Miele, a Berkeley resident, went on to earn degrees at UC Berkeley in physics and psychoacoustics. In 2021, he was awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant for his inventions, which include a web tool for producing street maps for the blind, a method for adding audio description to YouTube and a “virtual Braille” glove so blind people can use smartphones.
The book takes readers through the attack that changed his life and Miele’s determination to live life on his own terms.
“Witchwood: A Ravenfall Novel”
By Kalyn Josephson (Penguin Random House, 272 pages)
This third book in Bay Area writer Kalyn Josephson’s middle-grade fantasy series brings Jewish folklore, witches, magic and monsters together in a book that also acknowledges the tough parts about growing up.
Protagonist Anna already has magic, but what she doesn’t have is Jewish magic. That is, until her aunt, who lives in Witchwood, decides to teach her.
Anna has to deal with a rude cousin and figure out who is kidnapping the witches of Witchwood, all while coming to terms with what she knows and doesn’t know about Judaism.
The series is aimed at kids who love the Percy Jackson series or any myth-based fantasy worldbuilding.
“From Oy to Joy”
By Shulamit Sofia (Spirit Works Press, 204 pages)
“The ‘oys’ represent a dreary mindset wherein aging is seen as a catastrophic time,” according to Shulamit Sofia of San Francisco, who teaches “spiritual skills” for older adults. Instead, she wants people to approach aging with joy, summed up in the book’s subtitle: “Making the Best of Your Life for the Rest of Your Life.” With a simple approach and easy-to-follow worksheets, the book is intended to help readers “discover what makes you happy and do more of it.”
The book, written during Covid lockdowns, “reflects her own journey and offers guidance to support those dealing with the challenges of aging.”
“My Life, Who Cares, Not a Question”
By Robert Sockolov (independently published, 175 pages)
Not everyone has a forward written by Willie Mays in their memoir. But Robert Sockolov has been a friend to baseball for a while, particularly to the San Francisco Giants. As part of an ownership group, his financial contributions were key in keeping the S.F. Giants here.
He also built a menswear empire, raised a family, became a painter and won a medal in the 80-years-and-up division of men’s tennis doubles at the Maccabiah Games.
As he puts it in his book: “After thinking about it for a long time, I thought ‘What am I gonna write about?’ The only thing I really know about is myself.”
“How Precious the Ground on Which We Stand”
By Rabbi Sheldon Lewis (Hakodesh Press, 96 pages)
Sheldon Lewis, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto, is not only a spiritual leader but also a writer and activist. The author of “Letters Home: A Jewish Chaplain’s Vietnam Memoir” has now written about how Jewish tradition should inform our personal response to climate change.
In his new treatise, which is subtitled “Jewish Values that Could Save the Earth,” Lewis points out that Judaism sees the natural world as a sacred creation and thus something that must be safeguarded. He uses tradition as a starting point for future Jewish action on climate change.