Recommended Reading from the Jewish Book Council Weekly

Between Friends Amoz Oz Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. 192 pp. US$24.00 In Between Friends, Amos Oz returns to the kibbutz of the late 1950s, the time and place where his writing began. These eight interconnected stories, set in the fictitious Kibbutz Yekhat, draw masterly profiles of idealistic men and women enduring personal hardships in the shadow of one of the greatest collective dreams of the twentieth century. A devoted father who fails to challenge his daughter's lover, an old friend, a man his own age; an elderly gardener who carries on his shoulders the sorrows of the world; a woman writing poignant letters to her husband's mistress-amid this motley group of people, a man named Martin attempts to teach everyone Esperanto.

Unscrolled: 54 Writers and Artists Wrestle with the Torah Roger Bennett, ed. Workman, 2013. 384 pp. $18.00 Imagine: 54 leading young Jewish writers, artists, photographers, screenwriters, architects, actors, musicians, and graphic artists grappling with the first five books of the Bible and giving new meaning to the 54 Torah portions that are traditionally read over the course of a year. From the foundational stories of Genesis and Exodus to the legalistic minutiae of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, Unscrolled is a reinterpreting, a reimagining, a creative and eclectic celebration of the Jewish Bible. Here's a graphic-novel version of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, by Rebecca Odes and Sam Lipsyte. Lost creator Damon Lindelof writing about Abraham's decision to sacrifice his son. Here's Sloane Crosley bringing Pharaoh into the 21st century, where he's checking out "boils," "lice," and "plague of frogs" on WebMD. Plus there's Joshua Foer, Aimee Bender, A. J. Jacobs, David Auburn, Jill Soloway, Ben Greenman, Josh Radnor, Adam Mansbach, and more. Jewish Book Council Weekly