The Five Books

• Bonny Reichert on Food, Fear, and Finding Beauty

  Bonny Reichert avoided everything to do with the Holocaust. The journalist had grown up hearing stories about her father’s near-starvation and ultimate survival in Auschwitz-Birkenau, but she never imagined she would be able to face this epic legacy head-on. Then a chance encounter with a perfect bowl of borscht in Warsaw set Bonny on a journey to unearth her culinary lineage, and she began to dig for the roots of her food obsession, dish by dish. Stepping into the kitchen to connect her past with her future, the author recounts the defining moments of her life in a poignant tale of scarcity and plenty. How to Share an Egg is a journey of deep flavors and surprising contrasts. By turns sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, this is one woman’s search to find her voice as a writer, chef, mother, and daughter. Do the tiny dramas of her own life matter in comparison to everything her father has seen and done? This moving exploration of heritage, inheritance, and self-discovery sets out to find the answer. Bonny Reichert is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist. She has been an editor at Today’s Parent and Chatelaine, and a columnist and regular contributor to The Globe and Mail. When she turned forty, she had a now-or-never feeling in her bones and quit her job to enroll in culinary school. After that, she began to explore her relationship with food on the page, seeing her childhood in the restaurant business and her background as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor in a new light. Bonny was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Toronto with her husband and little dog, Bruno. Her three almost-adult children come and go. She holds a master of fine art in creative nonfiction and teaches writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. How to Share an Egg is her first book. In our conversation, Bonny remembers how she protected her Holocaust survivor father from the antisemitism she experienced as a child. She shares how she found the strength to tell both her father’s story and her own, and on the foods that have meant the most to her.  Bonny Reichert's Five Books: Forever by Judy Blume Portnoy’s Complaint by  Philip Roth The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Still Life With Remorse by Maira Kalman  How to Share an Egg by Bonny Reichert Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod  The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.  Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen Produced by Odelia Rubin Artwork by Dena Friedman Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

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• Jessica Elisheva Emerson on Belief, Identity, and Women’s Desire

  Olive Days is a novel about Rina Kirsch, a young mother and Modern Orthodox Jew in Los Angeles. But a contradiction burns at her center: Rina is an atheist. She is also stymied in her life and marriage. Hoping to reinvigorate their relationship, Rina’s husband convinces her to partake in a night of wife swapping with other Orthodox couples. Rather than preserve her marriage, however, the swap plunges Rina down a heady path that begins with a rekindled passion for painting and culminates in an intoxicating affair with Will, her married art teacher. Rina must decide if it’s worth sacrificing everything she’s ever known to fully inhabit the uncharted landscape unfolding before her, one where her needs take precedence. (Counterpoint Press) Jessica earned her MFA in creative writing from Antioch University Los Angeles and her BA in journalism from USC. She lives with her husband and children in the Sonoran Desert. In our conversation, Jessica will expound on the complexities of belief, identity and women’s desire. Jessica delves into how her own atheism sits alongside her Jewish practice, and why she thinks of herself as a pessimist who finds joy in life.  Jessica Elisheva Emerson’s Five Books: My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok The History of Love by Nicole Krauss Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Plainsong by Kent Haruf Olive Days by Jessica Elisheva Emerson Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod  The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.  Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen Produced by Odelia Rubin Artwork by Dena Friedman Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

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• Elyssa Friedland on Being a First Generation American and Why Representation in Books Matters

  After the Jacobson siblings win a life-changing fortune in the lottery, they assume their messy lives will transform into sleek, storybook perfection–but they couldn’t be more wrong.   The Jacobson children reunite when their newly widowed father puts their Jersey Shore beach house on the market. Packing up childhood memories isn’t easy, especially when each sibling is facing drama in their own life.    When Noah sees an ad for a Powerball drawing, he and his sisters, Laura and Sophie, go in on tickets while their brother Matthew passes.  All hell breaks loose when one of the tickets is a winner and three of the four Jacobsons become overnight millionaires. It’s not long before the Jacobsons start to realize that they’ll never feel rich unless they can pull their family back together. (Penguin Random House) Jackpot Summer was a USA Today bestseller, a Skimm Reads Pick and one of She Reads Most Anticipated Contemporary Fiction 2024. Elyssa Friedland is the acclaimed author of Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, The Floating Feldmans, The Intermission and Love and Miss Communication. Elyssa is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School and currently teaches novel writing at Yale. She lives with her husband and three children in New York City.  Elyssa reflects on how exotic American-born parents felt to her as a kid, and how 10/7 led to some last minute changes to Jackpot Summer.  Elyssa Friedland’s Five Books: Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk Night by Elie Wiesel The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar The Measure by Nikki Erlick Jackpot Summer by Elyssa Friedland Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod  The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.  Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen Produced by Odelia Rubin Artwork by Dena Friedman Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions.

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• Gila Pfeffer on Finding Meaning and Humor in the Darkest Times

  By the time she was thirty, Gila Pfeffer was the oldest living member of her family, having lost her mother to breast cancer and her father to colon cancer. A simple blood test confirmed she carried the BRCA1 gene—which put her at high risk of developing cancer herself. Determined to break the cycle of early death in her family, Gila decides to undergo an elective double mastectomy. This memoir follows her journey as she becomes a reluctant expert on how to sit shiva, grows up, falls in love, and enters motherhood, before her life is derailed yet again. Her double mastectomy reveals cancer already growing in one breast. Drenched in Gila’s dark humor, Nearly Departed is a story about thriving against the odds, committing to what’s important, and leaving a better legacy than the one you inherited. (The Experiment). Gila Pfeffer is a Jewish American writer and humorist. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Today.com, and elsewhere. Gila’s monthly “Feel It on the First” campaign reminds women to prioritize their breast health. She splits her time between New York City and London. In this intimate conversation, Gila reflects on why she’s grateful for her “big mouth,” and her impulse to find meaning - and humor - in even the most painful experiences.  Gila Pfeffer’s Five Books: God Knows by Joseph Heller Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry  The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences by Gila Pfeffer Other Resources:  The Life of Viktor Frankl  The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger  Find us on Instagram @fivebookspod  The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of the Jewish Book Council. Jewish Book Council is a nonprofit dedicated to amplifying and celebrating Jewish literature and supporting authors and readers. Stay up to date on the latest in Jewish literature! https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/events/celebrate The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.  Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt Cohen Produced by Odelia Rubin Artwork by Dena Friedman Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions

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• Samantha Greene Woodruff on Blacklists and being a 'Christmas Tree Jew'

  The Trade Off is the story of a brilliant and ambitious young woman striving to find her place amid the promise and tumult of 1920s Wall Street.    Bea Abramovitz has a gift for math and numbers, and for finding patterns within the stock market. But in the 1920s, in a Lower East Side tenement, opportunities for (Jewish) women on Wall Street don't just come knocking.    It's easier for her golden-boy twin brother, Jake, who longs to reclaim all their parents lost after fleeing the pogroms in Russia to come to America. Well intentioned but undisciplined, Jake has a charm that can carry him only so far on Wall Street. So Bea devises a plan to be the brains behind her brother, acting as broker. As Jake's reputation, his heedless ego, and the family fortune soar, Bea foresees catastrophe: an impending crash that could destroy everything if she doesn't finally take control. (Lake Union) Samantha Greene Woodruff has an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and spent fifteen years at Viacom’s Nickelodeon before leaving to parent her two young children. Her first novel, The Lobotomist’s Wife was a #1 Amazon bestseller and Amazon First Reads Pick. The Trade Off is her second novel.  Samantha expounds upon her love of Christmas, what it meant to step into her Jewish identity post 10/7, and her conflicted feelings toward wealth.  Samantha Greene Woodruff’s Five Books: The Diary of Anne Frank Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl and The Whispers by Ashley Audrain The Trade Off by Samantha Greene Woodruff The Five Books has the advisory and promotional support of The Jewish Book Council. The Five Books is fiscally sponsored by FJC, a 501c3 public charity.  Hosted by Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen Produced by Odelia Rubin Artwork by Dena Friedman Music by Dov Rosenblatt and Blue Dot Sessions

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