Here are 100 books that Maror fans have personally recommended if you like
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When I dropped out of college to live and work in a socialist commune in Israel, it was mostly to escape a broken heart back home. My memorable experiences as a volunteer on Kibbutz Shamir profoundly shaped how I think about the value of community and inspired me to become a writer. It took me another 20 years to unite these passions by returning to Israel to learn about the past, present, and future of the legendary kibbutz movement—and share my journey of discovery with readers in Chasing Utopia.
Asking me to pick my favorite Amos Oz book is like asking me to pick my favorite child: they are all uniquely wonderful. Still, this book best captures the gossipy joys and frustrations of life on a frontier kibbutz.
At age 15, Oz left his home in Jerusalem to become a member of a socialist commune in the countryside and later described his life there as the “ultimate university of human nature.” I love how his wry early novel transforms one imaginary kibbutz into a microcosmic mirror in which we can all see our own petty vanities.
"A generous imagination at work. [Oz’s] language, for all of its sensuous imagery, has a careful and wise simplicity." —New York Times Book Review
Situated only two miles from a hostile border, Amos Oz’s fictional community of Metsudat Ram is a microcosm of the Israeli frontier kibbutz. There, held together by necessity and menace, the kibbutzniks share love and sorrow under the guns of their enemies and the eyes of history.
"Immensely enjoyable." —Chicago Tribune Book World
The Great West Wood is a magic realist thriller set in Westwood - a vibrant urban village set upon a hilltop, looking out across London, in an area once covered by an ancient forest.
This is a place where magic is taken for granted; where trees can talk; and children…
When I dropped out of college to live and work in a socialist commune in Israel, it was mostly to escape a broken heart back home. My memorable experiences as a volunteer on Kibbutz Shamir profoundly shaped how I think about the value of community and inspired me to become a writer. It took me another 20 years to unite these passions by returning to Israel to learn about the past, present, and future of the legendary kibbutz movement—and share my journey of discovery with readers in Chasing Utopia.
I get professional envy every time I read one of Daniel Gavron’s vivid collections of literary journalism. He is such an attentive observer and compassionate interviewer, and the conversations he preserves on every page bring a diverse range of Israelis to life in all their hopes and fears.
Published at the turn of the millennium, this book is a classic of kibbutz history in which Gavron, a former kibbutznik, travels to communities in various stages of decline or revival. His book inspired my own return to Israel to discover more about the uncertain future of Israel’s utopian movement. I can’t thank him enough for that.
The Israeli kibbutz, the twentieth century's most interesting social experiment, is in the throes of change. Instrumental in establishing the State of Israel, defending its borders, creating its agriculture and industry, and setting its social norms, the kibbutz is the only commune in history to have played a central role in a nation's life. Over the years, however, Israel has developed from an idealistic pioneering community into a materialistic free market society. Consequently, the kibbutz has been marginalized and is undergoing a radical transformation. The egalitarian ethic expressed in the phrase, "From each according to ability, to each according to…
I am fascinated by how people communicate. I enjoy when different cultures clash and cooperate. Coming from another country and growing up in California exposed me to my first taste of different groups. Traveling around the country and the world has allowed me to see the vast variety of people and I continue to wonder how we can get along together.
Miri, our protagonist explores her strengths and weaknesses. She has lost her dearest friends, and journeys to Israel, in part to follow the trail of her lost love.
The story has several intriguing side plots. We learn the origin of werecats. We follow Miri's family members as they get caught up in the Nazi persecution of Jews in World War II. We see inside a conservative community in Israel. And, the world of Umbrae is shown to be a wondrous and scary place. I enjoyed seeing the characters, good and evil. Finny, the cat, is fun, devoted, and willing to travel around the world and into Umbrae to help her friends.
This is another strong entry into the story arc of the P.A.W.S. series.
Miri’s world at P.A.W.S. in St. Louis is falling apart. First, Danny is accused of stealing her opapa’s charm. But before he can defend himself, he mysteriously disappears. Miri seeks Josh for help and advice, but he too has gone missing.
Then Lilith has a vision – Miri dragged away by wolves. Miri needs answers, answers that she feels sure are hidden in the blank pages of the book of Argentum.
With the help of Lilith, she travels to the ancient city of Safed. There, with the aid of a mystical rabbi and…
The Great West Wood is a magic realist thriller set in Westwood - a vibrant urban village set upon a hilltop, looking out across London, in an area once covered by an ancient forest.
This is a place where magic is taken for granted; where trees can talk; and children…
When I dropped out of college to live and work in a socialist commune in Israel, it was mostly to escape a broken heart back home. My memorable experiences as a volunteer on Kibbutz Shamir profoundly shaped how I think about the value of community and inspired me to become a writer. It took me another 20 years to unite these passions by returning to Israel to learn about the past, present, and future of the legendary kibbutz movement—and share my journey of discovery with readers in Chasing Utopia.
One of the treasures in my large collection of kibbutz books is a signed edition of this dreamy memoir by Yael Neeman. In-person and in print, she is wise, funny, observant, and prone to memorable metaphors.
I savoured every word (in Sondra Silverston’s wonderful English translation) of her poignant and often ironic reflections about growing up in the most controversial experiment of the kibbutz movement: the collective “children’s house,” in which kibbutz kids slept apart from their parents to be raised by nannies in mini-communes of their own.
The kibbutz is one of the greatest stories in Israeli history. These collective settlements have been written about extensively over the years: The kibbutz has been the subject of many sociological studies, and has been praised as the only example in world history of entire communities attempting, voluntarily, to live in total equality. But there's a dark side to the kibbutz, which has been criticized in later years, mainly by children who were raised in these communities, as an institution which victimized its offspring for the sake of ideology.In this spare and lucid memoir, Neeman--a child of the kibbutz--draws on…
When I dropped out of college to live and work in a socialist commune in Israel, it was mostly to escape a broken heart back home. My memorable experiences as a volunteer on Kibbutz Shamir profoundly shaped how I think about the value of community and inspired me to become a writer. It took me another 20 years to unite these passions by returning to Israel to learn about the past, present, and future of the legendary kibbutz movement—and share my journey of discovery with readers in Chasing Utopia.
Full confession: I only picked up this novel in my attempt to read every book with “kibbutz” in the title. Lucky me!
I became a fan of Michael Ohayon, the moody outsider who stars in Batya Gur’s series of Hebrew whodunnits, all set in various closed societies and institutions. Ohayon is like an Israeli Inspector Rebus, and no amount of duplicity by the members at an indebted kibbutz can keep him from cracking the case.
The novel doesn’t paint a pretty picture of communal life, but I recognized many of the fatal flaws of the real kibbutz movement magnified to deadly dimensions in this slow burn of a murder mystery.
From award-winning and internationally acclaimed author, Batya Gur, comes another twisty mystery featuring charming Israeli investigator Michael Ohayon.
Michael Ohayon must once again solve a murder that has taken place within a complex, closed society: the kibbutz. As he investigates, he uncovers more and more of the kibbutz’s secrets, exposing all the contradictions of this idealized way of life.
Murder on a Kibbutz showcases once again Batya Gur’s storytelling talents in a thrilling mystery that readers will not soon forget.
Peace has been my passion for more than half a century. In 1970, I refused to carry a weapon while serving in Viet Nam as a combat medic in an infantry battalion commanded by Colonel George Armstrong Custer III. I have witnessed enormous violence inflicted upon human beings, primarily civilians, and the earth which sustains us all. My knowledge of war comes from treating wounds. I have read numerous books about Palestine and Israel through a medic’s eyes. The books I’ve highlighted here will contribute to peace if they are read with care, with love. Never underestimate the power of words.
I admire every detail in this beautifully written family saga that reaches from Lithuania to Jerusalem.
When Amos Oz’s family escapes the antisemitism of Europe in the 1940s and resettles in Palestine, they seem to construct their new home of books rather than mortar. And beyond the towering bookcases, the volumes in twelve languages, lies a city of ancient stone torn by history and religion and competing claims.
Oz’s profound and personal understanding of the Holocaust leads him to conclude that Israel will be stronger by ending the occupation and forging paths that help to unite Jews and Palestinians.
I love the truth, the fact that empathy and compassion have the potential to heal the deepest wounds.
Tragic, comic, and utterly honest, this bestselling and critically acclaimed work is at once a family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history. It is the story of a boy growing up in the war-torn Jerusalem of the forties and fifties, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. The story of an adolescent whose life has been changed forever by his mother's suicide when he was twelve years old. The story of a man who leaves the…
I am from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I have always had a passion for art and literature. I started drawing at a young age and never stopped. Constantly drawing on scrap papers from my father’s graphic arts business. Always pulling from my imagination and the world around me for inspiration. Books were a major outlet for my creativity. Graphic novels in particular were always my favorite form of expression. To be able to tell a story using pictures and share my own personal feelings with others was a means of communication for me. I began to study illustration in school and college. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Marywood University. I currently work as a graphic designer and illustrator.
Not only is Rutu Modan one of my favorite illustrators she is also an extremely talented story writer and Exit Wounds is no exception. This was also one of the first graphic novels I had ever read and was so captivating. Her unique art style and writing are truly amazing. I love her color pallet and how it really keeps you engaged from panel to panel. Without giving away spoilers this book is based on real-life events and really gives you a greater sense of life in other countries can be like for better and for worse.
I love all of Rutu Modan’s books but this one really hit home for me.
Set in modern-day Tel Aviv, Exit Wounds is the first graphic novel to be published in Britain by one of Israel's best-known cartoonists.
A young man, Koby Franco, receives an urgent phone call from a female soldier. Learning that his estranged father may have been a victim of a suicide bombing in Hadera, Koby reluctantly joins the soldier in searching for clues. His death would certainly explain his empty apartment and disconnected phone line. As Koby tries to unravel the mystery of his father's death, he finds himself not only piecing together the last few months of his father's life,…
My father is Palestinian, my mother English. I am a typical diaspora Palestinian, having moved many times. I’m intrigued by what this highly politicized nationality–being Palestinian–does to peoples’ emotions, their desire to be accepted and thrive, their sense of community, their ability to deal with the challenges and joys of political engagement as well as the difficulties of not being political if they choose not to be. Being Palestinian is an extreme case of what humans can be forced to endure as political and social animals. Living under military occupation gives rise to huge sacrifices and pure heroism in the most quotidian way. Acts that deserve recognition.
Azem takes a premise here and runs with it. How about, she asks, if all the Palestinians just disappeared, what would the reaction be?
The heart of the novel is the grandmother character, who dies as the book opens and the other Palestinians vanish and I wanted more recollections of her, more of her dialogue. Set mainly between Jaffa and Tel Aviv, the fusing of the two names irritates the grandmother, who says it’s "just like someone being up your ass. You don’t see them, and they never let go."
There are sharp cameos here of Israeli-Palestinian relations, from buyers and sellers to torturers and prisoners, pimps and sex workers. I found the conclusion to be too bleak, but the writing is good, and the observations are sharp.
What if all the Palestinians in Israel simply disappeared one day? What would happen next? How would Israelis react? These unsettling questions are posed in Azem's powerfully imaginative novel. Set in contemporary Tel Aviv forty eight hours after Israelis discover all their Palestinian neighbors have vanished, the story unfolds through alternating narrators, Alaa, a young Palestinian man who converses with his dead grandmother in the journal he left behind when he disappeared, and his Jewish neighbor, Ariel, a journalist struggling to understand the traumatic event. Through these perspectives, the novel stages a confrontation between two memories. Ariel is a liberal…
I am a historian at the University of Maryland, College Park. In the past forty years, I have published six books and many articles on twentieth-century German history including Reactionary Modernism: Technology Culture and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich; Divided Memory: The Nazi Past in the Two Germanys; Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World; and Undeclared Wars with Israel: East Germany and the West German Far Left, 1967-1989. My personal interest in German history began at home. My father was one of those very fortunate German Jews who found refuge in the United States before Hitler closed the borders and launched the Holocaust.
As I wrote in the Foreword to the English edition of Küntzel’s work, published first in Germany in 2002, Küntzel synthesized a large body of scholarship in English and German that examined Nazi Germany’s propaganda aimed at the Arab world, as well as the collaboration of Haj Amin el-Husseini with Nazi propaganda efforts. I welcomed Küntzel’s exploration of Nazi Germany’s impact outside Europe, and its aftereffects in Islamist organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and then the members of Al Qaeda who carried out the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11 traces the impact of European fascism and Nazism on Arab and Islamic activists. As Kuentzel investigates the shift of global antisemitism from Nazi Germany to parts of the Arab world during and after World War II, he argues that antisemitism is not merely a supplementary feature of modern jihadism, but lies instead at its ideological core. This fascinating study lays bare the antecedents of the antisemitism that runs rampant in our world today. For anyone interested in exploring the mindset of hatred that led to the crimes in New York…
My name is Susan Perrow. I am an Australian whose ‘work’ passion is stories and storytelling. I am an author, storyteller, teacher trainer, and parent educator. For the last 30 years, I have been documenting stories from other cultures, writing stories, and telling stories to groups of children and adults – all this woven in with a career in teaching, lecturing, and consulting in Australia, Africa, Asia, China, Europe, and North America. I currently have four published story collections, in a total of 14 languages. Three of my collections are Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour, An A-Z Collection of Behaviour Tales, and Stories to Light the Night: A Grief and Loss Collection for Children, Families and Communities.
I have chosen my fourth collection to introduce to you below.
This is a book for all who work with people – in other words, it is a book for everyone. It is full of inspiration and practical tools to bring transformation and healing into your daily life, wherever you are. During times of conflict, storytelling dedicated to peace and reconciliation has proven successful in creating a common ground between people of all ages, from different cultures and disparate world views.
The New Story includes more than 30 tales from around the world plus easy-to-do exercises, with contributions from six modern storytellers at work in places like Israel, Kurdistan, and Sierra Leone.
The shortest distance between two human beings is - a story. Without inspired passion things will not change. Storytelling is a social activity where two or more people are present. In a rich and lively picture language, ancient myths, wisdom tales, life stories and spontaneously created stories are shared in an appreciative way, where everyone has a voice. In THE NEW STORY, more than 30 tales from around the world and easy to do exercises give a fresh and encouraging take on how to bring about understanding, compassion and transformation in different life situations - whether at school, in worklife,…
