The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker, written in 2013, is the next reading project for the Etz Chayim Bookworms. "An astonishing debut novel that sweeps us into a gaslit alternate reality rich enough to get lost in - a vision of fin de siecle New York ... It is Helene Wecker's triumph that these supernatural beings - one made of fire, the other of clay - seem as real and as poignant in their struggles for love and belonging as any of their fellow human immigrants."

The Bookworms will meet to discuss The Golem and the Jinni on Sunday 1/06 at 4:30 p.m.

Coming up in a few months: The One Bay One Book selection for 2018-2019 is another classic novel by Philip Roth, the Plot Against America. Aviation hero and isolationist Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, and a working class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey pays the price. We will read the Plot Against America in 2019, in coordination with an event sponsored by the Jewish Community Library.

The book club dates are the first Sundays, except if there is a conflict with a festival or a major congregational event. The dates for the first half of 2019: 1/06, 2/03, 3/03, 4/07, 5/05 & 6/02. Meetings are at 4:30 p.m., in Room 10 if it is available, else in another one of the Etz Chayim classrooms. Read with us even if you can't come to the meeting. Meet with us even if you haven't read the book.

Aaron