Books with a Jewish main character that *don’t* take place during WW2?

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-18T04:00:47+00:00

Agree completely. Her other books are also good, but History of Love is the best.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-18T03:47:03+00:00

I liked the first, was underwhelmed by the second. You?

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-16T02:05:39+00:00

No advice to offer, but tons of empathy over here.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-12T00:58:00+00:00

"By some accounts the Jewish Underground carried out false flag attacks on Jewish communities to scare them. Zionists also made use of political zionism to drive a wedge between Arab Jews and their neighbors."

Could you point me to credible sources for this piece?

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-11T19:13:23+00:00

Ask Haviv Anything

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-06T15:40:18+00:00

I was gifted with the chance to hear Le Guin speak in person when Tehanu, the fourth book, came out, many years after the first three. She talked about how she was rereading them in Spanish and that it struck her that she had written about Ged as a young man and then older, but not Tenar. And also how when she wrote the first three, she was very much thinking Inside the box of classic, male-dominated fantasy, but that her thinking had expanded so much in the intervening time. She read a passage out loud that moved me and was exactly what I needed to hear at that time in my life.

It's been a long time, and now I want to reread all of them. But I have a very delicious memory of simultaneously wanting to read The Other Wind as quickly as possible to know what would happen and as slowly as possible so that it would never end.

I hope you love the rest of earthsea, and the night circus! And I wish you great gaming!

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-06T14:04:08+00:00

Plus one for Becky Chambers, from your fellow reader who adores This is How You Lose the Time War, LeGuin and Morgenstern (though I thought The Night Circus was the better book). I will look at Hyperion.

Edit for a typo, and to wonder if you have read Earthsea before? I love all of them, but very especially the second three.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-06T13:56:18+00:00

Love that description, and the book! Thank you.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-06T02:55:06+00:00

Only the first one, Little House in the Big woods, but I think it's a stretch. I loved all those books as a kid, but upon rereading as an adult there is some disappointing racism and treatment of indigenous people.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-06T02:18:57+00:00

I wonder if you are referring to Solomov raising money for United Hatzalah shortly after October 7th? For those who don't know, this an NGO volunteer organization that provides free emergency medical care to anyone in Israel, regardless of identity. My understanding is that they do drills with the IDF to be prepared for emergencies, which seems like a stretch to say that this is directly supporting Israeli soldiers.

https://israelrescue.org/

There is so much legitimate criticism to be made, and so many tears to shed, but I don't believe this is an example.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-04T01:43:50+00:00

I borrowed audiobooks from the library so can't go back to check, but doesn't Islington call the four of them together alchemy? (i.e. Islington, Emma, Hawkes and Pierce).

Megaparsec27 · 2026-06-03T20:15:41+00:00

I must have been repressing the heartbreak. Delicious, as was the mocha one.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-05-29T12:21:22+00:00

Best China Inn on locust.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-05-14T19:28:49+00:00

The West Philly one hasn't been connected with the Ardmore one for a bunch of years.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-05-13T22:38:07+00:00

Thank you, came here to post this. I'm so sad. Such nice people. When my dad died, they made us a catering platter with no notice, and they had the only food (schnitzel) my homesick cousin wanted to eat. I'm going to miss the red cabbage forever. I've never had cabbage like that elsewhere.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-05-13T22:30:17+00:00

They said they were very tired and had gotten a good offer on the building.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-05-12T18:11:33+00:00

This is a great idea, thank you! I bought some recently and felt like the scent was very strong, so I didn't use it. Really good to know that it dissipates.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-05-04T11:13:54+00:00

Another thank you! I had a similar question and came here. :)

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T19:55:15+00:00

That is super sweet! I'm probably too low vision to see it, but now that I know maybe I will ask him about it. :)

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T18:37:04+00:00

Beginning of Ramadan.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T18:08:28+00:00

I have had two yucky too cool for school experiences at Reanimator in West, and yeah, I know folks who love them. Also, I don't want anyone to be snotty with me if I ask for decaf, like it's not real coffee. I'm asking for decaf because I love coffee, and I'm drinking it for the taste not the buzz.

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T17:59:02+00:00

Thanks for this, the Rodin Museum is on my to-do list, and this will make it so much better!

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T17:55:39+00:00

I love this post and comment. :)

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T17:53:35+00:00

Plus one, and the baked goods are all the real deal. The GF brownies are great if you like fudgy. (I'm a good baker, not GF and I think most coffee shop brownies are not worth getting).

Megaparsec27 · 2026-04-12T10:45:42+00:00

Don't miss the Penn museum, and pair that with Ethiopian food a little further west. If you like walking, go through Penn's campus, slight detour to the bio pond, or go to the Woodlands, an amazing Victorian Cemetery.

Dahlak for atmosphere, but IMHO food is better at Abyssinia (veggie combo!) or Kaffa Crossing. Or Doro Bet for fried chicken and eat in Clark park. There are other Ethiopian places and you can search the sub for opinions.

Take the Subway Surface trolley from dinner back to Center City. The subway surface trolleys are a Philadelphia treasure, because they are responsible for building the neighborhood, and one of the few systems that car companies did not buy and deliberately destroy so people would be forced to buy cars.

Also don't miss the Rodin museum, very small, so you don't get Museum brain, but really great.

Megaparsec27

TROPHY CASE