12 Hanukkah Books to Light Up Your TBR List This Season
If you love filling your shelves with festive reading material this time of year but find Christmas-themed books don’t quite fit the bill, try these Hanukkah books on for size. Spanning genres from heartstring-tugging romance to cozy seasonal mystery, historical fiction to take you back in time and nonfiction to walk in someone else’s shoes for awhile, not to mention kids books to read to the little ones, there’s something for everyone on this list.
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Whether you need a Hanukkah gift for a beloved reader or a seasonally appropriate mental escape, one of these is sure to set your proverbial dreidel spinning.
‘The Matzah Ball’ by Jean Meltzer
‘The Matzah Ball’ by Jean Meltzer.
MIRA
Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a secret: she’s a bestselling Christmas romance novelist. But after her publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, Rachel finds herself with a bad case of writer’s block. So she strikes out to the Matzah Ball, where she hopes to find her muse but instead ends up working with her summer camp nemesis, Jacob Greenberg. Will their grudge glow brighter than a menorah, or will sparks fly this season of light? You’ll just have to read to find out.
‘Nine Tenths of The Law’ by Claudia Hagadus Long
‘Nine Tenths of The Law’ by Claudia Hagadus Long.
Kasva Press
In 1939, Nazis grabbed a beautiful enameled heirloom menorah from the hands of its owner, Aurora. Her daughters Zara and Lilly unearth the family menorah in a New York museum 80 years later. As the sisters scheme to return it to their rightful owner, the quest takes a dangerous — and gripping — turn.
‘Love You a Latke’ by Amanda Elliot
‘Love You a Latke’ by Amanda Elliot.
Berkley
Abby Cohen gets tapped to organize her town’s first Hanukkah festival due to being the only Jewish person in town. Or so she thinks. As she struggles to find vendors for the event, she discovers that Seth, the annoyingly cheerful customer who keeps coming to her café, is also Jewish and willing to help her out — but only if she poses as his fake girlfriend.
‘The Lost Shtetl’ by Max Gross
‘The Lost Shtetl’ by Max Gross.
HarperVia
What if there existed a town that history forgot? For decades, the tiny Jewish shtetl of Kreskol trundled on in contended isolation, virtually untouched and unchanged by the hands of time. Spared by the Holocaust and the Cold War, it also missed out on cars, electricity, the internet and even indoor plumbing. But when a marriage tiff spins out of control, the whole town comes crashing into the modern day.
‘Kissing Kosher’ by Jean Meltzer
‘Kissing Kosher’ by Jean Meltzer.
MIRA
Chronic pelvic pain has forced Avital Cohen to put her photography dreams and her love life on the back burner and it’s almost sinking her family’s kosher bakery, Best Babka in Brooklyn. So she hires the deliciously good-looking Ethan Lippmann to help. But Ethan isn’t totally innocent — he’s heir to a mass-produced kosher baked goods business and supposed to be stealing Avital’s secrets.But before long, the baked goods aren’t the only chemistry happening in the kitchen in this romance that’s good enough to eat.
‘The Netanyahus’ by Joshua Cohen
‘The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family’ by Joshua Cohen.
New York Review Books
It’s 1959 at Corbin College and Jewish historian Ruben Blum — notably not a historian of the Jews — gets added to a hiring committee for an exiled Israeli scholar specializing in the Spanish Inquisition. When Benzion Netanyahu shows up for an interview, family in tow, Blum finds himself their reluctant host. A delightfully original mix of fiction and nonfiction, this genre-bender is unmissable.
‘Love and Latkes’ by Stacey Agdern
‘Love and Latkes’ by Stacey Agdern.
Tule Publishing Group
Batya Averman is over the moon when she gets tapped to work on a latke fry-off — until she learns it’s back in the hometown she fled years ago. Abe Neumann can’t pass up the chance to enter the latke contest and get one step closer to his dream of opening a Jewish deli. But when Batya comes back to town, Abe remembers he’s got other dreams too — that, much like latke, are best when shared.
‘Eight Very Bad Nights’ by Tod Goldberg
‘Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir’ by Tod Goldberg.
Soho Crime
This collection of 11 wickedly twisted Hanukkah capers run the gamut from hardboiled noir to slapstick comedy and everything in between. With stories that follow an unstable pharmaceutical rep as she tries not to kill anyone at her family dinner on the last night of Hanukkah to an adult son thinking about doing something drastic to get out of his elderly father’s Upper West Side apartment, to a pair of detectives solving a strangely unprompted murder during the holiday season, there’s something to occupy all eight nights — and then some.
‘The Little Book of Jewish Traditions’ by Ronald Tauber
‘The Little Book of Jewish Celebrations’ by Ronald Tauber.
Chronicle Books
As those who celebrate likely know all too well, Jewish rituals are steeped in time-honored tradition. From lighting the menorah on Hanukkah to gathering under the chuppah at a wedding, this elegantly giftable book shares the beloved stories that have been passed down through generations. Read it with the kids to set the stage for holidays and life events alike, or gift it to anyone who treasures their history.
‘On Being Jewish Now’ edited by Zibby Owens
‘On Being Jewish Now’ edited by Zibby Owens.
Zibby Books
This thoughtful, reflective collection features 75 contributors writing on Jewish joy, celebration, laughter, food, trauma, loss, love, family and the common threads that course through the Jewish people: resilience and humor. Contributors include Mark Feuerstein, Jill Zarin, Steve Leder, Joanna Rakoff, Amy Ephron, Lisa Barr, Annabelle Gurwitch, Daphne Merkin, Bradley Tusk, Sharon Brous, Jenny Mollen, Nicola Kraus, Caroline Leavitt and many others.
‘The Jewish Book of Why’ by Alfred J. Kolatch
‘The Jewish Book of Why’ by Alfred J. Kolatch.
Penguin Books
Why do Jews eat gefilte fish?Why is a glass broken at the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony?Why must the chapter of curses in the Torah be read quickly in a low voice?Why do Jews fast on Yom Kippur?
If you’ve ever asked — or been asked — any of these questions and many more, pick up this comprehensive and informative guide to Jewish life and traditions. Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch lays out the significance and the origin of just about every symbol, custom and practice known to Jewish culture, from Afikomon to Yarmulkes and Passover to Purim.
‘The Story of Hanukkah’ by David A. Adler
‘The Story of Hanukkah’ by David A. Adler.
Holiday House
Hanukkah isn’t all dreidels, latkes and gelt — It’s also the celebration of an ancient miracle. Remembering and sharing the story of the courageous Maccabees and the Temple of Jerusalem where oil burned for eight long nights, this book is the perfect way for kids to learn and appreciate the importance of the holiday.
‘Hanukkah Bear’ by Eric A. Kimmel
‘Hanukkah Bear’ by Eric A. Kimmel.
Holiday House
This Jewish Book Award-winning picture book is perfect for sharing with the kids this season. Bubba Brayna makes the best latkes in the village, and on the first night of Hanukkah, the delicious aroma wakes a hungry, adorable bear from his hibernation. When he lumbers into town to investigate, Bubba Brayna mistakes him for her rabbi and welcomes the bear inside to play the dreidel game, light the menorah and enjoy a yummy meal. But after he leaves, her real rabbi and friends arrive — only to find there are no latkes left.
If this scrumptious book makes you hungry, you’re in luck! It also features a latke recipe and some fun facts about the holiday and its history.
