I’m reading a very interesting book by Aaron Lansky called: Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books.
I came about this book in a very special manner last summer. I was in Chicago for 24 hours visiting my Aunt June who was very ill. We sat together on the couch in her den and talked about first the children, very little about how she was feeling, and quite a lot about books. Now, my Aunt was an amazing reader and always had excellent suggestions for me. One of our favorite topics was what we were reading, had already read, or were about to read. On that August day she admitted to me that she really hadn’t been able to read much of anything lately..she hadn’t felt well enough. And I remember thinking how truly horrible she must feel to have reached that stage. When I asked her if there was one book that she had read within the past 6 months that she could recommend to me, it was Lansky’s. She spoke with great enthusiasm about both the subject and it’s exploration. She said it was the best thing she’d read in a long time. Enough said.  

I ordered it early in September but by the time it came my Aunt was gone and it only served to remind me of that last tete-a-tete.
A few weeks ago my parents arrived in Israel for their annual winter visit. I picked up the book. I started to read.

I know that some of you will appreciate this lively, and at times even amusing, story of one Hampshire graduate’s attempt to resurrect a virtually dead culture.  

Additionally, I just wanted to pass on a bit of my much missed Aunt.

Hope you have the time to add it to your lists.