Read with Ziv

Exploring Israel Through Books  

Books are journeys that transcend boundaries, offering a window into another person’s world. Reading Israeli literature is more than just learning about Israel; it is an emotional experience that bridges the gap between cultures. It brings us closer to the people living there, helping us understand their inner worlds, dreams, fears, and aspirations. It breaks down stereotypes and reveals the human faces behind the culture. When a reader finds themselves identifying with an Israeli character, something profound happens – the foreign becomes familiar, the distant feels close, and Israeli culture becomes woven into the reader’s own experience. 

I am excited to share with you some of my favorite books by Israeli authors. The fiction offers a deep dive into Israeli culture and experience, while the nonfiction provides universal insights that resonate with readers worldwide. 

Beaufort by Ron Leshem 
To the handful of Israeli soldiers occupying the ancient crusader fortress, it is a little slice of hell—a forbidding, fear-soaked enclave perched atop two acres of land in southern Lebanon, surrounded by an enemy they cannot see. And to the thirteen young men in his command, twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Liraz “Erez” Liberti is a taskmaster, confessor, and the only hope in the face of attacks that come out of nowhere and of missions seemingly designed to get them all killed. But in their stony haven, Erez and his soldiers have created their own little world, their own rules, their own language. And here Erez listens to his men build castles out of words, telling stories, telling lies, talking incessantly of women and dead comrades. Until, in the final days of the occupation, Erez and his squad of fed-up, pissed-off, frightened young soldiers are given one last order: a mission that will shatter all remaining illusions—and stand as a testament to the universal, gut-wrenching futility of war. 

Homesick by Eshkol Nevo 

 It is 1995 and Noa and Amir, a student couple, have decided to move in together. Noa is studying photography in Jerusalem and Amir is a psychology student in Tel Aviv. They choose a small apartment in a village in the hills, Originally called El-Kastel, the village was emptied of its Arab inhabitants in 1948 and is now the home of Jewish immigrants from Kurdistan. Not far from the apartment lives a family grieving for their eldest son who was killed in Lebanon. The younger brother left behind, Yotam, forgotten by his parents, turns to Amir for support. 
Further down the street, Saddiq watches the house while he works at a building site. He knows that this house is the one from which his family was driven by the Jews when he was a boy, and to which his mother still has a rusty key. Despite friendships that develop and lives that become entwined, tensions among this melting pot of characters seem to be rising to the surface. 
This enchanting and irresistible novel offers us windows into the characters’ lives. Each comes from somewhere different but we gradually see that there’s much about them that’s the same. Homesick is a beautiful and moving story about history, love, family and the true meaning of home. 

Happiness and Other Small Things of Absolute Importance by Haim Shapira 
We all want to be happy but what is happiness? Haim Shapira navigates the terrain of happiness, exploring and contemplating an eclectic range of theories and insights into the conflicts we face on our journey to creating our own happiness. 
 
What is your happiest moment? How can you know it? Do we waste time or does time waste us? Are questions about meaning truly meaningful? What’s really important? Drawing on literary and philosophical sources ranging from Alice in Wonderland and The Little Prince to Leo Tolstoy, King Solomon and Friedrich Nietzsche, Haim Shapira invites us to challenge our perspectives on happiness and provides us with alternative ways to appreciate what is important. As Haim concludes it is in the spaces between the possible paths that we might take that we are able to find a place of grace, and where the things that matter to us will light our way. The choice is ours. 

A Brief History of Love by Liat Yakir 
Is love about chemistry or do biology, evolution and psychology all have a part to play? 
Love is one of the most complex and confusing emotions in the human experience. It consumes so much of our lives and yet we don’t truly understand it – what it is on a biological, chemical and evolutionary level. This book takes you on a fascinating journey to explore the science of love, looking closely at the interplay between genes, hormones, emotions and relationships. 

 
Discover everything you need to know about why you are attracted to certain people, the brain’s role in your emotions, how to pick “the one” and how to preserve that love over time. Learn how to have better, healthier and more loving relationships by understanding the inner workings of love in your body. 

Badulina by Gabi Nitzan 
When the King & Queen of Badulina first entered his restaurant in India, author Gabi Nitzan could not have guessed that his life - like the lives of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world - will change forever. 
Badulina is a tiny kingdom in Europe where everybody is raised on the belief that there is one single choice to be made in life, no matter the situation: Either you react like a victim - or you react like a King or a Queen. 

 
In a journey that spreads over the Himalayas, Tel-Aviv, Egypt and Mexico, Nitzan learns why the royal couple isn’t married, goes on a dragon hunt with the King, becomes dangerously involved in a summit with the president of the US, and falls hopelessly in love with the Queen.