Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.
Hello, everyone! This week’s prompt is books set in/take place during X. Since I make efforts to read diversely, I often read books set in places and times that I don’t know much about in order to learn more. It was hard for me to pick just one place or time, but inspiration came to me suddenly. I just finished a fantastic book set in Israel, and considering that it is a country that I love and have deep ties to, I’d like to highlight ten of my favorite books that are set in whole or in part in Israel.
- On Democracies and Death Cults by Douglas Murray. This nonfiction book offers a truly unbiased view of the Israel-Hamas conflict by someone who has no ties to either Israel or Palestine.
- Nowhere Girl by Cheryl Diamond. Amongst all the distant locales that Cheryl and her family lived in, I was most surprised to hear that they lived in Israel, where she participated in competitive gymnastics.
- Ghosts of a Holy War by Yardena Schwartz. Another nonfiction, this one was fantastic at explaining the conditions and aftermath of a massacre chillingly similar to that of Hamas’ October 7th attack. Except this one is set in the 1920s, when Israel was under the British Mandate.
- The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi. I fell in love with this historical fiction family saga, and had to share it. One of my favorite parts were seeing how the country changed, as well.
- The Boy With the Star Tattoo by Talia Carner. One of those books that teach me something while still keeping me rapt, this book illustrates Israeli efforts to reclaim Jewish children orphaned in the Holocaust.
- The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. One of the common stops on any tour group to Israel, the desert plateau of Masada was the site of Jewish resistance to Roman force. This book tells the story in a fascinating way.
- Rebel Daughter by Lori Banov Kaufmann. Another historical fiction around the same time period, we learn the story of a Jewish woman captured by Romans while trying to escape after the destruction of the Holy Temple.
- Ten Years Gone by Jonathan Dunsky. A mystery series starter, this follows a Holocaust survivor who works as a private investigator. I loved that it also dives into the history of Israel and the struggles as it grew as a country.
- Once More with Chutzpah by Haley Neil. Visiting Israel can have a very strong and unexpected effect on Jewish people. In this book, a synagogue exchange has our MC visiting Israel and learning more about the country and its people.
- Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef. This nonfiction book is written by the son of one of the founders of Hamas, and it really offers a lot of insight into the terrorist group and why he speaks out against them now.
Have you read any of these? Any you plan to?
Categories: Top Ten Tuesday
Leah's Books 
There are SO many places I haven’t read books sest in. I feel like Isreal is probably one, but I’ve also read a few books back in the day that was all about globe trotting so maybe I did. 🙂 Either way, it’s fun to look at the palces we’ve visited through books.
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Rissi, you’re so right! I’ve always loved reading books set in places that are new to me, and I’ve actually started tracking all of my reading on a map. It’s so cool to see where we read over the course of the year.
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I don’t think I’ve read any books set in Israel. So thank you for sharing this list with us.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/visit-toronto-ten-books-set-in-the-greater-toronto-area/
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There are some really incredible books set there. I hope you get to read a book set there!
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Exodus by Leon Uris remains my most memorable book on Israel till date. And now, I’m actually very interested now in reading Hamas and all about the 180 degrees change in POV.
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I haven’t read Exodus, but it’s been on my TBR for a long time. Reading Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef and Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali really opened my eyes to the dangers of Islamism.
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What a great list, Leah. I will definitely be referring to it as I read around the world. I have only read books set in Israel as part of the resettlement after WW2. Several of these interest me.
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There are so many great books set there! I hope that I have inspired you to check one or more of these out. I’ve been tracking where I read for the year, and it is fascinating! And Ten Years Gone by Jonathan Dunsky is the start of a series set in 1950s Israel and was so good.
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Thanks for the tip, Leah. I definitely want to read one or more of these.
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Keep me posted on what you think!
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This is a great list Leah. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you so much for that! I was honestly a bit worried about selecting this topic, but I figured if someone can’t see past their bias, they probably won’t enjoy the rest of my blog anyway!
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The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem catches my eye every time I see it on a list/shelf/etc.
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You should totally check it out! It was such a great read. I can only hope the show does the book justice.
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I don’t think I’ve read any of these, but they do sound interesting. L
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Hopefully one will inspire you to give it a read! Thanks for stopping by.
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I need to pick up On Democracies and Death Cults, I don’t know much about what’s going on and this sounds like a great place to start.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
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It’s such a fantastic book that explores not only specific events, but on how those influence current events. Murray did an outstanding job of his research.
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I’ve been wanting to read Rebel Daughter! My TTT
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It is such a good book. I read it years ago, and it still regularly makes my lists. I hope you pick it up and love it as much as I did!
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Great location choice. Books 4 and 5 both sound like books I’d enjoy.
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Thank you! I think you’d really like both of them. Hopefully you get to check them out.
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