12 May 30 • 2019
jn

What if the unimaginable happened and you 
had to rid yourself of all your books except 
one. Which one book would you keep? Here’
s 
what some Metro Detroiters said (and note 
how many could not choose only one and how 
many would keep something from their child-
hood).

“My father’
s machzor with all his notes to lead 
the services. It’
s treasure for me. It has notes 
like “read responsively” and “all stand.” I use 
it every year; I don’
t care about not having the 
same one as the rest of the congregation.” 

— Naomi Levine, Farmington Hills

“The Giving Tree, best children’
s book ever.”

— Polly Carpenter, Southfield

“
All children’
s books: The Giving Tree, Love 
you Forever … Also, The Blessing of the 
Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel.”

— Lisa Mark Lis, Farmington Farms

Winnie the Pooh

— Micki Grossman, West Bloomfield

“Before You Were Born. It makes me cry every 
time I read it. It was one of the first PJ Library 
books.”

— Lisa Soble Siegmann, Bloomfield Hills

“My three-volume cloth-bound set of Lord of 
the Rings. I bought the set (used) in 1970 and 
carried it with me on a road trip that summer. 
Each book includes a pull-out folded map. I 
read the books twice and I’
ll probably read 
them again.”

— Cary Gersh, Bloomfield HIlls

“When I downsized, my partner “convinced” 
me to give away 70 percent of my books. It 
was an agonizing experience. I have about 300 
left. I couldn’
t possibly choose one; I would 
give up the partner first!”

— Ian Zitron, Lathrup Village 

“The books from my childhood, like The 
Secret Garden, Little Women, Cherry Ames, 
etc. — a reasonable collection.”

— Sharon Schumer Schwartz, 

Bloomfield Hills

“I would keep one of my Nancy Drew origi-
nal books — any of the titles. This series was 
the one that shaped my taste in reading. It 
took me out of my rather narrow world into 
situations which I would never otherwise 
encounter. Mysteries are to this day my favor-
ite genre.”

— Phyllis Weeks, West Bloomfield

And Naomi Harel of Rochester, N.Y., wouldn’
t 
choose one book. Instead, she’
d keep her 
library card. ■

If You Could Only 
Have One Book …

“My siddur. I enjoy 
the feel of it, the wear 
of the pages as the years 
go by, the turning of the 
pages, and I hold 
it against my face 
sometimes to help me 
focus myself/concentrate 
and to hear myself better 
as I say the words.”

— YOSEF SHERMAN, 
FORMERLY OF OAK PARK, 
NOW LIVING OUTSIDE 
OF JERUSALEM
”

jews d
in 
the

lation, although he has no data to prove it. That could be 
because Jews have a much higher level of education than 
the general population, he said.
Or vice versa. Researchers have found a high correla-
tion between the number of books in a home and aca-
demic achievement. Mariah Evans of the University of 
Nevada-Reno studied adults in 42 nations and found that 
books in the home correlated to improved test scores. The 
boost is most pronounced in families with little education 
and low-status occupations, but it was seen in poor and 
wealthy nations alike and across both socialist and capital-
ist economies. Perhaps Jews achieved more educationally 
because we were “people of the books.
”
And where are we getting these books? The demise of 
megastore Borders and the near-demise of its erstwhile 
rival, Barnes & Noble, attest to huge growth in online 
book sales (that’
s how retail giant Amazon got its start) 
and also to the increase in audio books and electronic 
books. But the number of independent bookstores has 
been increasing since 2009. 
Cary Loren, co-owner of the well-respected Book Beat 
in Oak Park, has had to use some creative approaches to 
stay afloat, including selling at libraries, schools and com-
munity centers and holding in-store book-related events. 
Book Beat specializes in children’
s books and books on 
fine art; many customers are educators, artists or those 
buying for children and grandchildren. Loren says they 
are well-educated people who often ask for suggestions of 
books to read and give as gifts. 
Loren supports efforts to encourage parents to read to 
their children. “If a child sees you reading, it will send 
a positive message and instill a lifetime of reading and 
learning,
” he said.

JCC BOOK FAIR/BOOKSTOCK
Jewish Detroit can boast of two annual book-related 
mega-events, the Jewish Community Center’
s Jewish 
Book Fair in November and Bookstock in April. 
Jewish book fairs are now held across the country, 
and Detroit’
s Jewish Books Fair is the granddaddy 
of them all. Detroit’
s first Jewish Book Fair, in 1951, 

COURTESY JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

MICHELLE AGIN SHERMAN

Patrons at the JCC Book Fair browse Jewish books for sale. 

continued on page 14

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