I scroll through thousands of tweets to find books that pique my interest. Then I click, read and review my book finds so I can share my curated list with you.

What books pique my interest and beckon to me?

A cover that is creative, lovely and inviting.
An author with an interesting bio on Twitter who is an engaging poster.
A book blurb that sounds fresh, intriguing or lyrical.
I have no special formula– just “aha! I can’t wait to read this book.”

I do not solicit manuscripts. I curate these on my own. Because…I am a writer who loves to read, learn and encourage!

This week I read:

The Circles of Life: My Ukrainian Family’s Odyssey of Secrets, Love and Survival

by Anna Aizic

“But how do you pack your whole life into two suitcases?”

I learned from Twitter that Anna Aizic had written a memoir about life during and after World War II in Odessa, Ukraine. That area of the world has been in our news recently, so I decided to explore this book. The Circles of Life is described as a memoir in letters, but these are not dry letters. Instead Ms. Aizic has created a vibrant and lyrical collection of essays that capture her extended family’s journey from the horrors of war, through the dirge of Communism, to lives of hope in Israel and America.

I will let Author Aizic’s eloquent words speak:

Can you imagine the courage and charisma Grandpa Ilya and my father Emil had to have to run a business in the 60’s behind the Iron Curtain of Communist Odessa?

The freezing apartment at Ostrovidova 97 Street was always filled with eager minds ready to inhale the collective wisdom of the People of six thousand years ago and (my grandfather) Zeida was always happy to share it.

For years Zeida led his family and friends through the darkness of Communist Russia, yet he was never permitted to reach the Promised Land.

The flight (to Israel) gave us our first taste of the capitalist lifestyle…instead of water we were served Coca-Cola.

Living in America is not that easy of a task because it comes with the huge responsibilities of freedom, the need to choose to either become you own very best self, or to become absolutely nothing. That is the price attached to any free society.

You see how many stories our family has? Before it is all lost and gone, what choice do I have but to keep writing it all down? So I collected bits from here and there…translated articles and poems and letters from Hebrew and Russian, I put them all in this book. For you.

I highly recommend this book. The history of the individual is the history of the world. Anna Aizic shows us this as she reveals the tragedy, and secrets of her family as well as the love and humor. She wrote these letters to her children, and I am thankful that she is allowing us to bear witness as well.

In The Queue TBR:

Lethal Medicine

by James J.Murray

A Mistress, A Wife

by Arline Miller

Jena C. Henry is the author of the series, The Golden Age of Charli