Compiled from thousands of titles submitted through an extensive survey, the authors have selected one hundred accessible fiction and nonfiction works on every subject of Jewish interest, from popular novels and humor to history, philosophy, and poetry. For each entry, the authors provide a summary of the book's contents, its relevance at the time of publication, and its contemporary significance.The titles included are diverse and fascinating from Elie Wiesel's Night, Herman Wouk's This Is My God, Chaim Potok's The Chosen, Exodus by Leon Uris, and The Diary of Anne Frank to lighter works such as Phillip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint Woody Allen's Getting Even, George Burns's How to Live to Be 101, and Sam Levenson's In One Era and Out the Other.The authors also intersperse titles worthy of reading that may never have hit the bestseller lists, but whose subjects could interest a much broader audience: Howard Schwartz's Miriam's Tambourine, Conversations With Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Pledge by Leonard Slater, and While Six Million Died by Arthur Morse. Books by Jewish women hold a prominent position on the list: Diane Bletter's The Invisible Thread, Blu Greenberg's On Women and Judaism, and On Being a Jewish Feminist, edited by Susannah Heschel, as do books in the realm of mysticism, such as Rabbi Lawrence Kushner's Honey From the Rock.This book will be helpful for readers looking for a great book of Jewish recipes, seeking to plan a Jewish wedding, or searching for a perfect Hebrew name for a child. Students of the Holocaust and its aftermath, or those seeking in-depth information on the State of Israel's half century of existence can begin here too, as can readers in search ofbooks reflecting Jewish theological positions on God and the afterlife.One Hundred Essential Books for Jewish Readers is the basis for building a Jewish library which you can use, enjoy, and share.