Deb Perelman, who is currently no. 2 on Forbes’ ‘Top Food Influencers’ and is the New York Times best-selling author of ‘Sunday Afternoon with Smitten Kitchen,’ will be the headliner of the Mandell JCC Annual Book Festival in West Hartford.

Submitted by Michelle Bonner, Mandell JCC

The Mandell Jewish Community Center is excited to open the 26^th Annual Jewish Book Festival on Oct. 14, 2018, with New York Times best-selling author Deb Perelman with a Sunday Afternoon with Smitten Kitchen.

Perelman, who started the wildly popular cooking blog Smitten Kitchen in 2003, has authored two cookbooks – The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook, which spent months on the New York Times bestseller list, including weeks at no. 2, and her most recent cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Every Day, Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites.

“Deb is a cookbook rock star,” says Jill Ziplow, Mandell JCC Book Festival director. “We are incredibly honored that she will open our book festival this year. The book festival has become a lasting part of the JCC’s cultural landscape, and we strive to foster inspiring and diverse literary talent each year. Deb illustrates those attributes perfectly.”

Perelman is no. 2 on Forbes Magazine’s first list of top food influencers. In addition to sharing her recipes, Perelman’s book discussion will be in conversation with Chef Educator Lindsay Perkins of Lindsay Culinary.

Tickets are $36 and include the event, a choice of Perelman’s cookbooks and a book signing with the author.

The JCC’s Book Festival showcases literary works from Jewish authors, the Jewish perspective or Jewish values. Each season, the signature events span several months over the course of year, bringing in a wide range of authors and topics. Discussions include the author’s process in creating a novel, beauty and wellness tips from fashion magazine editors, fascinating fiction, haunting true stories from history, hot book club topics, and more.

This year’s festival lineup includes:

Hot Buzz About Books

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, 7 p.m., Mandell JCC

What’s new in the world of books? Get the scoop on what’s new and what’s happening in the book world from an audience favorite panel: Roxanne Coady, Matthew Dicks, Michael Kindness and Jen Black.

Martin Fletcher, Author Promised Land: A Novel of Israel

Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018, 7 p.m., Mandell JCC

Martin Fletcher, former NBC News Bureau Chief in Tel Aviv and a National Jewish Book Award winner, returns to the JCC to talk about his new book, a sweeping saga of two brothers and the woman they love, a devastating love triangle set to the tumultuous founding of Israel.

Mike Reiss, Author Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets and Outright Lies From a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons

Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, 7 p.m., Mandell JCC

You will literally laugh out loud with Mike Reiss, a four-time Emmy Award-Winning writer and producer for the long-running show, The Simpsons. Mike will share a laugh-out-loud account of how The Simpsons came to be and will discuss the behind-the-scenes account of television’s first family.

Sally Kohn, Author, The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity

Monday, Jan. 21, 2019, 7 p.m., Mandell JCC

As part of a Mandell JCC Martin Luther King Jr day program, this FREE event featuring Sally’s thought-provoking book will start an important community conversation.

Summer Reading Event with B.A. Shapiro and Susie Orman Schnall

Tuesday, May 14, 2019, 7 p.m., Mandell JCC

Start your summer with great reads from authors B.A. Shapiro and Susie Orman Schnall and their newest fiction titles – The Collector’s Apprentice and The Subway Girls.

“Our committee works incredibly hard to bring the Greater Hartford community the best line up of authors across a range of genres focusing on topics that are engaging, relevant and inspirational,” adds Ziplow. “This year is an extraordinary lineup of authors.”

About the Mandell Jewish Community Center

The Mandell Jewish Community Center is open to everyone and supported by funds raised by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, a recipient of funding from the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, and a member of the JCC Association of North America.

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