Rating: 
Summary: a good magazine article stretched into a mediocre book
Review: This book is a story of the author's personal adventures rather than a intelligent exploration of Judaism, so if you're looking for the latter don't bother to read it. If the most entertaining and interesting portions of this book had been boiled down into a magazine article, it would have been a cute, amusing 15 minute read. A few of the stories I liked--her antecdotes about the mikveh gave me a better feel for what that ritual was all about, and I think I understand the Jew/Buddhist relationship a bit better than I did a few days ago. But I'm not sure it should have been turned into a full book, and she padded it out with bits of silly whining (in the "why won't the rabbi help me marry a gentile" vein) and stories of utterly icky behavior (misc. tattoos, including the very last story). At the end of the book I was left thinking "Eeew, Gross!" Bottom line: worth skimming but not worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: It makes you think
Review: This book is by no means an answer. But it is a question. The "Who am I?" question that is burning all those of us thirtysomethings who haven't found yet who they are. No matter how far or how close our families may be from Judaism, we have to answer this question - in person and when the time is right. Lisa Schiffman is a very courageous woman for writing and publishing this book and exposing herself to the understanding and totally misunderstanding world. It is her own spiritual journey. The recipes that worked for her will not necessarily work for others; the version of Judaism that she found in herself is not necessarily what others will accept for themselves; but if she found a way to her Jewish identity, so can we.
Rating:
Summary: Not much here...but just enough!
Review: This is a short book, but what is included here will definitely resonate with most non-religious thirty-somethings, GenX'ers searching for meaning in some pretty weird places. Like Schiffman, we've grown up Jewish, which makes us different, "but not in the right way," and we've spent our adult lives trying to discover a version of this faith which makes sense to us. Schiffman does spend a bit of time agonizing (I believe a previous reviewer called this "silly whining") over not being able to find a rabbi to perform her own intermarriage. But for me, those sections only detract a little from what is basically her own inner journey. If this book had been much longer, I might have lost patience, but as it is, she manages to skilfully (and with humour!) avoid falling into the navel-gazing trap of so many "search for meaning" books. Though my personal answers are different from Schiffman's, I do agree with her when she quotes Rabbi Jane Litman that "Judaism -- even the most Orthodox Judaism -- believes in ongoing revelation." That awareness infuses the rest of Schiffman's travels throughout this fascinating little book. While some may disagree with the tactics Schiffman chooses to explore her Judaism (taking on an "all-trayfe diet", for instance), her sincerity shines through. She doesn't offer the easy answers some of us may be looking for, but at least she lets us know we're not alone in the search.
Rating: 
Summary: An inspiring journey
Review: This journal through the author's own Jewish journey provides a through-provoking and easy to read account of a young Jewish woman's struggle to understand the basis of who she is. In search of her Jewish self, Lisa Schiffman's unique perspective as a social anthropologist adds a demension to this book that moves well beyond the anecdotal. Her agressive approach to dissect her identity and find her place in the world is inspiring -- Lisa Schiffman is a real go-getter.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Insight into the Modern Jewish Mind
Review: This text follow's Lisa's search for what it actually means to be "a Jew." Great for Jews and non-Jews alike, it shows what being Jewish means to different people from different generations. Told in narrative style, it is an easy and interesting read.
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