“Don’t you have any jolly books for me to review?,” I plaintively ask this newspaper’s editor. The books he has sent my way in recent weeks are all about the Shoah, and none of them are brilliant enough to make up for their grimness.

Then I have a happy — you could say a jolly — thought. Why must a book column focus on new books? Why not reread — and recall to the reading public — delightful older books, giving them a longer (book)shelf life?

Rabbi Simcha Weinstein, author of the award-winning “Up, Up and Oy Vey!” will be at Chabad of Fort Lee on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. His latest book is “Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century.”

Weinstein has appeared on CNN’s “Showbiz Tonight” and NPR, and has been profiled in publications including The New York Times, The Miami Herald, and The London Guardian. He is a contributor to The Jerusalem Post and The Jewish Telegraphic Agency and chairs the religious affairs committee at the Pratt Institute. He was recently voted “New York’s Hippest Rabbi” by PBS affiliate Channel 13. Call (201) 886-1238 or http://www.ChabadFortLee.com.

Ben Porat Yosef in Paramus will celebrate the launch of Stanley Fischman’s (BPY’s director of general studies) new book “Seven Steps to “Mentchhood,” at the school, on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 8:15 p.m. Fischman will also discuss “The Virtue of a Principle-Driven Life.”

Fischman spent 10 years writing the resource book for parents and teachers based on Torah verses and real-life scenarios and applications. Books will be available for purchase and signing. For information, call (201) 845-5007 or www.benporatyosef.org.

June Feiss Hersh, author of “Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival,” will speak at Cong. Shomrei Torah in Wayne, Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. The book is a treasury of stories from 80 Holocaust survivors recounting their origins. Book sale proceeds support Manhattan’s Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. $36 includes book, dessert, and coffee. Without book, $10 in advance; $15 at the door. (973) 696-2500 or ShomreiTorahWCC.org. Photos courtesy Shomrei Torah

The Bergen County YJCC holds a “Sefer Celebration: A Festival of Children’s Books” on Sunday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Monday, Oct. 24, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The annual book and gift sale includes items for children of all ages, as well as gifts and accessories for children’s birthdays and for holiday giving. Proceeds benefit the William Seth Glazer Children’s Book Fund at the YJCC. Contact Anette McGarity at (201) 666-6610, ext. 5662, or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly launches its annual James H. Grossmann Memorial Jewish Book Month series on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m., in a private home. Author Wendy Dubow Polins will discuss her book, “Fare Forward.” Deborah Goodman Davis is event chair. $36 includes a book signing and sale. Sharon Potolsky, (201) 408-1405.

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman will discuss religion and democracy, his political career, and new book, “The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath,” in a one-on-one conversation with Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, Wednesday, Aug. 31. The event, which begins at 6:30 p.m., is in Lamport Auditorium on YU’s Washington Heights campus. It is the first in a series of “Great Conversations on Religion and Democracy” by the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva. Stuart Halpern, (212) 960-5480 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). courtesy YU