A Handwriting Manual ; Suddenly Jewish

Book 1: A Handwriting Manual, by Alfred Fairbank
Completed: March 1, 2009
What I remember about it:

At the time, I was planning to take a course in calligraphy and bookbinding that coming fall. I picked this up because I was curious about the history of handwriting and the characteristics of penmanship and different scripts. The book was dated (originally published in the 1930s?) but short. This interest has waned.

Book 2: Suddenly Jewish, by Barbara Kessel
Completed: March 1, 2010
What I remember about it:

This was a fascinating array of personal accounts from people who, not having been raised Jewish, learned only in adulthood that they had Jewish ancestry.* Many were surprised by this discovery, some discomfited, others delighted. In particular, some descendants of conversos (Sephardim who underwent forced conversions in Spain during the Inquisition) felt that it explained many peculiarities in their family traditions or in the habits of elderly relatives. I found especially humorous and poignant the story of one man, raised a devout Christian, who in an effort to show respect immediately bared his head upon entering a synagogue for the first time.

*I remember wondering whether all of these people were in fact halachically Jewish (direct descent through the maternal line) or whether some simply had Jewish ancestors somewhere in their background. I think this was not always made clear in their accounts. A few went through a formal conversion process after learning about their heritage, and one woman had actually converted to Judaism before learning that it was also part of her background.