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Samantha Ellis: Always Carry Salt: A Memoir of Preserving Language and Culture

(Memoir, 270 pp., 2026)

With her mother tongue on the verge of extinction, memoirist Samantha Eliis seeks to preserve the rich Iraqi Judeo-Arabic language in which she grew up. Always Carry Salt is an immersive and moving meditation in the words and traditions that shape us and what we carry into future generations.

Review by Shamar Hill, Jewish Book Council, January 12, 2026

Review by MIchelle Anne Schlinger, Foreword Reviews, January/February 2026

Review by Maia Zelkha, Yad Mizrah, December 30, 2025

Review by Howard Freedman, J. The Jewish News of Northern California, December 17, 2025

Review by Publishers Weekly, September 24, 2025

Review by Kirkus Reviews, September 13, 2025

Review by Karen E. H. Skinazi, Jewish Journal, June 19, 2025

Interview  by Erin Douglass, Christian Science Monitor, January 26, 2026

Interview by Tina Lerno, Los Angeles Public Library, January 12, 2026