Israel SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

I started the year with Cold Magic .
This book was recommended to me because of the 'Jewish references'. I won't disagree but the references are vague and tangential.
That said I did like the magic system in this novel and despite the fact that it took me a long while to read and turns our not to be a stand-alone (argghh!) I felt it deserved 4 stars.
I am still debating whether to class it in the strong women category.

Tower of thorns (blackthorn and grim) by Juliet marillier. I just discover this author and she's great. Especially if you love folklore story. It's the second in this series, the first was also great.
I have a long list this year of must read

I am not a big fan of Neil Gaiman but I read the short story Goliath yesterday and really enjoyed it.