Here are a couple of books I have read over September/beginning of October.
A House In The Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett.
As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself visiting its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.” On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road.
Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark.
This was such a good book, well worth reading. It was very eye opening. Although I didn't feel any sympathy when she got kidnapped, as she was told multiple times by various people not to go to Somalia as it was so dangerous. What they did to her while she was in captivity was not good! You go through so many emotions while reading this book. I do admire how she dug deep through the worst of times to just to get through the next day/hours/minutes. Well worth the read.
In the autumn of 1948, Iris Digby vanishes from her London home with her American diplomat husband and their two children. The world is shocked by the family’s sensational disappearance. Were they eliminated by the Soviet intelligence service? Or have the Digbys defected to Moscow with a trove of the West’s most vital secrets?
Four years later, Ruth Macallister receives a postcard from the twin sister she hasn’t seen since their catastrophic parting in Rome in the summer of 1940, as war engulfed the continent and Iris fell desperately in love with an enigmatic United States Embassy official named Sasha Digby. Within days, Ruth is on her way to Moscow, posing as the wife of counterintelligence agent Sumner Fox in a precarious plot to extract the Digbys from behind the Iron Curtain.
But the complex truth behind Iris’s marriage defies Ruth’s understanding, and as the sisters race toward safety, a dogged Soviet KGB officer forces them to make a heartbreaking choice between two irreconcilable loyalties.
I picked this book up while on vacation. Wasn't sure where the story was going to go, but once I started it I could not put it down. It's a mix of fact and fiction. Some people mentioned in the book, were actual spies. I did enjoy the twist in the book, didn't see it coming. Lets just say I was impressed. Again another book worth reading. I picked this book up in the clearance section in Books A Million (I think that's the chain) in the States.
"We Are Afghan Women, by George W. Bush Institute"
Afghanistan has been described as “the worst nation in the world to be a woman.” More than fifty percent of girls who are forced into marriage are sixteen or younger. Too many women live in fear and in many areas, education and employment for women are still condemned. The women featured in We Are Afghan Women are fighting to change all that. From rug weavers to domestic violence counselors to business owners, educators, and activists, these courageous women are charting a new path for themselves, their families, their communities, and their nation. Told in their own voices, their stories vividly capture a country undone by decades of war and now struggling to build a lasting peace.
Meet Dr. Sakena Yacoobi, who ran underground schools for girls until the Taliban fell, and today has established educational centers across Afghanistan to teach women and girls basic literacy. Or Freshta Hazeq, who as a female business owner, has faced death threats, sabotage, and even kidnapping threats against her children. Naheed Farid is the youngest female member of Afghanistan’s parliament. During her campaign, opponents cut Naheed’s face out of campaign posters and her family risked complete ruin, but her husband and father-in-law never wavered, encouraging her to persevere. Here, too are compassionate women such as Masooma Jafari, who started a national midwives association. Her own mother was forced into marriage at age twelve and gave birth to her first child at age thirteen.
With an introduction by former First Lady Laura Bush, We Are Afghan Women chronicles the lives of young and old, daughters and mothers, educated, and those who are still learning. These determined women are defying the odds to lead Afghanistan to a better future. Their stories are a stark reminder that in some corners of the world the struggle continues and that women’s progress in society, business, and politics cannot be taken for granted. Their eloquent words challenge all of us to answer: What does it truly mean to be a woman in the twenty-first century?
I had made a start on this book a while back and so I picked it back up when we came back from vacation. It was first published in 2016, so unfortunately things have changed again in Afghanistan, and not for the better. However, all these "stories" are still well worth reading. Whether all these women are still doing what they set out to do and are still doing it under the leadership of the Taliban, who knows.
Regardless, they are very courageous and very determined individuals. It makes you think that what we take for granted, by just going out for a walk by yourself, or playing sports, or talking to another man who is not related to you, is unthinkable for a lot of women in Afghanistan.
The one thing all these women and one man want is to make Afghanistan a better place for women to live in. I do hope they succeed.
I think I got this book from Book Outlet, where I get a few of my books from.
Daughter of a cold, controlling mother and an anonymous donor, studious, obedient Elizabeth Fitch finally let loose one night, drinking too much at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent to lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive.
Twelve years later, the woman now known as Abigail Lowery lives alone on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance security systems designer, her own protection is supplemented by a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. Unfortunately, that seems to be the quickest way to get attention in a tiny southern town.
The mystery of Abigail Lowery and her sharp mind, secretive nature and unromantic viewpoint intrigues local police chief Brooks Gleason, on both a personal and professional level. And while he suspects that Abigail needs protection from something, Gleason is accustomed to two-bit troublemakers, not the powerful and dangerous men who are about to have him in their sights.
And Abigail Lowery, who has built a life based on security and self-control, is at risk of losing both.
I read this book in a day, as it was so good.........until the ending; which I thought was lacking. The detail in this book, got you sucked into it from the very start. That doesn't happen very often I find. I rarely read Nora Robert's books, but picked this one up from Indigo in the 3 for $10 section.
Abigail reminded me of Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. The way Nora built up the storyline was great and she kept the leading characters to a minimum so it doesn't get awfully confusing as to who is who. There was action, romance, a bit of technical stuff, and a bit of cloak and dagger. I did expect more from the ending though, as there was a lot more to tell to my mind.
I will look out for more Nora Roberts book's, as I did enjoy this one.
