I am an avid reader. I love to read and keep my brain always thinking, learning and dreaming. I miss the long gone good old days of college because I simply love to learn. Thus, I always have a huge stack of books beside my bed just waiting to be read. I often try to read books about important issues (such as women’s rights, religion, immigration) or books set within another culture or time period. I’m actually a very strange person in that I very rarely watch TV. For me, books are my television and reading creates scenery, imagery and thinking that no television show could even dream of making. Quite simply, ready keeps me happy.
This summer, I read a lot of books that dealt with women’s rights and Islamic countries. I’m not sure whether it was my recent trip in April to Morocco (to read about my experiences, please search for Morocco under “Travel by Country”) or last year’s reading of perhaps one of the most tragic books I’ve ever read on Women around the world called “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. For more information on Half the Sky, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Half-Sky-Oppression-Opportunity-Worldwide/dp/0307387097/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315276048&sr=1-1
This book impacted my thinking and desire to save the world more than any other book I’ve read to date. It is brilliant, haunting and so tragically real that it literally blew me away. It also made me promise myself to somehow focus on helping women around the world. This is a long-term goal that I will eventually get to as my children get older and I have more time on my hands. Yet, the book influenced me to read and learn more about women’s issues in other countries.
This summer, I read three books dealing with this very subject that were fabulously written, tragically sad yet inspiring at the same time. All three books are biographies and the author’s call to action for change is amazingly inspirational. It is only by bringing awareness to these issues that change can happen. Reading these books is one small step in that direction. Without further delay, here are my top three summer reads:
Number 1: “Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia” by Jean Sasson
Description: “Named as one of the 500 Great Books by Women“, Princess offers an eye-opening, heart-filled, and tragic account of the life of a real Saudi Princess.
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For more information and book reviews on Amazon, please click here:
Number 2: “Iran Awakening: One Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country” by Shirin Ebadi.
Description (per Amazon):
“The moving, inspiring memoir of one of the great women of our times, Shirin Ebadi, winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and advocate for the oppressed, whose spirit has remained strong in the face of political persecution and despite the challenges she has faced raising a family while pursuing her work.
Best known in this country as the lawyer working tirelessly on behalf of Canadian photojournalist, Zara Kazemi – raped, tortured and murdered in Iran – Dr. Ebadi offers us a vivid picture of the struggles of one woman against the system. The book movingly chronicles her childhood in a loving, untraditional family, her upbringing before the Revolution in 1979 that toppled the Shah, her marriage and her religious faith, as well as her life as a mother and lawyer battling an oppressive regime in the courts while bringing up her girls at home.
Outspoken, controversial, Shirin Ebadi is one of the most fascinating women today. She rose quickly to become the first female judge in the country; but when the religious authorities declared women unfit to serve as judges she was demoted to clerk in the courtroom she had once presided over. She eventually fought her way back as a human rights lawyer, defending women and children in politically charged cases that most lawyers were afraid to represent. She has been arrested and been the target of assassination, but through it all has spoken out with quiet bravery on behalf of the victims of injustice and discrimination and become a powerful voice for change, almost
universally embraced as a hero.
Her memoir is a gripping story – a must-read for anyone interested in Zara Kazemi’s case, in the life of a remarkable woman, or in understanding the political and religious upheaval in our world.”
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For more information and book reviews on Amazon, please click here:
Number 3: “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Description (from Bookmarks Magazine):
“Although Ayaan Hirsi Ali remains Public Enemy #1 for radical Muslims, she refuses to be silenced. In this captivating memoir—an act of courage itself—she shares the evolution of her values, beliefs, and identity, all propelled by an urgent mission to educate Western countries about the bigotries of other nations. Set against a terrifying geopolitical landscape of African wars and Muslim fundamentalism, Hirsi Ali addresses timely topics: the plight of refugees and women; the Muslim clan system; forced marriage; political asylum; and, perhaps most significantly, her own personal religious crisis. Written in descriptive, clear prose, Infidel, with its radical feminist criticism of Islam, offers a disturbing view of the modern world—and inspired every critic who read it.”
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For more information and book reviews on Amazon, please click here:
After reading these books, it is hard to simply sit back and do nothing. I know the task is big but hopefully someday things will be better for all women regardless of race, class or religion.
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