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Recommendations based on Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veilby Deborah Rodriguez
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
Escape
by Carolyn Jessop
Autobiography of a woman's struggle to escape an oppressive polygamous cult.
The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years ... (Goodreads)
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson
A man's mission to build schools in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan to promote peace.
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s ... (Goodreads)
When I Was Puerto Rican
by Esmeralda Santiago
A young woman's memoir of her immigrant journey from Puerto Rico to New York City.
Esmeralda Santiago is the oldest child her parents have together, although her father has an older daughter she doesn't know about. Her parents' relationship is damaged as her mother suspects her ... (Wikipedia)
Infidel
by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A memoir of a woman's journey of faith, identity, and self-liberation.
One of today’s most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of Theo van Gogh by an Islamist who threatened that she would ... (Goodreads)
Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan
by Greg Mortenson
True story of a man's determination to promote peace and education in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
From the author of the #1 bestseller Three Cups of Tea , the continuing story of this determined humanitarian's efforts to promote peace through education. In this dramatic first-person narrative, ... (Goodreads)
Nickel and Dimed: On
by Barbara Ehrenreich
A journalist's exploration of poverty in the U.S., exposing the struggles of low-wage workers.
Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which ... (Goodreads)
The Bookseller of Kabul
by Åsne Seierstad
An intimate look into the lives of an Afghan family, exploring culture and faith.
In spring 2002, following the fall of the Taliban, Åsne Seierstad spent four months living with a bookseller and his family in Kabul. For more than twenty years Sultan Khan defied the authorities—be ... (Goodreads)
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
by Vicki Myron
The heartwarming true story of a library cat who touched the lives of a small-town community.
How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually ... (Goodreads)
The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
by A.J. Jacobs
An exploration of faith and morality through the lens of the Bible.
From the bestselling author of "The Know-It-All" comes a fascinating and timely exploration of religion and the Bible. Raised in a secular family but increasingly interested in the relevance of faith ... (Goodreads)
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
by Azar Nafisi
Memoir of a professor's struggle in Iran, using literature to find freedom.
The book consists of a memoir of the author's experiences about returning to Iran during the revolution (1978–1981) and living under the Islamic Republic of Iran government until her departure in ... (Wikipedia)
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
by Peggy Orenstein
An exploration of the effects of the girlie-girl culture on young girls and their parents.
The acclaimed author of the groundbreaking bestseller, Schoolgirls, reveals the dark side of pink and pretty: the rise of the girlie-girl, she warns, is not that innocent., Sweet and sassy or ... (Goodreads)
A Year of Biblical Womanhood
by Rachel Held Evans
A journey of personal exploration, seeking to understand what it means to be a woman of faith.
Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn't sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment–a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist ... (Goodreads)
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
by Elissa Wall
A memoir of a woman's experience growing up in a polygamous sect, being forced into marriage at 14, and ultimately escaping the cult.
Stolen Innocence is the gripping New York Times bestselling memoir of Elissa Wall, the courageous former member of Utah’s infamous FLDS polygamist sect whose powerful courtroom testimony helped ... (Goodreads)
High Tide in Tucson
by Barbara Kingsolver
A collection of essays exploring the natural world and human nature, with a focus on the author's experiences in the American Southwest.
With the eyes of a scientist and the vision of a poet, Barbara Kingsolver explores her trademark themes of family, community and the natural world. Defiant, funny and courageously honest, High Tide ... (Goodreads)
Under the Tuscan Sun
by Frances Mayes
A woman's journey of self-discovery and renewal through a move to Tuscany.
The story details the trials that Frances and her husband Ed had to go through to renovate their Tuscan property, an abandoned villa ( Bramasole ) in rural Cortona in Tuscany . As university ... (Wikipedia)
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices
by Xinran
Xinran shares the stories of women in China, revealing their struggles and triumphs in a male-dominated society.
When Deng Xiaoping's efforts to "open up" China took root in the late 1980s, Xinran recognized an invaluable opportunity. As an employee for the state radio system, she had long wanted to help ... (Goodreads)
My Lobotomy: A Memoir
by Howard Dully
A look into one man's experience of a lobotomy, and his journey of healing and redemption.
At twelve, Howard Dully was guilty of the same crimes as other boys his age: he was moody and messy, rambunctious with his brothers, contrary just to prove a point, and perpetually at odds with his ... (Goodreads)
Stitches
by David Small
A graphic memoir of a boy's struggle with illness, family secrets, and his own voice.
One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a ... (Goodreads)
The Post-American World
by Fareed Zakaria
Exploring the changing global order, and the implications for America's future.
"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success ... (Goodreads)
Geisha, a Life
by Mineko Iwasaki
Autobiography of a geisha, recounting her life of beauty, art, and traditional Japanese culture.
"No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story. We have been constrained by unwritten rules not to do so, by the robes of tradition and ... (Goodreads)
All Over But the Shoutin'
by Rick Bragg
Memoir of a young man's journey from poverty to achieving the American Dream.
The extraordinary gifts for evocation and insight and the stunning talent for storytelling that earned Rick Bragg a Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1996 are here brought to bear on the ... (Goodreads)
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
by Michael Pollan
Exploration of the modern food chain, examining the impact of food choices on our health and the environment.
What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire , how we answer it today, at ... (Goodreads)
A Girl Named Zippy
by Haven Kimmel
A charming account of growing up in rural Indiana, exploring the joys and hardships of life.
When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965 in Mooreland, Indiana, it was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was ... (Goodreads)
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
by Marjane Satrapi
Autobiographical account of a young girl's experience of the Iranian Revolution.
Note: The summary of the English editions of the novel is divided into two sections, one for each book. Persepolis 1 begins by introducing Marji, the ten-year-old protagonist. Set in 1980, the novel ... (Wikipedia)
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
A humorous account of a man's attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, reflecting on the beauty and history of the American wilderness.
The book starts with Bryson explaining his curiosity about the Appalachian Trail near his house. He and his old friend Stephen Katz start hiking the trail from Georgia in the South , and stumble in ... (Wikipedia)
The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
by Timothy J. Keller
Examining the parable of the prodigal son to understand grace, faith, and the Christian message.
The, New York Times, bestselling author of, The Prodigal Prophet, uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Newsweek called renowned minister Timothy Keller "a ... (Barnes & Noble)
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott
An examination of faith and its role in the modern world, inspiring readers to find hope and peace.
From the, New York Times, bestselling author of, Hallelujah Anyway, and, Help, Thanks, Wow, a spiritual antidote to anxiety and despair in increasingly fraught times. As Anne Lamott knows, the world ... (Goodreads)
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary
by Marta Hillers
An account of the struggles of a German woman during the occupation of Berlin, as she attempts to survive.
A, New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice For eight weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman kept a daily record of life in her apartment building and among its ... (Goodreads)
Sh*t My Dad Says
by Justin Halpern
Collection of humorous musings and witticisms from an elderly father.
After being dumped by his longtime girlfriend, twenty-eight-year-old Justin Halpern found himself living at home with his seventy-three-year-old dad. Sam Halpern, who is "like Socrates, but angrier, ... (Goodreads)
How to Be a Woman
by Caitlin Moran
A humorous exploration of modern femininity and fighting for women's rights.
Caitlin Moran puts a new face on feminism, cutting to the heart of women’s issues today with her irreverent, transcendent, and hilarious How to Be a Woman. “Half memoir, half polemic, and entirely ... (Goodreads)
