The Dressmaker of Khair Khana - Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Sub-title: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe

This was a good read for the perspective it provided on life in Afghanistan for women during the reign of the Taliban.  I enjoy history and getting an understanding of countries I've never been to and cultures I know little about. 

The writing was rather trite, not even good journalistic style, which is the author's background.

As the title and sub-title explain, a woman (one of the 5 sisters) supports her family as a dressmaker.  She creates an entire business, producing clothes in their home, employing other women in the community while the Taliban's rule forbade them from any freedom.  The woman, about 17 at the time, went on to become an official in Afghanistan's post-Taliban government working on business development. 

Published: 2011  Read: July 2019  Genre: Non-fiction

Fear - Bob Woodward

Yes, I read this, I was given it as a gift.  My first impression is that it was hastily written, not really a story but a series of interviews and research strung together in a sort of chronological order.  I liked the explanation and background on several policy issues, e.g., Korea, Afghanistan, Iran and immigration.  The personality of Trump was not a surprise; my takeaway is that he isn't deliberately malicious, his narcissism and ego supersedes any larger thought.  Not recommended.


Published: 2018  Read: October 2018  Genre: Non-fiction, politics

The New Odyssey - Patrick Kingsley

Sub-title: The story of the twenty-first century refugee crisis

This book is an eye-opener.  The author parallels the journey of one refugee with the facts and evolution of the massive migration of refugees from the Middle East and Africa.  The numbers of people impacted by the wars and repressive regimes is staggering - hundreds of thousands of attempted to leave their countries for a safer existence in European continent.

The book changed my understanding of the Syrian conflict and others in the region and humanized the people just trying to live and raise their families some place safe and secure.  These are not all individuals who are poor and uneducated, instead they are people like you and me who are caught up in societies being destroyed by tyrants and fanatics, paralleling the reign of Hitler in the 1930's.

The response of European nations that are overwhelmed with the numbers of people seeking asylum creates division and cooperation as they try to address the crisis.

A must read.

Published:  2017   Read: April 2017   Genre: Non-fiction

The Places in Between - Rory Stewart

This was a great read, providing recent and historical context for the people and country of Afghanistan.  The author tells of his walk in January 2002 across the country surviving on the generosity and kindness of the Afghan people.  Reading it humanized the people I've been conditioned to think of as our enemies and gave me insight into the multiple cultures that exist today and have been there for centuries.  Rory weaves ancient Persian history into the war-torn reality of the present to illustrate the complexity of applying modern Western democratic ideals to the region.

Highly recommended.

Published: 2006  Read: September 2016  Genre: Memoir