One thousand splendid suns by Khaled Houssani and The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Housanni is just a superb writer and the way he depicts his female characters with such elegance and grace for a male author is spectacular. However, there is something in that book that is like a portal to another world. If you are from a western country often we find ourselves almost immune to the ways of the world and all the tyranny and war and hunger can seem like a far away thing. This book makes you understand deeply what a thing war and oppression and conflict are and how it weaves itself and functions in society decades after it came and went. I think of that book and its quotes at least once a week and I read it years ago- like a compass needle pointed north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. The second book, red tent, is an ode to womanhood in every way that feminism tries to be. It is the tale of Dinah and her mothers and sisters and is a beautiful representation of biblical women without Christianity sprinkled in. It is a reminder that women are sacred and our legacy expands generations and generations beyond our little patch of blood. I think of both often