Recommended reading

"The Power" by Naomi Alderman

"I was blown away by how the author flipped patriarchal assumptions about and treatment of the opposite sex 180 degrees. The way some of the women wound up treating men in this book is a perfect mirror image of how I know women are treated now. The stories are as familiar to me as my own face, only backwards. How surreal it was to see that, no matter who is in charge, no matter who holds power, there will likely always be people who seek to abuse their power just like there will always be people who seek justice and balance.” – Kayla

"The Prisoner of Limnos" by Lois McMaster Bujold

"A fantasy novella set in the world Bujold first introduced in The Curse of Chalion, this book is part of a series featuring the sorcerer Penric and the soldier’s widow Nikys. Nikys’s mother has been kidnapped by her family’s enemies, and Nikys and Penric must rescue her from the temple where she has been imprisoned. As with everything Lois McMaster Bujold writes, she provides a well-constructed plot, richly developed characters, and seasons it with a generous dollop of wit. An excellent story” –Lennart

"Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harari

“The subtitle is “a brief history of Humankind” and I think that’s accurate but far too basic a description. There was nothing dry about this account of the evolution of humans, their relationship to one another and the planet from our earliest beginning to the present day. I found the questions in this book to be as profound and thought provoking as the answers and I’m sure I’ll be reflecting on it for years to come. " – Amber