The Coming of Lilith: Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, 1972-2003 by Judith Plaskow is a source text for the rise and continuation of modern feminism in Jewish thinking. Plaskow is a rigorous thinker, and it is fascinating to watch her evolve and change as the landscape of Judaism and feminism changes. This collection of essays are truly essential.
Year of the Hangman: George Washington's Campaign Against the Iroquois, tells the story of the destruction of the Haudenosaunee people, principally the Cayuga and Seneca tribes of upstate New York in1779. Unlike many versions of this story, this book shows how complex the situation between the Six Nations, the British, and the United States during the Revolutionary War.
This books also sharply draws the contours of the political position of that the Six Nations before and during the war, proving they were not helpless victims of European and American powers. They exercised agency, and pursued their own interests as they saw them.
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover is essentially a book about child abuse. Westover’s mother, since the publication of this book, has mounted a campaign against her daughter’s book. But even if three fourths of what Westover says is true, her parents were extremely negligent and abusive.
At the end, Westover tries to distance her account from Mormonism. I don't buy this; for this is a story about fundamentalist Mormonism, and its outcomes. If all Mormons are potential prophets, than who is to adjudicate what is prophecy and who is insane? Mainstream Mormonism is an apocalyptic religion, and members are supposed to keep a certain amount of supplies on hand in case the End Time begin. This book features an extreme form of this.
The unique excesses here could only be produced by people with extreme Mormon ideas and practices.
