Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli. An exhilarating historical work about Caterina de Sforza, one of Italy’s most notorious countesses from the time of Michelangelo. No side of De Sforza's personality is left unturned, neither her fierce maternal instinct protecting her large brood, nor her courage in battle even eight months pregnant on horseback, nor her searing disappointment with her politically limp and cowardly husband. She knows rags and riches and rags again. Lev’s historical scholarship is second to none, then brought alive with tantalizingly literary flair.

Mary Ann Glendon, A World Made New. You see where Lev gets her literary guts and historical acuity when you read A World Made New, written by her mother. Glendon recounts the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the pivotal role played by Eleanor Roosevelt in that process. A great insight into the post-World War II era, and the philosophical foundations that were laid by a diverse but dedicated core tasked with such an enormous responsibility. Unfortunately, also, a painful reminder of just how much intellectual and moral rigor has been lost in contemporary debates about what constitutes and how to uphold human rights.

Michael Holman, Last Order at Harrods: An African Tale. I picked up this book secondhand in Nairobi during a mandatory ‘R’n’R’, as it’s called in the aid sector, while posted in South Sudan. Last Order at Harrods is a tender, delightful David-and-Goliath story about a woman in Nairobi’s slum neighborhood who finds herself accused of breaching trademark because her back alley bar is named “Harrods.” A poignant reflection of life in urban Africa, it was a fitting aid to my own departure from the continent after several years working there: They say there are no atheists in the trenches of war. Perhaps that is why we so often thank God in Africa….We live with risk, some more than others….We do not despair, because that is a cardinal sin."

Kim Barker, The Taliban Shuffle. A book that caught my eye on a quiet Sunday morning in Islamabad. Barker recounts her many years working as a foreign correspondent in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a twist. Astute foreign policy analysis is stuffed amidst hilarious anecdotes of the flapdoodle involved in these conflicts that, despite being out of the international spotlight right now, are far from settled.

Lucy O’Donoghue is a graduate student in public health and theology, with a keen interest in women’s health and public health ethics. After several years of international humanitarian work, she is now based in Bangkok, Thailand, with her husband and baby boy. She blogs at Craic & Banter.