The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

An interesting dystopian tale; I read because it was by a Canadian author and I don't know much about Canadian literature. The Handmaid's Tale depicts a hypothetical theocracy in a post- apocalyptic US, inspired by the Iranian model - it was written in the '80s - but nowadays reminiscent of the Taliban regime or the Islamic State. I don't think we run any risk of a Christian theocracy being implanted any time soon, but this is a good reminder of how it must feel in one of the Islamic theocracies, namely regarding the female condition, which is the main subject of the book. And because of that, I think it's worth reading.

Independent People, by Halldór Laxness

All the guides and books about Iceland said this is the Icelandic novel, so I bought it when I was there, and finished it now. I liked it very much, and it indeed evokes Iceland in a beatiful way - the harshness of the climate, the independence spirit, their relationship with poetry. It's a sad and harsh story, but it gives one the sense of the indomitable spirit of people in a harsh land.