I purchased this extra book to start a bookring with because I enjoyed it so much!

UPDATE: This ring is complete - thank you to all the participants!

BOOKRING INFORMATION:

A - Once you receive the book, please read it, journal it, and PM the person next in line for their address within 30 days of receiving this book.

B - This is a book ring, meaning that I hope this book makes it back to me, so please pass it on. If you have any problems getting a response from a ring member, please PM me.

Ring Participants:
1. Cheesygiraffe
2. SimplyCee
3. Krin511
4. Zosime
5. HoserLauren
6. AceOfHearts
7. Breeze 144
8. apolonia
9. Ri
10. rebeccaljames
11. Home to candieb!

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From the Publisher
After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

Came today via UPS. I will start to read this right away since I just finished a book. ;)

I LOVED it!

Mariam and Laila grew up very differently. Yet at about the same age there lives were both forever changed. Rasheed is a horrible man but if not for him they would not have become like mother and daughter. There is so much love in this story of these 2 woman and so much lose. By the end of the book, I was almost crying but it was beautiful.

Woohoo! I have one book ahead of this one. I should be able to start this one over the weekend.
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9/22: Sent to Krin.

Arrived today - will start reading either later this week or early next week!

A beautifully written book that's both moving and bittersweet. Hosseini shows the reader how the Soviet occupation, the tribal conflicts and the Taliban rule of Afghanistan affected the people on a daily level through the lives of Mariam and Laila.

Mailed to Zosime October 13th.

Found this waiting in my mailbox yesterday! Yay! I have one and a half books ahead of it, (why do the bookrings always arrive together?) but as the days are getting colder and shorter I'm reading more quickly than usual. Thanks for sharing!

What an amazing book! So much in Mariam and Laila's lives was brutal and painful, but their story is also full of hope and beauty. They helped each other grow and be strong through their love when alone, their husband might have succeeded in keeping them small and weak. I loved this book, thank you so much for sharing! I should have it in the mail to Ace by the end of the week.

Finally mailed to Ace today. Sorry for holding on to this one for so long!

received today in the mail. Whoever( Lauren or I) finishes our current read first will start this next

I finished my book first so I've started reading this book!
I'll probably be taking it on a flight with me to Vegas for breeze144's wedding :)

I had high expectations for this book, after having read The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns certainly lived up to those expectations!

The story focuses around two women: Mariam and Laila. Hosseini gives the story of each of these women first, which leaves you wondering how they are going to be brought together. Mariam is a "bastard" child, whose father is ashamed of her, but tries to lessen his guilt by visiting her once a week. Laila comes from a very liberal family, where here mother wears makeup and only a scarf over her hair. When Mariam is married to Rasheed, her life takes a turn for the worse. Rasheed is verbally and physically abusive.

This story follows the Afghan history, from Soviet invasion up to 9/11 and the dissolution of Taliban power. Mariam and Laila live through war and are brought together by it. Though their individual stories are sad and depressing, together they give each other hope and love.

It is always interesting to read about histories of places I am not too familiar with. The Kite Runner gave me a general idea of what has happened in Afghanistan, and this book seems to go into greater detail.

The characters are written extremely well. Hosseini takes you inside Afghan family life during war, and gives you an idea of how horrible the family dynamics can get. This book lived up to my expectations and was just as good a read as The Kite Runner.

My mom is now reading this book.

Hosseini definitely is a brilliant moving writer. A Thousand Splendid Suns relates the story of 2 Afghan women. Mariam is a bastard whose father gets rid of her in marriage to Rasheed. Mariam continually has miscarriages and consequently suffers increasingly violent abuse. Laila, a generation younger, is educated and comes from a liberal family. She is in love with Tariq, a neighbourhood boy. Rasheed ends up marrying Laila through deceit and the killing of Laila's parents.

Hosseini paints a terrifying picture of everyday Afghan life from the time of the Soviet invasion until the present time. Mariam and Laila must live with daily rocket attacks and the increase in adherence to Muslim laws. Mariam and Laila learn to love each other and make sacrifices to save the family.

This is a real tear-jerker.

delivering today

Received today! I managed to sign up for 2 rings for this book and just finished reading the other one! Stupid, I know...anyway, this will be enroute to apolonia very soon!

Jan 31 - apolonia asked to be skipped today, sending a PM to Ri!

Thanks for sending this one on, Bree! I look forward to reading it soon!

This was a great but difficult read. It gave this overwhelmingly heavy feeling.Wile traveling in the Middle East I had this same feeling. It is a depth of weight pulling my energy down. This book has beautiful writing and an important story to tell, but it was so emotionally difficult to read.

I received this book a couple of days ago. I am looking forward to reading it. I will get to it as soon as possible. Thank you for sharing.

I will be sending this back home tomorrow after I get out of class. Thank you for sharing.

Back home, where it will set for a month or two before being re-read for my book club. Thank you to all who participated and I'm glad that the majority enjoyed it. I'm not sure where I'll send this when done :)

I read this book about a year and a half ago, you can see my original review HERE. Nothing has changed really for me. I noticed a lot of the earlier parts in part 1 and 2 than I did the first time. I still devoured this book quickly. This is one of those books that I think everyone should read with their bookclub. I really look forward to discussing it with the ladies in my club. I absolutely love this book. It always moves me, to laugh, to smile, to cry and to be really really angry. This is an amazing book.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to AM as a RABCK -- enjoy!

Wow, what a well-travelled book! Thank you so much for the RABCK! I'm looking forward to reading it. :)