LOVED the other book by this author, Kite Runner more than most books I've ever read. But I watched my mom crying reading this, and I haven't had the guts to start it yet!

Finally actually read this. It's fabulous. An excerpt from the review on my blog: "Nana said, 'Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.'"

That is a harsh message to give a girl very early in her life, but it is a message that many Afghani women, especially under the years of Taliban rule, learned in brutal detail. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a painful book to read because it is the story of two Afghani women whose lives intersect in Kabul at a time when being a woman in Afghanistan was basically a life-threatening condition. Despite the inevitable bleakness that comes with the territory, this is nonetheless a beautiful book. Khaled Hosseini is a masterful writer who loves his homeland and its history and culture and also clearly loves and respects the women whose plight he illustrates so brilliantly. It took me years to read this book because my mother told me it would make me cry. It did, but it was well worth it. In the end, this is an inspiring story of love and friendship. I also love that Hosseini’s work makes Afghanistan and its people so real for me, in a way that a dozen years of news reporting on the American involvement there has failed substantially to do. I can only wish all my fellow Americans could read this book and The Kite Runner so that we don’t lose sight of the people whose complex and difficult lives our politicians’ and military leaders’ decisions affect daily.

Thank you so much for picking up this book. Please make a journal entry here on this page if you haven’t already done so to let me know that this book has found a good home. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it is entirely free). If you choose to join, I would love if you could indicate EPARKS4232 referred you.

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If bookcrossing intrigues you, you also might like geocaching: http://www.geocaching.com (I'm cachebether ...)