A Thousand Splendid Suns

When I heard that Khaled Hosseini, author of the brilliant, beautiful, and heart wrenching The Kite Runner, was writing another book I approached it with equal parts trepidation and excitement. I wondered if this new book would pull me in the way The Kite Runner did.

I shouldn't have been so worried. A Thousand Splendid Suns isn't The Kite Runner but then, it isn't supposed to be.

A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the stories of Mariam and Laila. Mariam and Laila are two Afghani women who, due to horrible circumstances, end up married to the same man. I don't want to say more because I don't really want to give away the intricate details of this book. But this is one of those books, that if you are a woman, can strike terror in your heart. It's hard for most of us to imagine being married to a man who is sympathetic to the Taliban and even harder to imagine why a woman, let alone millions of women would go along with these daily humiliations and deprivations. But Hosseini does a remarkable job of showing exactly how two women who never thought they would be in such a situation end up there.

I read this book in a day. I couldn't put it down. Hosseini drew me in again. He made me laugh and cry. He made me really glad that I live in America where, this morning, my problems don't seem so big. While this is clearly a work of fiction, it's also very clearly based in a realistic world. I hope that you all read this book and then go donate to the UNHCR. I know I did.

Books Read in 2007:

A Thousand Splendid Suns ~ Khaled Hosseini
The Bermudez Triangle ~ Maureen Johnson
Fray ~ Joss Whedon
The Dragonriders of Pern ~ Anne McCaffery
Embroideries ~ Marjane Satrapi
13 Little Blue Envelopes ~ Maureen Johnson
The Cider House Rules ~ John Irving
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ~J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ~ J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ~ J.K. Rowling
The Good Men: A Novel of Heresy ~ Charmaine Craig
An Abundance of Katherines ~ John Green
The Count of Monte Cristo ~ Alexandre Dumas
Looking For Alaska ~ John Green
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest ~ Stephen Ambrose
Drinking, Smoking, and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times ~ edited by Sara Nikles
Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood ~ Ann Brashares