A Thousand Splendid Suns

This was my read over New Year's break. I took it with us up to the Bear Lake Cabin, and I gobbled it up in two days. Luckily, Paige was sick and miserable, so she just sat on my lap with her head buried into my chest. (How pathetic is that - I just said my baby was sick "luckily" so I could read instead of be a parent!?!) Anyway...I LOVED it! It is by Khaled Hosseini, the author of "The Kite Runner." These are both fabulous books! They are both set in Afghanistan and tell personal stories as he touches on the political events of the last 30 years or so. There are some tough, brutally honest sections in each book, and they are not easy to read. One of the main characters in "A Thousand Splendid Suns" makes a comment that she never knew how much the human body could endure and still go on. I sobbed my way through the last 80 pages or so. Even though this is a work of fiction, I know that people have made sacrifices equal to the characters in this book. It makes me want to be a better person; it makes me want to complain less and look for opportunities to ease another's burden more frequently. It makes me wonder if I would have the courage/faith/unconditional love to make the same sacrifices. It makes me wonder what the Lord has in store for me in terms of genuinely leaving the world a better place than I found it. It just makes me wonder. I know when I've loved a book because I miss the characters when I am finished.

This isn't terribly articulate, and I'm sure you can find a more eloquent review on Oprah, but I do highly recommend this book.