Suns

After finishing "A Thousand Splendid Suns" I am thankful to be a woman who lives in the US. I get angry sometimes seeing the good old boy network in play around the office, but compared to what the women in Afghanistan have gone through, I am reminded that I don't have it so bad after all.

This novel was well written and the story opened my eyes to the struggles that many families have gone through in Afghanistan. I can't understand what it would be like to live in a country that has been at war for over four decades. There are something like 4 million refugees from Afghanistan that are living in Pakistan. I can't imagine feeling like it is unsafe to go back to where you grew up or lived for years and years.


The bond between the main characters (Mariam and Laila) is so volatile yet in the end they are almost like mother and daughter or sisters. Mariam lived through so much--she was born to a single woman so right off the bat she was looked down upon. Then at 14 she goes to live with her father (she didn't know if was her father until later) and he immediately marries her off to this abusive middle-aged widower. She can't have a baby and suffers for it. At the same time Laila's story begins and she is orphaned when her family dies from a bomb exploding right near their house. She is taken in by Rasheed (Mariam's husband) and eventually becomes his second wife.

This has been one of the best books I've read this year and I've read quite a few good ones! (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Animal Vegetable Miracle, Jane Eyre)

On to "Snowflower and the Secret Fan" which is our next book club read.

Suns ctd...

The thing I like about Hosseini's books is that it has exposed many readers to Afghanistan's culture. I am at a point in the story where the Soviet Union has disintegrated and has left Afghanistan. When the Soviet's were in control, women had more equal rights--they had the opportunity for education and many didn't wear the burqas anymore. Those are the headscarves with the piece of fabric covering the face too. It's hard to imagine being invisible to the outside world and hiding behind dark fabric.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

If you haven't read "The Kite Runner" you should. I checked out Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" from my library. So far it is pretty captivating. I think this book is going to focus on more of the relationships between women in Afghanistan. That's what I gather from the inside flap and the first 50 pages or so.

Our next read for our book club is "Snowflower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See. This book is fiction and is about the friendships between Chinese women and the secret language that they created. They used fans to write messages to each other. I'm reading that one next.

I also finished listening to "Bee Season" last week. That was a really compelling story. I loved it. I am going to pick up another audio book at the library by the same author (Myla Goldberg) which is called "Wickett's Remedy". Listening to audio books in the car just makes the commute so much more bearable. The radio gets so old after awhile. It's nice to have something else to focus on. I was really wrapped up in "Bee Season". I know before I said her voice is mousy--I actually think she has an expressive voice and it was perfect for that story. I'm curious to see how I'll like this one.

I finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" this morning. It was such an enjoyable read. Kingsolver's style is conversational and she kept me interested for 300+ pages (i.e. the entire book). When I was at the grocery store yesterday I found myself checking to see where the produce came from that I was buying--unfortunately it the peppers were from Canada and California. Way over the 250 mile radius that Kingsolver's family stuck to in their year of food. I encourage you all to visit her website for the book. It has recipes and pictures of their farm: http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.

Happy Reading!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

This book by Barbara Kingsolver is fantastic! I'm learning a lot of about harvesting your own food. Harvesting can mean picking green beans, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables or it can even mean killing your chickens and turkeys for meat.

Mostly this book has made me want to know more about where the food in my local King Soopers is coming from. A lot of our fruit comes from California, but what about the beef, chicken and eggs? The book has also made me think that we definitely need to support our local farms, thus our local economy.

Earlier this summer, Angela told me that she has a share in a local farm where they receive fresh vegetables every week. I went online to www.localharvest.org/csa to look up the Castle Rock area. Lo and behold there are a few down this way who participate in the community supported agriculture. I've talked with Ron and we are going to do this next spring/summer as I think it's too late to sign up for this year. I'm hoping that this will in a way force me to eat different veggies than I otherwise normally wouldn't even consider. Plus we'll be supporting our local economy.

Bee Season

I finally finished a book after reading Harry Potter. "Swapping Lives" was fun, yet very predictible. It could have been the inspiration for that TV show Wife Swap. Except one of the girls wasn't married so maybe not. I still think my favorite chick-lit books are Bridget Jones and "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner.

I started reading "Animal, Vegetable Miracle: A Year in the Life of Food" by Barbara Kingsolver earlier this summer. I didn't finish it because it was due at the library. I finally got it back this weekend so I think I might read some more of that in between the Book Club book. It makes me want to eat fresh vegetables. You all can quote me on that as I'm not known for eating much of anything that's green besides lettuce and green beans.

I'm listening to "Bee Season" by Myla Goldberg. It's narrarated by the author--she kind of has a mousy squeeky voice, but now that I'm 5 CDs in, I'm used to it! The story is very interesting. It's about a girl, Eliza who wins the school school spelling bee much to her own surprise. She goes on to win the district bee too. As she heads to the National spelling bee her family starts to fall apart. Mom is a little out there and starts stealing, and brother is trying to find his religion. Dad is wrapped up in Eliza's success and ignoring son and wife. It's intriguing and because I'm listening to it I keep trying to spell some of the harder words she gets like gegenschein. Don't ask me for the origin or a definition!

Swapping Lives

Yea, I have finally made a book stick! I'm reading "Swapping Lives" by Jane Green. It's a chick-lit book, but lately that's what I've been into since it's summertime. A British singleton in London who works for a magazine is going to trade places with a stay-at-home mom who lives in Connecticut. Sounds like a reality show, huh? It's keeping my attention for now. I was on such a roll right before I started this blog..hmm maybe that's why!

I read the first few chapters of our book club book "The World Without Us". This one might take awhile so I might have to read that one next.

Why is it that when one has a stack of books to read, they can't seem to find any of them interesting??? That's why I had to cut back on buying them--my stack keeps growing and I don't have any interest in plowing through it.

I'm looking forward to September--I love this time of year when it finally cools off a bit and the smell of fall is in the air. I'll be heading to Chicago at the end of the month for my friend Katie's wedding. So excited for that.

I told Nancy I'd update our book club blog and so far I haven't done it. Better get it done this weekend. I think that might be her thing more than it is mine or anyone else in our group for that matter! :)