A Thousand Splendid Suns

Devastating. Touching. Just two words to describe this incredible novel by the author of "The Kite Runner." This time, Khaled Hosseini takes into the lives of two very heroic Afghan women. Two women of different generations, both forced into marriage to the same abusive man. Mariam is just 15 when she is forced to marry Rasheed, who was 40. Then 18 years later, Rasheed marries (for reasons that make more sense in the novel) Laila. Mariam is sort of a "mother/sister" to Laila. This story is about what they endure as women during the tumultuous times of war in Afghanistan during the 1990s and into today. There are scenes that are very moving, many that are very difficult to think about, and overall a story of survival. This is a must read.

Watership Down

I first read this amazing book when it come out in the 1970s, as a teenager. I loved it then and I still love it now. At least once a year for the past three or more years I pick it up and read it again. That's what I'm doing now, reading "Watership Down" again. A fantastic story about the lives of rabbits as a certain number of them leave their warren to find a new home, as one of them, Fiver is his name, has a premonition of "bad things to come." Fiver's brother, Hazel, leads them on a journey to a new home, with a lot of adventures along the way. This story "humanizes" the rabbits, we see them as having fears, and emotions such as we humans have. This is a classic, if you're never read it, you'll be hooked by this fantastic story.

The Devil in the White City

This spring I read a great book called "The Devil in the White City" and it's an historical book about the building of the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, revolving around two main real life persons, Daniel Burnham the architect behind the design of this World's Fair, and H.H. Holmes, probably America's first serial killer, who was doing his bad deeds in southern Chicago at the time leading up to and during the Exposition of 1893. There was no real connection between these two persons, they just happened to each have been doing "big things" in Chicago at the same time. Very fascinating story, and a true one. The book reads like a great novel, but the fact that it's all true is even more compelling.

Pride and Prejudice

Believe it or not, although I was an English major in college, and have read many many classics during that time, and in my personal life, I have never read a Jane Austen novel. Well, that is now changing. I picked up "Pride and Prejudice" along with two other of her novels and am enthralled. Of course I've seen the movie version of a number of her novels, but reading them is so different. The characters are so much more rich and engaging, of course. "Pride and Prejudice" is an excellent love story and an excellent fall out of love story, or will love happen story. The character of Mr. Darcy, for one thing, is much more than what I've seen him portrayed in film versions of this story. Is he basically kind of a jerk or just misunderstood/misrepresented? I'm almost through with this story, and will probably move onto "Sense and Sensibility" next. Stay tuned...

The Thirteenth Tale

This incredible story called "The Thirteenth Tale." It's a great story for people who love books, who love to read, and who love a "ghost story" of sorts. Not a scary ghost story, but think beyond the idea of a ghost and what that might mean outside of the supernatural, and that's what this story is. I LOVED this book, I pretty much devoured it in a week. It's about a woman who works in her father's antique book store and she gets the opportunity to write the biography of "the most beloved and famous author" in England. This author is an elderly woman who has been known to "tell lies" when asked about herself and her past. Now she feels she is ready to tell the whole truth. She gets the biographer's attention by saying..."Let me tell you a ghost story..." no interest from Margaret, the biographer, then "Let me tell you a story about twins..." and that hooks Margaret. Read this great book and see why....

The Road

Over the weekend (yes I read it almost non-stop, it was that good) I read the latest book by Cormac McCarthy called "The Road." I've been a fan of his since "All the Pretty Horses" back in the 1980's, but this is one of his best I say. It's a story about a man and the boy (father and son) who are survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. We aren't really told what exactly has done all the destruction of living trees, grass, wildlife and most of human life. Whether it be nuclear disaster or ultimately the devastation of the earth by global warming, we just know that all these things no longer exist. As the man and the boy (they don't have names, making this even more real like it could happen to me) fight starvation, cold and "the bad guys" (cannibalistic thugs) this is ultimately a story of a father's love for his son and what all we would do to keep him alive. This is a great read, a haunting novel about civilization's slow death after the lights go out.

The Woman in White

I first read a Wilke Collins book in college. I was taking a summer correspondence course in Mystery Fiction and one of the required readings was "The Moonstone." So I recently decided to try another of his books, and chose "The Woman in White." I am thoroughly enjoying this novel. It has that mid 1800's feel to it, similar to writings of the Brontes, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, but it doesn't have as much "fluff" as some of these other writers put into their books. "The Woman in White" is part romance, and part mystery. It concerns two half-sisters, and the rather bad marriage of one, Laura Fairlie. She marries a man whom who her father arranged to have her marry before he died, and it is a loveless marriage, surrounded by a mysterious woman in white that seems to have some past with Laura's new husband. Lots of mysterious circumstances and deception, this is a good read. If you enjoy classics, especially, give this one a try.