A Thousand Splendid Suns

Want to be cheered up? Feeling down? Don't read A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini's follow up to The Kite Runner.

Hosseini again transports us to Afghanistan, where two women with different backgrounds, both of their lives laced with tragedy, find themselves sharing a household, a husband. The story of each of their lives has heartbreak so deeply woven into the fabric of their beings it is hard to expect anything good.

This novel certainly opens one's eyes to other worlds, where violence is not a surprise but rather a surprise when it doesn't touch you or your loved ones. It isn't always easy to turn the pages and often you don't want to discover what is on the next page, but the strength of the human spirit in the face of suffering is inspiring. Love will take us places we never thought possible, and this book shows us what life looks like with and without love. An interesting read, and a book that will broaden one's horizons, but have some Calvin & Hobbes available afterward!