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Search Results for: khaled hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, a 5-Star Read

May 16, 2013 by Jennifer

andthemountainsechoedLast month I did a reread of The Kite Runner (linked to my review) in anticipation of the review copy of Khaled Hosseini’s new novel And the Mountains Echoed  that I knew was on its way. I was pretty much wowed all over again, but let me tell you that if you are worried about his latest novel living up to his first or to A Thousand Splendid Suns — don’t. I think that his latest novel is the best of the three. It combines the great plot of The Kite Runner with the emotional character development of A Thousand Splendid Suns.

The story opens in the fall of 1952 in Afghanistan with Baba telling his children Pari and Abdullah a story before a big trip. The reader isn’t exactly sure what’s happening or why, but the tension is clear. They visit the Wahdati’s, the rich family for whom their Uncle Nabi works as a driver. In these chapters the foundation is set of this story of family, both immediate and extended.

And the Mountains Echoed is a complex story with a large cast of characters, covering about 50 years in time and spanning the globe from Afghanistan to Paris to Greece to California. I’ll admit that it took some time for me to get used to the switches from character to character at first. But Hosseini is a masterful storyteller, and though I was saddened to leave one character behind when the story shifted, I quickly became engrossed in the life of the next character. Once the connections became apparent between the characters, I was racing through the pages, equally interested in the outcome of all of them.

My plot synopsis is lacking. Partly because it’s just not about the story. It’s about the characters and the beautiful writing. It’s also the kind of story that I enjoyed not knowing anything at all about it, just letting it unfold as I read it. I invite you not to seek out plot descriptions and to do the same.

I’ve added this book to our 5-Star Reads. Highly, highly recommended.

Filed Under: 5 Star Reads, Fiction, Jennifer, Literary

My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive

September 13, 2016 by Jennifer

my-underground-american-dream

Immigration is a hot topic right now, specifically Mexican immigration. I live in Texas, so it should be a topic in which I’ve taken an interest or about which I have a strong opinion, but I really don’t.

I know Mexican Americans. Some work for me, some are my friends, some are neighbors, and some are my children’s classmates. Are they documented? “Legal”? I assume so, but I don’t really know or care.

I’ve always enjoyed a good immigrant story — the idea of pursuing a dream or bravely escaping tyranny or starting over — like those told in novel from by Nadia Hashimi or Khaled Hosseini or Jhumpa Lahiri. These are about families or adults who begin again in a new country. I haven’t really given the children much thought, as far as it possibility being a hardship for them.

But Julissa Arce shared her perspective, and it made me think. She was brought to live with her parents who had been working in the U.S. (legally), and stayed. Her Visa expired, and all of sudden she was illegal. In reading her story, I began to understand and think differently about the situation.

Julissa was a good student. She helped her family in their sales business on weekends, and juggled school work, and friends and stayed on top. When the opportunity came for her to attend college, she could not make it happen. She couldn’t afford to pay the tuition, and without a social security number, she couldn’t apply for aid, and many of the colleges did not even consider her application.

I’ve heard of the DREAM act, which offers the opportunity of college to children who have been attending school here in the U.S., regardless of legal status. I’ve also heard the debate or criticism of the policy of allowing “illegals” to enroll in our public schools.

This was a highly readable memoir, covering much more than her struggles with her legal status. She shares about many interesting facets of her life including the ups and downs of dating in one’s 20s, the high pressure environment of Wall Street brokerage firms, succeeding as a woman and a minority, dealing with unexplained health programs, alcohol abuse and exploring the role of faith in all of it.

Most importantly, I learned how difficult it was for her to the things we all take for granted — live, work, attend college, have authentic relationships. I enjoyed this book a lot and am so glad I read it.

Filed Under: Christian, Jennifer, Memoir, Non-Fiction

When the Moon is Low

April 28, 2016 by Jennifer

When the Moon is Low

5M4B disclosure

I have always enjoyed fiction written by immigrants or featuring the immigrant experience. I, of course, have read Khaled Hosseini’s evocative fiction about life in Afghanistan (Check out my reviews of  And The Mountains Echoed and The Kite Runner), but for some reason the reality of the abrupt change under Taliban rule in the 90’s — a decade in which I was a functioning adult — never quite sunk in. Perhaps it sunk in more this time, because I read this story of a mother trying to protect her family from the Taliban as a mother myself, fully aware of the dangers her own tween and teen children face in the world.

When the Moon is Low is now out in paperback. You can also read Elizabeth’s 5 Star review of it from it’s original hardcover release.

I enjoyed this book. The book is told from two points of view: Fereiba’s and her son Saleem. The story begins when Fereiba is a teenager. Her mother died when she was born, which distanced her father from her. Her stepmother treats her differently than the children she birthed herself. When it comes time to marry off her daughters, Fereiba gets the short shift. She eventually finds love and the happiness of teaching school and raising a family — at least until the Taliban stops education for girls and forces women like Fereiba to trade in their modern clothes for full cover.

When Fereiba’s husband is murdered, she knows that she had to get her family out of the country. Her sister has managed to settle in England, so that’s the goal. With her teen son, tween daughter and baby son in tow, she manages the hard work of escape.

As I said earlier, the stories of these characters hit home to me and the horror of what refugees truly have to endure was made real. Saleem had to grow up much to fast. Fereiba had to make difficult choices for herself and her family.

From Afghanistan to Iran to Turkey to Greece and beyond, the story of this family will stick with you long after you finish the last page.

Filed Under: Fiction, Jennifer

The Color of Our Sky

September 5, 2015 by Jennifer

the color of our sky

5M4B disclosure

If you’re a fan of Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) or Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake), you will enjoy The Color of Our Sky as well. The story of the hardships and differences in culture in a country such as India, blended with the immigrant experience in America is a favorite fictional theme for me.

Tara’s father is always trying to help those who are less fortunate than he. One day in 1986, he brings home a girl, Mukta, about the same age as Tara. She lives with the family for seven years until she is kidnapped one night. She was born into a family of temple prostitutes, and it was from that fate that Tara’s father was saving her. After the violent death of Tara’s mother and Mukta’s disappearance, he decides they need a change and moves to America.

Eleven years later, he hangs himself. When Tara is going through his files, she finds evidence that he’s been using a private investigator to search for her for all these years, even though he had told Tara she was dead. Tara has not found professional or personal success or fulfillment, and decides to return to India to try to answer some of the questions.

The story is told through flashbacks to India and the early years in America, Tara’s current experience in India, as well as Mukta’s past and present. It is well written and the pacing is wonderful, so it is not at all confusing.

I enjoy novels with a rich setting. Amita Trasi’s novel has this and interesting well-developed characters on top of it. There’s even some mystery with the search for Mukta, which tied the whole story together. It was readable and enjoyable. If you judge a book by its cover, this beautiful cover will draw you in, and the words within the covers will not disappoint.

There is a reading guide on the author’s website to enhance your enjoyment or as an accompaniment to a book club discussion.

At the time of this writing the kindle version is only $2.99.

Filed Under: Fiction, Jennifer

The Kite Runner, 10th Anniversary

March 20, 2013 by Jennifer

kiterunnerThe Kite Runner is probably on my all-time top 10 list of favorite or most memorable books. Before reading it, I, of course, had heard how wonderful it was, but it didn’t sound like something I wanted to read to take my mind off of my busy life as a stay-at-home mom of two young children.

In the summer of 2005, I finally purchased it and took it with me on our beach vacation. I knew it wasn’t exactly light beach-reading fare, but vacations are when I was typically able to get in a lot of reading, and I wanted to read something good, so into my beach bag it went.

Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. I was drawn into Hassan’s and Amir’s world: young men growing up in Afghanistan in the late 70’s. It’s a novel of friendship and love, of insecurity and submission, fighting for one’s place and shying away from what is right. It’s a novel about regret and restoration.

Since it’s been many years and even more books since I read it, I didn’t remember the details, which made it an interesting experience. I remembered a couple of the basic plot points, but there were so many that had completely slipped my mind, for which I was grateful. I remembered being especially touched by the move to America and their time there but had forgotten much of what happened beforehand and after.

I loved the comfort of re-reading, for it is a comfort, but it was a perfect combination of the familiar and rediscovering many things as if for the first time.

andthemountainsechoedWe are hosting this giveaway of The Kite Runner, 10th anniversary edition sponsored by the publisher to help spread the word about Khaled Hosseini’s new book And the Mountains Echoed which comes out May 21. I can’t wait!

If you’d like to win a copy of The Kite Runner, just leave a comment here. Tell me if this will be your first time to read it or if like me, you want to re-read it. We’ll announce the winner in our book review giveaway column on April 3.  The giveaway is closed.

  • The winner of Jacqueline Winspear Maisie Dobbs giveaway is #5 Diane.
  • The winner of The Girls’ Guide to Love and Supper Clubs is #4 Pearl.

Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.

Filed Under: Fiction, Jennifer, Literary

On Reading: The Sound of a Good Book

March 21, 2010 by Nancy

I’m not talking about the lovely noise made by riffling through a paperback, or the sound when you snap a good book shut after completing it (this is much more effective with a hardcover than a paperback!). No, I’m talking about audio books. 5 few years ago I decided to try audio books during my then commute, which was about 30 minutes each way. Since then I’ve listened to an average of 2 books per month. I was worried that my shortened commute after we moved would highly impact the amount of books I could listen to, but my Blackberry changed that.

The first book I ever listened to was Jane Eyre, selected by browsing the small selection of books available on CD – back then most books were on tape. Then I started to make my way through Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books. I learned some narrators are better than others – I remember being annoyed at the way the reader of the Plum books would pause between sentences, or the way she pronounced Trenton – making it obvious she was not from New Jersey (the proper pronunciation is more like “tre-en” – hard to describe in print. Basically you kind of skip over the “nt”. Anyone who says Tren-ton is not from New Jersey). I started to request books on CD through the library system, often listening to a book simply because it was available on audio.

I like to listen to series, or books by the same author, or even by the same reader. If I listen to the first book by a new author, I tend to listen to others by that same author. On occasion I’ve found a narrator I recognize – Alice in Wonderland is read by the same person who read em>Outlander, which I read 2 years ago, yet I recognized her voice. When I listened to Rebecca Wells’s most recent book, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder, I found I remembered the reader’s voice from Ya-Yas in Bloom, which I read back in 2005. Often an author’s books have the same narrator – Jonathan Safran Foer, for example, has used the same person for all of his books. This is more
common with a series but also happens with books that are unrelated. Anne of Green Gables, the Chronicles of Narnia, all of the Stephanie Plum books – all of these I listened to on audio. The Anne books have been recorded several times so I make sure I listen to the same narrator each time. When I’ve listened to one book in a series and then read the printed copy of another, I’ve found I heard the voice of the reader in my head.

Sometimes a book is even read by the author, though this seems to be more common with memoirs. David Sedaris reads his own books and hearing the stories in his voice really makes them come to life. His books also include live readings of some of the stories and hearing the audience’s reactions is so much fun. I have read a few fiction novels narrated by the author though – Khaled Hosseini narrated The Kite Runner, and Neil Gaiman read The Graveyard Book.

Even more fun is when a famous actor is the narrator. The Narnia books were read by well-known Brits – Patrick Stewart and Kenneth Branagh among them. Cell, by Stephen King, was read by Campbell Scott. The version of The Great Gatsby I listened to was read by Tim Robbins. And then there are the books read by a whole cast – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society had 5 different narrators. Stories told by more than one character often have multiple readers, one for each character. This makes the book feel more like a production rather than just a guy with a mic, reading a
book. I like when a foreign book is read by someone from that country – The Kite Runner wouldn’t have been the same if read by a New Yorker.

Listening to audio books has actually improved my language skills – I’ve found that words I’ve only seen in print are pronounced differently from what I say in my head. On occasion I’ve both listened to a book and read the print version – I did this with The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier, which I read for my library book group. I would listen in the car, then pick up where I left off in the book. There were a lot of words I wasn’t familiar with and it was nice to both hear them read aloud and to see them in print. Of course I often get things wrong, especially character names. Once I even found the print copy of a book I was listening to so I could see the names written out.

Listening to a book does have disadvantages. Drawings obviously are a big one that’s missed – I wouldn’t want to listen to a book like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, as there are drawings and pictures that are part of the story. Or The Book Thief, where a whole section is written in graphic novel format – how would that translate to audio? And then there’s the fact that it takes a lot longer to get through a book when someone else is reading it. You can’t just skip over parts. But you also can’t skip to the end, so it adds an air of accountability if you just can’t help yourself. But
one book where this got frustrating was Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella. If you’ve read any of the Shopaholic books you know that there are letters throughout the book, usually to the main character from her bank, and vice versa. Which meant every time the narrator came to a letter, she read the entire heading – name, date, address. The kinds of things you would normally skim, if not skip entirely, when reading the book.

5 years ago, I chose books on CD off the shelf, which was slim pickings at the time, or requested them through the library system.

Over time the library’s selection grew and started to include Playaways, portable devices that require headphones or an aux jack. The Playaways weren’t my favorite since you had no idea how far you
were into a book. When NetLibrary was launched I downloaded a few books, but at the time they couldn’t be played on an iPod, and I found I couldn’t really listen to a book on the computer – if I tried to
listen while working I’d either not get much work done, or lose my place in the book. Carrying a laptop around with me wasn’t really an appealing idea.

So until recently I only listened to books in the car. But when I got my new Blackberry Storm a few months ago, one of the first things I did was figure out how to listen to books on it. I finally found an app that would do what I wanted. Podtrapper shows how far along in the book I am (it shows both the time passed and time to go, the total length of the book and the percentage listened), lets me rewind or fast forward, and saves my place when the Blackberry is rebooted or if I switch to another book. Well worth the $10 as you’d be surprised how important these features are. The one negative, of course, is I can’t play protected WMA files, which is how NetLibrary stores most of its books. So I’m limited to the few MP3s that are available. But my library’s selection of books on NetLibrary is supposed to be largely increasing in March and I’ll be looking forward to seeing what I can get.

In addition to filling the time while I’m driving to and from work, audio books have allowed me to read a whole lot more books. Since Jane Eyre back in 2005, I’ve listened to 84 books on CD, Playaway or Blackberry. Except for a 6 month break in 2007, which I don’t really remember why I didn’t listen to any books then, although some of that time was maternity leave after having my youngest son, I’ve listened to one book after another. In 2008, I read a total of 39 books – 19 of those were on audio. Half the books I read were consumed by my ears instead of my eyes.

If you haven’t listened to audio books yet, give it a try. You just might grow to love it as much as I do.


Nancy Talan recently moved her family from New Jersey to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. She blogs about adjusting to life at 5,000 feet, her two boys and her love of books at Life With My Boys.

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Nancy, On Reading

On Reading: Reading Transforms

March 7, 2010 by Guest Contributor

After I closed A Thousand Splendid Suns, I sat speechless, trying to come to terms with what I’d just read. “This is the reason books exist,” I realized.

By turns, this story of two women living against the backdrop of the last 40 years of Afghanistan’s turbulent history horrified me, inspired me, informed me, and broke my heart. In a few spots, I felt physically sick with tension. Once, around 100 pages short of the conclusion, I gave in and read the last page. A few times, I wept. Khaled Hosseini knows how to tell a story, and this one is worth every second of the pain that it brings.

The plight of Mariam and Laila parallels the plight of Afghanistan itself. Both women have a unique beauty and value that’s either missed entirely, or brutally mistreated, by the men on whom they’re forced to depend. In the same way, Afghanistan is taken by force and dominated by political and military entities indifferent to its culture. Just as the women are slowly whittled down, the country’s infrastructure, economy, agriculture, and artistic traditions crumble with each successive occupation.

It’s not a scenario that inspires cheerfulness, as Mariam realizes:

Seasons had come and gone; presidents in Kabul had been inaugurated and murdered; an empire had been defeated; old wars had ended and new ones had broken out. But Mariam had hardly noticed, hardly cared. She had passed these years in a distant corner of her mind. A dry, barren field, out beyond wish and lament, beyond dream and disillusionment. There, the future did not matter. And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion.

It sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? Yet the story, which begins in a garden setting that evokes Eden and descends into a chaotic and war-torn Kabul, ends on a note of hope for Afghanistan and for Laila. Mariam, despite the desolate frame of mind reflected in this passage, arguably becomes the most courageous and resilient character of all.

The personal connection to Afghanistan I’ve felt since reading The Kite Runner was renewed in this book. I’ve waited to read A Thousand Splendid Suns till I felt ready. Once I opened it, I couldn’t put it down. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. But be ready.

Reading it isn’t an exercise in entertainment, but in transformation.

Janet is a wife and mother who blogs about homeschooling, books and poetry, and life in general at Across the Page.

Filed Under: Fiction, Guest Contributor, Literary, On Reading

5 Star Reads

If we post a review of a book here at 5 Minutes for Books, it means that we think that someone out there would like it. It may not have been our favorite book, but it was worth our time to read and review, and we hope someone likes it. We wanted to distinguish our “must reads,” and so we’ve given them the special 5 Star Reads designation.

Reviewed in 2015:

Fiction:

The Precious One by Marisa de los Santos
Things Half in Shadow by Alan Finn
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Non-Fiction and Memoir:

It Was Me All Along by Andie Mitchell

Reviewed in 2014:

Fiction:

Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy
The Art of Arranging Flowers by Lynne Branard
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness
Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
One Plus One by JoJo Moyes
The Vacationers by Emma Straub
The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

Non-Fiction and Memoir:

The Underground Girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg
Soul Keeping by John Ortberg
God is Just Not Fair: Finding Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense by Jennifer Rothschild
Drama High by Michael Sokolove

Children and Young Adult

Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell

Reviewed in 2013:

Fiction:

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg
Courting Greta by Ramsey Hootman
A Guide for the Perplexed by Dara Horn
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila
Truth in Advertising by John Kenney
The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg
The Experts by Chris Pavone
Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

Non-Fiction and Memoir:

Etched in Sand by Regina Calcaterra
We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook by Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph
I am a Church Member by Thom S. Rainer

Children and Young Adult

Beyond the Paw Paw Trees by Palmer Brown
Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Bedtime Math by Laura Overdeck
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Paperboy by Vince Vawter

Reviewed in 2012:

Fiction:

Astray by Emma Donoghue
Falling Together by Marisa De Los Santos
All That I Am by Anna Funder
I, Iago by Nicole Galland
Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
11/22/63 by Stephen King
The Dragon Keeper by Minda Mejia
The Starlite Drive-in by Marjorie Reynolds
The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe

Non-Fiction and Memoir:

Stasiland by Anna Funder
I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag by Jennifer Gilbert
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Queen: A Life in Brief by Robert Lacey
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Children and Young Adult

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans
Prophet by R. J. Larson
Life with Lily by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher

Reviewed in 2011:

Fiction:

The Fates will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
The Long Song by Andrea Levy
Night Road by Kristin Hannah
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
Q: A Novel by Evan Mandery

Non-Fiction and Memoir:

5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Son by Vicki Courtney
Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein
Stasiland by Anna Funder
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Where You Left Me by Jennifer Gardner Trulson
The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure

Children and Young Adult:

Amazing Cows by Sandra Boynton
Blackout by John Rocco
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
My Name Is Not Alexander by Jennifer Fosberry
Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf by Olivia Bouler
Press Here by Herve Tullet
Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party by Melanie Watt
Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Reviewed in 2010:

Fiction:

Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace
Finny by Justin Kramon
Secret Daughter by Shilpa Somaya Gowda
Small Wars by Sadie Jones
So Much For That by Lionel Shriver
The Stuff that Never Happened by Maddie Dawson
Vanishing by Deborah Willis

Non-Fiction and Memoir:

Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eric Metaxes
Brave Girl Eating by Harriet Brown
The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Every Natural Fact by Amy Lou Jenkins
The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore
I Will Carry You by Angie Smith
Little Girls Can Be Mean by Drs. Anthony and Lindert
Radical Homemakers by Shannon Hayes
Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart
This is Not the Story You Think it Is by Laura Munson
The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy
We’ve Got Issues by Judith Warner

Children and Young Adult

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
Betsy Red Hoodie by Gail Carson Levine
D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet by Nancy Sanders
The Frog Scientist by Pamela Turner
Guys Read: Funny Business edited by Jon Scieszka
How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart
I Didn’t Do It! by Patricia MacLachlan
Jack Blank and the Imagine Nation by Matt Myklusch
The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl
Scarecrow Pete by Mark Kimball Moulton
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
The Tighty Whitey Spider Poems by Kenn Nesbitt
Up We Grow: A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm by Deborah Hodge
Written in Bone by Sally Walker

5 Star Reads, reviewed prior to 2010:

Fiction:

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
After You by Julie Buxbaum
Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger
Hannah’s Dream by Diane Hammond
The Rook by Steven James
Stealing with Style by Emyl Jenkins
Small Wars by Sadie Jones
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon
The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Memoir and Biography:

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
My Prison, My Home by Haleh Esfandiari
Boy Alone by Karl Taro Greenfeld
Clara’s War by Clara Kramer
Coop by Michael Perry
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepherd
How to Be Like Walt by Pat Williams
Dough by Mort Zachter

Nonfiction:

Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merriman
On the Go Devotional: Contentment by Lydia Brownback
The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
Finding An Unseen God by Alicia Britt Chole
5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter by Vicki Courtney
Stubborn Twig, by Lauren Kessler
The Uncommon Woman: Making an Ordinary Life Extraordinary by Susie Larson
Free-Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy
The Grand Weaver, by Ravi Zacharias

Children’s Books — ages 0 – 3, 3 – 6, 6 – 9:

My Name Is Not Isabella by Jennifer Fosberry
The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller
Tiana’s Cookbook: Recipes for Kids edited by Cindy Littlefield
Eye Like and Incredible Books by Play Bac Publishing
Little Hoot and Little Pea, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon

Children’s Books — ages 9 – 12:

Savvy by Ingrid Law
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, by Trenton Lee Stewart

Books for Tweens and Teens:

The Hunger Games & Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Much Ado About Anne by Heather Vogel Frederick
Meet the Austins by Madeleine L’Engle
Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell
The Strictest School in the World series by Howard Whitehouse
The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Books on Screen: The Kite Runner

March 19, 2009 by Jennifer

Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner is such a beautiful story. I read the book a year and a half ago, which sets me up perfectly to enjoy an on-screen adaptation of the book (My recipe for success in this area? Read book. Love book so much that I want more. Let time pass — at least a year — so that the details of the book have softened in my mind. Watch movie.). For more details about the story if you are unfamiliar with it, please read my review of the book.

I didn’t rush to watch the movie for the same reason I hesitated to read the book — it’s a tough story dealing with the pain of regret. But once I started reading the book, I was drawn in by the beautiful language and heart-felt story.

In a similar way, the film is so visually appealing that it drew me in right away. Watching the movie — already knowing the story from the novel — gave it an even greater effect. The weight of Amir’s bad choices just hang in the air, since I know what’s going to happen. However, seeing it play out on screen, I had a slightly different reaction. Hassan’s loyalty seems more real and less of an archetype. Amir’s youth and insecurity is more readily understood. As time passes, watching Amir’s persistence and sacrifice to right his past wrongs gave me the same emotional reaction that the story of redemption in the book evoked.

If you’ve avoided this story because of its difficult content, I recommend this movie to you. You’ll get a taste of the story, but in a two-hour chunk with an uplifting ending, as opposed to having to invest in reading 400 pages — 400 beautifully written pages — but nonetheless. . . . On that note, I have to say that you will be reading a fair bit if you watch the movie. Most of it is subtitled, and this surprised me, even though I knew that the majority of it took place in Afghanistan.

It is not a story without hope. As the movie highlights “There is a way to be good again.” The movie’s ending is a bit happier than the book’s, not because anything material is changed, but because some of the details are left out. Some of you will like that.

Watching the movie has made me want to read the book again, and I’m sure that I will at some point, but for now, I think it’s encouraged me to finally read A Thousand Splendid Suns (I stated this same intent in my book review over a year and a half ago, but I kept delaying, and as always happens, other books got in the way, but will you believe me now if I say I really, really plan to read it?). Khalid Hosseini is a beautiful storyteller.

In honor of the release of this movie (rated PG-13) in Blu-Ray format, I have one Kite Runner Blu-Ray DVD to give away (U.S. or Canadian shipping addresses).

It truly is a beautiful movie — the type that plays out wonderfully in high-definition format. There are also some great special features, including interviews with the director and the author of the book, which I enjoyed. Khaled Hosseini is even featured in the commentary on the movie (that I haven’t watched yet), which shows his active role in adapting his book to the screen.

He’s pleased with the movie. Yes, there is a lot cut out, but there are no significant changes, so even book purists will probably be pleased with this movie.

Just leave a comment if you’d like to win, and I’ll announce the winner on April 1.

In addition to books, managing editor Jennifer Donovan, loves a good story as told via a movie or TV series, which she most often enjoys on DVD. She blogs at Snapshot about life with her tween daughter and preschool son.

Filed Under: Books on Screen, Fiction, Jennifer, Literary

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