Some Recommendations

I asked Kristin, an on-line friend of mine who has earned her M.A. in a course of study in literature, to recommend her top ten favorite books. She replied,

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Back Roads by Tawni Odell

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Falling Man by Don Delillo

Mating by Norman Rush

Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks

Ishmael by Daneil Quinn

The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama

The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
--KHR--

Thanks, Kristin.
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If anyone is interested in any of these books, ask one of our librarians about them. Check to see if they are in our library's card catalog or if they can be borrowed through the Inter-Library loan system.
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Don't know what to read first; try The Kite Runner.

From Publishers Weekly Hosseini's stunning debut novel starts as an eloquent Afghan version of the American immigrant experience in the late 20th century, but betrayal and redemption come to the forefront when the narrator, a writer, returns to his ravaged homeland to rescue the son of his childhood friend after the boy's parents are shot during the Taliban takeover in the mid '90s. Amir, the son of a well-to-do Kabul merchant, is the first-person narrator, who marries, moves to California and becomes a successful novelist. But he remains haunted by a childhood incident in which he betrayed the trust of his best friend, a Hazara boy named Hassan, who receives a brutal beating from some local bullies. After establishing himself in America, Amir learns that the Taliban have murdered Hassan and his wife, raising questions about the fate of his son, Sohrab. Spurred on by childhood guilt, Amir makes the difficult journey to Kabul, only to learn the boy has been enslaved by a former childhood bully who has become a prominent Taliban official. The price Amir must pay to recover the boy is just one of several brilliant, startling plot twists that make this book memorable both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives. The character studies alone would make this a noteworthy debut, from the portrait of the sensitive, insecure Amir to the multilayered development of his father, Baba, whose sacrifices and scandalous behavior are fully revealed only when Amir returns to Afghanistan and learns the true nature of his relationship to Hassan. Add an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history and its ramifications in both America and the Middle East, and the result is a complete work of literature that succeeds in exploring the culture of a previously obscure nation that has become a pivot point in the global politics of the new millennium.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

The Kite Runner at Amazon
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The author has a second book out, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

From Booklist
Hosseini's follow-up (ATSS) to his best-selling debut, The Kite Runner (2003) views the plight of Afghanistan during the last half-century through the eyes of two women. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a maid and a businessman, who is given away in marriage at 15 to Rasheed, a man three times her age; their union is not a loving one. Laila is born to educated, liberal parents in Kabul the night the Communists take over Afghanistan. Adored by her father but neglected in favor of her older brothers by her mother, Laila finds her true love early on in Tariq, a thoughtful, chivalrous boy who lost a leg in an explosion. But when tensions between the Communists and the mujahideen make the city unsafe, Tariq and his family flee to Pakistan. A devastating tragedy brings Laila to the house of Rasheed and Mariam, where she is forced to make a horrific choice to secure her future. At the heart of the novel is the bond between Mariam and Laila, two very different women brought together by dire circumstances. Unimaginably tragic, Hosseini's magnificent second novel is a sad and beautiful testament to both Afghani suffering and strength. Readers who lost themselves in The Kite Runner will not want to miss this unforgettable follow-up. Kristine HuntleyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the edition.

Khaled_Hosseini at Wikipedia
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Books/Reading Quotations Korner

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.
Oscar Wilde

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.
Benjamin Franklin

Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.
Mary Schmich

But really, it was reading that led me to writing. And in particular, reading the American classics like Twain who taught me at an early age that ordinary lives of ordinary people can be made into high art.
Russell Banks

Brainyquote.com