This is an interesting book. A book that may not fully engage the reader in an exploration of Afghanistan at war, but an interesting look at one large extended family in Afghanistan. I was really struck by the portrayal of the different women in this book – while life under the Taliban was unbelievably terrible, life for a woman in Afghanistan is still taking place in a patriarchal society, and so the womans life is primarily influenced by her husbands decisions. When the husband steals, the wife and children suffer the consequences. When the daughter falls in love, the decision on who she marries falls to the family, and usually does not take that love into consideration.

I finished this book on the patio of my apartment while drinking a beer. The woman I adore was sitting across from me, the night air was just beginning to turn cool, the firefly is dancing its last dance of the summer. I am unbelievably lucky.

320 pages
3.5/5

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second in Steig Larsson’s series of mystery thrillers. At risk of sounding like a foolish American, I had some trouble with the similar Swedish names in this one (but that’s my own weakness; when I see a name I can’t pronounce I just use the first letter of the last name as an identifier…and there were lots of “B” last names.) I was also a little disappointed that the story wasn’t standalone – while it wasn’t imperative that I read the 1st book to understand the 2nd, I am most definitely going to have to read the 3rd book for a conclusion. I liked the story overall, though, and can’t wait to see what happens next.

630 pages
3.5/5

This book is essentially the diary of a drug addict. Nikki Sixx (the founder/bass player from Motley Crue) took his diary and published it alongside recollections of people he was with during that time. It’s an insightful view of a trainwreck life.

Even though I found the book interesting, it was a pain in the ass to read because of the typeset.

432 pages
3.5/5

This is a quick and easy, sometimes humorous read. There are little tidbits on each page (my favorite is “don’t eat cereal that changes the color of the milk”) and a simple explanation for most of them. This book isn’t going to change my life (or yours), but I enjoyed reading it.

112 pages
3.5/5

Book #6: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer. My mom was so distraught by my reading of The Inheritance of Loss that she gave me this book to cheer myself up. A quick and easy read, the book consists entirely of letters between an author and her publishers, friends, and new acquaintances on the island of Guernsey. Quite an enjoyable, mostly lighthearted read (although, set in the aftermath of WWII, the book is not all laughs and chuckles). Made waiting in the doctors office for my dad a bit easier.

288 pages
3.5/5