Books Lately

Since I was travelling pretty much constantly this past month, I've done quite a bit of reading lately. If you click around up in my navigation bar, you might have noticed that I have set myself the task of reading 100 books in 2013. Unfortunately despite my best efforts this last little while, with less than 4 months to go, I am still 49 books short.

So I thought I'd take a brief moment to share some books I just finished, and some of the ones I'd like to tackle next.

 Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns". Because whenever I fly, I pick up an airport book or two. I find that for the most part, books you buy at airports are always a good read, and these two are no exceptions. While the Kite Runner depicts the friendship between two boys from different social classes growing up in Afghanistan, A Thousand Splendid Suns focuses on the hardships faced by Afghan women. Both books provide the reader with an inside view of daily life over the past 30 years in country exposed to the Western World often only through news media. More importantly however, both books offer a truly moving glimpse on the depth of human emotion,  commitment and endurance, as the characters try to find a place of happiness amid truly unimaginable cruelty.

Which brings me to the next couple books I'm eager to read.

Khaled Hossieni's most recent work "And the Mountains Echoed", although I'm debating whether I want to pick up the hard cover or go with a digital copy for now. And Shilpi Somaya Gowda's "Secret Daughter", which I have had on my bookshelf here in Calgary for two years now but haven't read yet.

And finally, two books that I am constantly picking up, and almost buying every time I'm in Chapters, both with a common theme. Chris Bohjalian's "Midwives" and Ami McKay's "The Birth House". I have to say I have something of a fascination with the idea of midwifery and so both of these books should be enjoyable reads for me.

What books are on your fall reading lists?