And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini is a brilliant storyteller and in the “And the Mountains Echoed”, he does not disappoint.  The book which spans several generations and 3 continents, follows Pari’s journey through a life that is defined by a decision her father took when she was a very young child. The book’s theme is about choices and the far reaching consequences they have on the future as well as the propensity they have to influence the generations to come. 

On the first page, the first sentence reads, ”So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one” and the stage for Pari's story is set.   As Pari and her brother, Abdullah travel with their father from a small village in Afghanistan and across the desert to Kabul, they are oblivious to the underlying forces that will shape their destiny and ultimately seal their fate. 

However, towards the middle (about half way through the book), it all gets very confusing. As new characters are introduced, it is unclear who they are and what their connection, if any, is to the main characters and to the story. There are also a couple of shock factors thrown in that don’t quite work with the story line and could have just as easily been left out.

In the latter part of the book, the clarity is back and the story sprints towards an awesome ending as the main characters, Pari and Abdullah, take centre stage once again…58 years later.

I was particularly impressed with Hosseini’s compassion and caring when writing about Abdullah’s mental illness. It is a condition that many of us with aging parents and /or grandparents are familiar with; I recognised and related to the anguish and sorrow felt by Abdullah’s daughter, also called Pari, as she came to terms and dealt with her father’s condition. 

I loved “The Kite Runner” and while “And The Mountains Echoed” is not as captivating, it is still a very good book. 

My rating for And The Mountains Echoed  - 4

Hush by Eishes Chayil

Although this book was published in September 2010, I only read it very recently. Incidentally, this is the point of Chatter On Books, it’s all about books, and what matters is that they are read not when they were published. Hush is definitely one of the top 5 books I read in 2013. 

 

The story takes place in the closed Hasidic community of Borough Park, New York and is told from the viewpoint of Gittel and the catalytic decade 1999 – 2010 that defined her life.

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

Unfortunately, The Husband’s Secret is one of those books that make it to the top 10 and therefore it’s automatically assumed that it’s an excellent read... when it’s not. 

It took me a long time to finish this book; reading a chapter or two then putting it down and going back a day or so later. Not a good sign !

The premise of the book is clever -a wife accidentally finds a letter from her husband that is to be opened only upon his death - but the story meanders and rambles on and on. Since the husband is still alive, the wife vacillates on whether to read the letter and she does this over a ridiculous number of pages. ‘Enough already’, the lengthy build up is unnecessary - it is a given that she will read the letter. You just find yourself wishing it was sooner, rather than later.

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez

The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul had previously been published under the title A Cup of Friendship. The Little Coffee Shop was the first book I read by Deborah Rodriguez. It claims that it is fiction, and probably so, as some of the stories seem a bit unrealistic. But then truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.  

The book is set in modern day Kabul, in a coffee shop run by an American woman called Sunny, who is dating some kind of secret agent (the handsome kind named Jack) who keeps mysteriously disappearing on dangerous missions. Sunny spends her time rescuing Afghan women who are in perilous situations, driving her broken down Mercedes through the local markets and organising Christmas, complete with tree, lights, gifts and American style Christmas dinner at her coffee shop. 

Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

Sunday 17^th November 2013

Number of times almost gave up reading the book 3, number of times questioned why Helen Fielding thought it was necessary to write this book 50, déjà vus’ from Bridget Jones Diary 3680, time lost reading this book 600 minutes, chances of Bridget Jones surviving another sequel 0. 

 

The best thing about this book is that poor Mark Darcy is dead. 

He would have been horrified to see that Bridget had morphed into a cross between Edina Monsoon (Absolutely Fabulous) and Katie Price (after Peter Andre). 

He probably would have divorced her within 5 years and ran off to parts unknown with the kids; while Bridget spends her time gaining and losing weight, drinking and smoking too much and too little, dating and being dumped by toy boys. Not to mention, she would be constantly stalking Mark and the kids through twitter and other forms of social media.