review on Khaled Hosseini's 'A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS'

Mariam is only 15 when she is sent to Kabul to marry rasheed. nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, laila, as strong as the ties between a mother and a daughter. when the taliban take over , life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. this is one of the best books that i have read in my life. definitely a must read for everyone. khaled hosseini is the type of author who takes you on a ride that brings you excitement using such a language which rips your heart out. this book has that grip which never lets go its readers, making them reread and reread it again and again and again. khaled hosseini is a gifted story teller. here is the synopsis from his web....

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives—the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness—are inextricable from the history playing out around them.Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love—a stunning accomplishment

what are you guys and girls waiting for? go out today and get this book. ITS FREAKING GOOD.

Kim Edwards...... Memory Keeper's Daughter....

the novel begins with Norah Henry giving birth to twins, Paul and Phoebe. Paul is an healthy child, Phoebe on the other hand has down syndrome. Dr. David Henry, with the intention that Phoebe will die in a few months (and a few other reasons....), gives Phoebe to the nurse, caroline gill, to be taken to a home. the twist in the story is that Phoebe does not die and neither does she grow up in the home. the story moves along the lives of these 5 characters, Paul, Phoebe, David Henry, Norah Henry, and Caroline gill. the prose, writing style and originality, of Kim Edwards moves the novel a soothing way. it is extremely readable but there are a few typos towards the end of the novel. the language is beautiful (not up to preeta samarasan, though) . she is a very meticulous writer who expresses everything in her very exaggeratedly beautiful writing. every single detail, every single pin drop. its there. anyway, i would definitely recommend this book to tween and teenagers and moms and dads and guys and girls, well everyone, okay.
here's an excerpt from chapter 1. enjoy.

March 1964

The snow started to fall several hours before her labor began. A few flakes first, in the dull gray late-afternoon sky, and then wind-driven swirls and eddies around the edges of their wide front porch. He stood by her side at the window, watching sharp gusts of snow billow, then swirl and drift to the ground. All around the neighborhood, lights came on, and the naked branches of the trees turned white.

After dinner he built a fire, venturing out into the weather for wood he had piled against the garage the previous autumn. The air was bright and cold against his face, and the snow in the driveway was already halfway to his knees. He gathered logs, shaking off their soft white caps and carrying them inside. The kindling in the iron grate caught fire immediately, and he sat for at time on the hearth, cross-legged, adding logs and watching the flames leap, blue-edged and hypnotic. Outside, snow continued to fall quietly through the darkness, as bright and thick as static in the cones of light cast by the streetlights. By the time he rose and looked out the window, their car had become a soft white hill on the edge of the street. Already his footprints in the driveway had filled and disappeared.

He brushed ashes from his hands and sat on the sofa beside his wife, her feet propped on pillows, her swollen ankles crossed, a copy of Dr. Spock balanced on her belly. Absorbed, she licked her index finger absently each time she turned a page. Her hands were slender, her fingers short and sturdy, and she bit her bottom lip lightly, intently, as she read. Watching her, he felt a surge of love and wonder: that she was his wife, that their baby, due in just three weeks, would soon be born. Their first child, this would be. They had been married just a year.
She looked up, smiling, when he tucked the blanket around her legs.
“You know, I’ve been wondering what it’s like,” she said. “Before we’re born, I mean. It’s too bad we can’t remember.” She opened her robe and pulled up the sweater she wore underneath, revealing a belly as round and hard as a melon. She ran her hand across its smooth surface, firelight playing across her skin, casting reddish gold onto her hair. “Do you suppose it’s like being inside a great lantern? The book says light permeates my skin, that the baby can already see.”

“I don’t know,” he said.
She laughed. “Why not?” she asked. “You’re the doctor.”
“I’m just an orthopedic surgeon,” he reminded her. “I could tell you the ossification pattern for fetal bones, but that’s about it.”
He lifted her foot, both delicate and swollen inside the light blue sock, and began to massage it gently: the powerful tarsal bone of her heel, the metatarsals and the phalanges, hidden beneath skin and densely layered muscles like a fan about to open.

Copyright 2006 Kim Edwards

review on Nicholas Spark's 'AT FIRST SIGHT'

i know that i told you guys that this blog is only for my short stories but i then decided that i should post my reviews here too. anyways, lets get down to business.

this book by the author of the well-acclaimed books such as, A Walk To Remember, Message In A Bottle and many more love novels is extremely readable. in fact, this is one of the best love stories i have read in years. you can really connect with the characters. they are extremely real and true. Lexie Darnell and Jeremy marsh. these names will seem familiar to those of you who have read his True Believer. yes, this is kinda the continuation of that. not really sure, though. i have not read the True Believer. i am sure that it is awesome. what is so special about this book?

well, it speaks in the language of love (true love) unlike other lovey-dovey unrealistic love stories. while reading this book , i felt a sense of truthfulness in the writing. all Nicholas Sparks books are a joy to read. my rating for this book is * * * * * * (5 star). so what are you guys waiting for? go get the book and read it. its wonderful. (RM 21.90 POPULAR Bookstores Malaysia)

here's a very, very, very short summary i found on http://www.nicholassparks.com/ enjoy.

There are a few things Jeremy Marsh was sure he'd never do: he'd never
leave New York City; never give his heart away again after barely surviving one
failed marriage; and most of all, never become a parent. Now, Jeremy is living
in the tiny town of Boone Creek, North Carolina, married to Lexie Darnell, the
love of his life, and anticipating the birth of their daughter. But just as his
life seems to be settling into a blissful pattern, an unsettling and mysterious
message re-opens old wounds and sets off a chain of events that will forever
change the course of this young couple's marriage.

reasons.....

whats the reason for me to start a new blog? there are plenty really. this blog is only for the stories that my heart wants to tell. i post these stories here in confidence that no plagiarisms will occur. anyways, the stories here are quite undeveloped, actually. so guys and girls, do not try to be sneaky. always remember; whatever rewards that you gain will make you feel way much better if it is from your hard work. a plead to all publishers who 'may' feel that my stories are worth publishing, please , do contact me. so, here's the beginning to a journey that i am not quite sure where it intends take me to.