My Favorite Book

Reading books is one of my favorite things to do. I love to read and I do it any chance that I get. I have so many "favorite books" it is hard to pick just one. If I had to pick one of my favorite books it would be A Thousand Splendid Suns. This book was written by Khaled Hosseini, the same author of The Kite Runner which is also another of my favorite books. A Thousand Splendid Suns is his second book. This book is about two Afghani women, Mariam and Leila and how their lives intersect in the most unpredictable way. At first both lead a somewhat happy, comfortable life, but both their lives are turned upside down by heartwrenching events. Mariam's mother commits suicide, and afterwards she is sent to live with her father, who had kept her hidden for years, because she was his illegitamite child. Mariam is soon forced to marry a much older man, Rasheed, who becomes abusive after she can not have children. In the meantime, Leila is a much younger, beautiful, educated young woman who is enjoying her life. She had just fallen in love with her childhood friend, Tariq. As she is moving with her family because of the beginnings of war in Afghanistan, a bomb explodes on her home, killing her parents and destroying her life forever. Believing that Tariq has also died on the way out of the country, she is forced to marry Rasheed as her only means of survival, especially since she is already pregnant with Tariq's child. Leila and Mariam slowly begin a friendship over the years. Leila eventually finds out that Tariq was actually alilve and Rasheed kept this a secret from her. One day, when Rasheed becomes especially abusive, and becomes a deadly threat to them all, Mariams kills him with a shovel. Mariam confesses to killing Rasheed, so she can divert attention from Laila and her children, and she is executed.  Leila escapes with her children and finds Tariq, and soon they are married. 

This is one of my favorite books, because it shows the lenghts that people would go to to save their loved ones. Maria loved Leila and her children so much, that she even sacrificed her life for them, knowing that it was what she was meant to do. And in turn, Leila honored her memory by naming her third child after her. This book is inspiring. It shows no matter how terrible, terrifying, or hopless a situation may be, if only you have the faith and the strength to go on you can overcome anything.