And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini

On Monday, I started a new book on my commute to and from work. Surprisingly, I was quickly able to sink into the book, reading it from my iphone and ignore the rush, pushing and shoving moody commuters I share my journey with for over 2 hours a day.

And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini was read in just under a week. It was my plan to only read it during my commutes, but since starting this book on Monday morning, I soon realised that I couldn't put this book down and thus ended up reading it here and there over my weekend.

I've previously read 'The Kite Runner'- now made into a film and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' , many years ago which was the follow on and I've always loved the way that Hosseini is able to flick from first person to third person, effortlessly and enough to not confuse the reader. His books are beautiful descriptive and I love his depth, enough to allow me to visualise so easily the setting in which he writes.

And the Mountains Echoed

"So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one: Afghanistan, 1952.

Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters.

To Abdullah, Pari - as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy after which she was named - is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their heads touching, their limbs tangled.

One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand.

Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways in which we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us."

I don't know a whole lot when it comes to books and authors as I usually read books given to me as gifts, or which I spot every now and again, and buy. Usually, I'm drawn to those that people are reading on their commutes as to stand with a book open, reading, which probably means that it's too good to not read whilst you're sandwiched front to back with fellow commuters.

If you get chance to read this book, or if you pass by it in a bookstore, it's definitely worth a read. Definitely one to add to ruthay's reads.

'The Goose Girl' -Shannon Hale

This week I read 'The Goose Girl' by Shannon Hale.


'The Goose Girl is a fantasy novel by Shannon Hale based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale of the same title.'


(I had no idea about this!) I think if I had known, I could have possibly written more about her originality and the difference between the two.


'At the age of sixteen Crown Princess Ani is told she must leave everything she knows, to marry someone else she has never met. It will create a powerful alliance. But fate has much worse in store for her. Ani must use every ounce of cunning and determination to defend what is rightfully hers, from those who want to take it from her.'


The first thing that stuck me about this book was its beautiful detail. I read the synopsis on the back of the book and assumed it would be a little fairytale about a Princess who was not understood and oh my, has such a hard time being a Princess, but I was actually surprised. (I did make a note myself that I wouldn't give any of the vital bits in the story away and ruin it for anyone who wants to read it, so don't worry!) The detail that author, Shannon Hale goes into let me feel the bitterness of winter on the back of my neck. I could feel the sun on my hair and the wind on my neck, like it did with the character, Ani.


When I started reading the first chapter or two, I was actually put off by the names and I'm so glad they were shortened. Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee was Ani throughout but I was still left with, Falada, Terne, Conrad, Ungalod, Geric and not to mention the name of her own Kingdom-  Kildentree. Whilst all of that is nice, I couldn't help but skip and glaze over their names. I recognised them as I read them without actually reading them (if you know what I mean). I guess it's better than using normal boring names since this is a fictional story so I guess anything goes.


About half-way through I was wondering when some action was going to happen, as I read on and read on I was thinking that the pages towards the end of the book where getting shorter and shorter and I was wondering if the story would end how I wanted it to because there seemed little pages left for all the things that had yet to happen in the story. Luckily for me, the things I wanted to happen, did happen but all a bit too quickly for my liking. I expected it to be a bit more dragged out but before I knew it, the story was moving on and I felt a little disappointed that the story had moved on so fast.


Ani seems like she's so out of place with the royal family she shares her life with. Eventually, she finds where she belongs and although this book is fiction, there's a little under lying meaning of truth that perhaps anyone who is lost, will find themselves. It's a story of love, it's a story of loss.


I think anyone looking for an easy read would enjoy this book. The way it's written is beautiful and I literally couldn't put it down. I'm a fast reader so for me, the book ended all too quickly but I'd definitely read it again.