"The Bookseller of Kabul"

I've been reading through books like water this summer and I've read a lot of enjoyable books. The most recent book I've finished is "The Bookseller of Kabul" by Asne Seierstad. It's a non-fiction book written by a journalist who spent some time with a somewhat wealthy family in Afghanistan. It's about life there and how women aren't treated well and how this bookseller managed to sell books throughout the Taliban reign, even though most were banned. The author started out by thinking she was living with a special family in Kabul since they had more money than the others. It turns out that they were just like every other family, with the father being the patriarch of the family and ruling in every decision. I think the most shocking thing to learn was that girls are married off to whomever the father thinks is a good enough suitor, often not meeting the man she is to marry until the wedding day or engagement party. Often too, these men are much older than themselves and they might be the second or third wife of the man they are to marry. This really made me relish the free society I live in where I can choose the person I want to marry and that you aren't rushed into doing so. I highly recommend this book.

Next up: "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. Yes, I'm reading a book that is on the bestseller's list and I even bought it in hardcover, which I never do!