Happy Monday – Kindle/ Khaled Hosseini

Though the pages are numbered
I can’t see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no-one can read
In the book of my life…
Here is another Happy Monday post. My current obsession is ‘And the Mountains Echoed’.
I used to be that person who would say “I don’t have a kindle as I like holding a book”. But, like so many others, once I got a kindle, there was no going back. No more lugging heavy books around. No more losing my page. No more buying bookmarks. No more finishing my book without having another ready to be started.
And currently I am finding it hard to eat, as my hands are busy holding my kindle. I can’t believe I am wasting precious time typing when I could be clicking the pages further. I glance at the soup on the plate by my side, but actually my head is filled with images from Afghanistan. I am reading Khaled Hosseini’s new book ‘And the Mountains Echoed’.
I saw the poster in our local train station here in Berlin and almost ran home to download it. I read his other books in Japan. I remember getting influenza out there and my office made me stay inside my apartment for a week so I wouldn’t infect anyone. For those of you who don’t know, I had no internet in my apartment. I also had no computer. I was relying on the kindness of my friends to visit me and bring me food and soup. I felt like a prisoner. I remember the doorbell ringing, but when I opened there was no person there, just some kind soul who had left some ice cream, a cake or some soup.
I was also lucky to get a delivery of books. I read ‘The Kite Runner’, which is definitely one of the most beautiful books I have ever come across. Then, I dabbled into his next book ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’. Let’s just say, it was a good thing I was in solitary confinement. They are the type of books I consider to be ‘snot and tears’. The tears rolled and rolled and there was no happy ending. I actually felt my heart hurting by the end of it and it took my eyes and face two days to return to normal. I still get teary when I think about the book.
Currently, I’m not in hiding and I live with Mr Leather, so I am little worried this book might make my eyes puffy and my face not-so-cute, but there is something about the books that are magical. I know I have to read it.
This one is even more perfect than I was hoping. You are transported into the world of the people in the stories. You travel with them on their often heart-breaking stories from Afghanistan to Paris and back again. The writing is so emotive and full of flavour. I can taste the local food, smell the dust of the road, feel the losses of the characters.

He walked in the dark, his cane tapping before him, the night breeze stroking his face. […] He often sat there for for an hour or more, gazing up at the stars, the clouds floating past the moon. He thought about his long life and gave thanks for all the bounty and joy that he had been given. To want more, to wish for yet more, he knew, would be petty. He sighed happily, and listened to the wind sweeping down from the mountains…

I don’t want to give any details away, I just want you all to read it too. I haven’t quite finished it yet but I’m nearing the end and already I feel a sense of loss. I can’t wait for the next one.