From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini

Start date: January 1, 2019

Finish date: January 31, 2019

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: Group Pick for Jan '19 - Modern Classic / Popular…more
[close] Group Pick for Jan '19 - Modern Classic / Popular

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 226 topics — 6,094 comments total

MODERN / POPULAR READS

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - *SPOILERS*
By spoko · 8 posts · 50 views

last updated Aug 26, 2025 11:57AM

The Alchemist — *SPOILERS*
By Joanna Loves … · 105 posts · 509 views

last updated Aug 25, 2025 02:19PM

showing 10 of 34 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Sep 21, 2012 Krista the Krazy Kataloguer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-iic, read-adult-fiction, 52-countries-in-2012, read-goodreads-authors, read-historical-fiction

What an outstanding writer Hosseini is! I couldn't put this book down once I began to read, and toward the end I slowed to a crawl reading because I didn't want it to end. It's not an easy story to read if you don't like images of violence, especially of war or directed toward women, but that's the reality of life in Afghanistan. Hosseini covers the last 25-30 years of Afghan history through the story of the lives of two women. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man and his houseke ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2008 Kim rated it really liked it

Hosseini is a born story teller. His characters have depth and his settings pull you in. But the story he has to tell in A Thousand Splendid Suns is not a happy one. Basically this is a story of what it has been like to be a woman in Afghanistan for the past 30 years. Although it ends on a hopeful note, there was very little happiness throughout the rest of the story. Women are living in squalid conditions in constant fear, not allowed to go outside without an escort, having to go to separate ho ...more

Like · see review

Feb 11, 2019 Chris C rated it liked it

Decent but brief explanation of Afghanistan's history but the fictional part of the story felt largely flat; struggled a bit to get through the rest of the book with the ever present violence but enjoyed the descriptions and interactions of unfamiliar geography. ...more

Like · see review

Mar 22, 2008 Mary Yuhas rated it did not like it

Shelves: book-club

Our thirteenth pick. Darcie, Kirsten, Susanne and I met at Panera on 4/9/08. (Kaitlyn's first meeting!)

I know this is not a popular opinion, but I really didn't like this book. I thought the characters were one-dimensional and the plot was sensational. Given the fact that the life experiences of so many women living in this region are so horrendous, I want to read books that lend some insight into WHY the culture has developed along these lines and what we as outsiders, as well as the people of ...more

Like · see review

Jan 22, 2008 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: five-star-reads

I could not put this book down. I bought it as soon as it came out on the strength of the Kite Runner and just tore through it. Then I recommended it to everyone that I know. You will cry, you will be mad, you will be touched and you will remember it.

Like · see review

Feb 18, 2014 Jen rated it really liked it

Beautiful, shocking, depressing and moving, an window into a part of Afghanistan's history. I thought it was interesting how much better women's lives were when the Soviets were there. I felt a bit ignorant, made me want to dig into history more. ...more

Like · see review