firstimpressionsreviews's reviews
609 reviews

I love David Sedaris and his new book did not disappoint, and after getting it at Barnes and Noble I began reading it the next day.

My favorite story in the book is about David Sedaris buying a skeleton as a Christmas present for his boyfriend Hugh. He finds not one but two skeletons, an infant and an adult and describes himself contemplating which one to purchase, the infant would be easier to wrap just put it in a dresser drawer and tie a ribbon on it were as the full grown corpse would be more difficult, in the end he decides to go with the adult skeleton later regretting it when the corpse tells him he is going to die.

I know it probably sounds slightly disturbing but it's hysterical to read about him bartering over the price and debating how to wrap the decomposing gift. Maybe I just have a sick and twisted mind but I was crying I was laughing so hard.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is my favorite book by David Sedaris. My favorite story in this book and probably all of the other books he's written is The Perfect Apartment. David and his boyfriend Hugh, who live in Paris because they can smoke anywhere without being given the evil eye need to find a new apartment as their landlord plans on giving it to his daughter one day. They become very depressed after looking at "slums" in the area and realize that nothing is better than the apartment they already have. To lift their spirits the take a weekend trip to Amsterdam and David finds the perfect apartment, the Anne Frank Annex! He goes though the secret annex as a designer remodeling as he goes. My favorite line in the short story is "Remember that wall with the movie stars on it--gone!"

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years -- from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding -- that puts the violence, fear, hope and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives -- the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness -- are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

I picked this up at my most resent visit to the library and was excited that it wasn't checked out for once. As this was considered a "new release" at the library I could only check it out for a week and at first was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish it in time. Those thoughts where soon pushed out of my mind as I began reading A Thousand Splendid Suns as it warped me into Afghanistan and into the lives of Mariam and Laila.

As soon as I became engrossed in Mariam's story, which got me hooked on page one; I was transferred to Laila's journey. In Mariam's part I was spellbound and couldn't believe all the hardships Mariam faced; how much can one person handle? I was foolish enough to think that Laila would have a happy life with Tariq and was heartbroken when I learned that he was killed while trying to escape from the war. And was shocked when he returned toward the end of the book; at first I thought he might be a phony, but after learning that Rasheed had paid someone to lie about her love's death in order to trap her; I was relieved and happy that they would be able to be together after so many years of separation.

After Rasheed's death I thought it was very honorable that Mariam choose to risk her life, and take the blame for his "murder" in order for Laila, Tariq and her children to have a life together. The ending, with Laila revisiting Mariam's childhood home and walking through her past was a wonderful closing to A Thousand Splendid Suns, bringing closure to the characters and the reader.

Amazing read and became engrossed in this in well, nineteen minutes. I felt it had a surprise ending about what truly happened during those life changing minutes. Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who — if anyone — has the right to judge someone else? Jodi Picoult answers all this questions brilliantly, and is a must read.