WORD would like to welcome our new Associate Editor, Alicia Zadrozny to the team! We actually stole Alicia from Children's Publishing here at Reader's Digest and we're very happy to have her. Today is her first day and she's already in a blogging mood! Yah! The following entry is Alicia's take on Khaled Hosseini's latest novel,
A Thousand Splendid Suns.
I am in 72nd place and I'm proud of it. It's not really a race that I'm in. Rather, I am eagerly waiting to get my hands on a reserved library copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns.
Many other people will have the chance before I do. This much-anticipated second novel by Khaled Hosseini comes out today. In 2003, Hosseini wowed the world with The Kite Runner. I was more than "wowed" by this story about two Afghan boys and their troubled friendship. I was moved. I was awed. I was blown away. I remember hearing from so many different kinds of people who felt the same way. I was amazed how this book even touched "non-readers." They too would sing its praises.
Of course, many people have high hopes for A Thousand Splendid Suns. Today, I read an excerpt of the novel and my excitement remains strong. This time we get a woman's perspective. The novel tells the tale of two women who live through three decades of Taliban tyranny and civil war in Afghanistan. From the morsel I sampled, A Thousand Splendid Suns promises a rich read, complete with delicious descriptions and endearing characters.
Well, I have just got so worked up that I may have to head to a bookstore tonight instead of waiting. Then again, this book is going to fly off the shelves. And I might end up being number 72 in line, anyway.
