My Review of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

Disclaimer: I cannot judge this book fairly because I hated a lot of what the author wrote about in the story as far as domestic abuse.
So this is the same author who wrote "The Kite Runner," which is an incredible book. He has a good writing style that is very easy to read, and his stories are incredibly easy to see in your mind's eye. The way he describes his characters and settings is vivid and amazing. The story itself had a lot of husband beating the shit out of wives and sometimes daughter. This marred much of the book for me to where I actually hated it. Like "The Kite Runner," the story itself is very upsetting, so beware!

My Review of "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

GREAT BOOK! Two thumbs up, 5 stars, however you want to say it, this book is incredible. It is heart-breaking and intimately depressing. This is the author's first novel, and he did an amazing job. He is Afghani, so he captures the culture perfectly. He uses some Farsi words in here sparingly and most of the time, he'll tell the meaning, but sometimes he doesn't. You might need to look these words up (or ask me), because they are essential to the story.
The story follows 2 boys in their childhood growing up, from the point of view of one of them. You will feel an array of emotions with this book, and I think that if an author can make you feel this deeply, he did a great job. :-)
Also, if you haven't seen the movie, I actually recommend you see it first. I saw the movie first, then read the book, and it was so much more powerful to me.

My Review of "The Last Testament" by God (with David Javerbaum)

This is a very funny book. You have to have some type of working knowledge of most of the major religions to get the jokes and hilarity, but even without it, it's a silly book. Study up on Islam, Christianity and Judaism to get the full hilarious effect of it all. Someone without a sense of humor about religion and God will hate this book. I really liked it, and at times, I laughed pretty hard at the jokes. I do recommend it, but wait until paperback because I think it's only offered in hardback right now.

My Review of "The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary" by Andrew Westoll

Don't read this book if you don't want to cry. It's not sad the whole way through, but you will cry, guaranteed. This is about the Chimpanzee sanctuary in Canada, that houses chimps who lived most (if not their whole lives) in labs being tested on and otherwise mistreated. These chimps are incredible beings. You have no idea how similar they are in behavior to human beings. This book tells you the story of the chimps, their lives in the sanctuary, and their lives before it. Incredible, touching story that gets you thinking about these chimps and how amazing they are.

My Review of "The Enough Moment" by John Prendergast with Don Cheadle

This book is important for a few reasons. First of all, conflicts in Africa are generally overlooked by Americans unless it concerns N Africa (part of the middle east). Second of all, the lessons in this look does not just apply to Africa. Basically, the human rights crimes that are addressed are rape as a weapon of war, child soldiering, and the like. Many rebel groups use this against communities to break them down. A powerful way to destroy the backbone of a society is to target it's most innocent, helpless, and or defenseless. The stories in here that some survived are so bad, you can't believe a human being could commit them. But the same person who suffered each of these turned their life into something helpful to their community. This book is endlessly inspirational and forces you to think about when your "enough moment" is: when will you come to the point where you are done with sitting there, letting atrocities happen and finally ready to do something about it.

My Review of "Bossypants" by Tina Fey

This book was written by comedian Tina Fey, and it's not necessarily a memoir, but. . . it kinda is. It's basically a comedy book, but she does tell about her life, including childhood, teenage years, and adulthood. She tells these stories through short stories and they are hilarious.

I was never a big fan of Tina Fey as far as her Saturday Night Live work and didn't think she was great in movies, but she is a fantastic writer, that's for sure. Her tone through this book is so easy to understand and she gets her sarcasm across very easily.

This book is very worth the purchase. It had me laughing so hard I had to put the book down quiet a few times to enjoy my hearty laughs. She's very relatable and is very talented. If you want a fun read and a good time, buy this book!

My Review of "Life in Prison" by Stanley "Tookie" Williams

I just finished reading "Life in Prison," by Stanley "Tookie" Williams. It's actually a non-fiction book for teens. It's very short: 80 pages long and is in medium print. The point of this book was for Stan to let young people know the real deal about prison and prison life, not what people on the streets or movies tell them, hyping prison up.

He goes through the steps of the thorough and constant strip searches that inmates experience multiple times a day. He addresses the subject of solitary confinement and the extreme loneliness of prison life itself. Stan tells of how prison breaks you apart mentally, and that many people lose their minds while incarcerated. He speaks of the imminent danger that is constantly around inmates, in fear of each other.

Stan takes that "cool" image that so many young people have in their minds about prison and smashes it into a million pieces. This book is real, but age-appropriate enough for pre-teens and young teens as well. The point of this book is to make young people realize that prison is not what they want for their lives, and nothing is worth going to prison for.

Stanley Williams has written many books for young people that have been incorporated and available in many schools across the country. He has also written a memoir called "Blue Rage, Black Redemption" that is most definitely one of my favorite books ever. He was nominated for multiple Nobel Peace Prizes and is an incredible man, period. I strongly recommend anything he has come out with.