Wow it’s almost Thanksgiving and the start of the busy holiday season, my, how time flies! I wish everyone in the States a very happy turkey day with family and friends. In Canada I hope to re-celebrate the holiday with a smaller feast with my husband and dog since it’s a regular work week here, blah. Where’s the fun in that?
We are supposed to see some new snowflakes this week so I might have to splurge and get a hot cocoa like this decadent one I consumed recently. It was oh so good but gave me a headache from the intense sugar rush. How cold has it been where you are? Hopefully not as bad as the snowbelt of Buffalo. Those poor people are having to tunnel out of their houses!
My two-year-old Lab, Stella, sure knows how to spend these wintry afternoons. She likes to run at the park in the early mornings and evenings but in the afternoons she dozes off into dreamland, preferably near the floor heater. I think she’s dreaming sometimes about chasing bunnies and squirrels because her paws wiggle and she makes funny sounds.
This week I finished the 2007 nonfiction memoir “Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil” by Deborah Rodriguez & Kristin Ohlson, which was a book club read that our group discussed on Thursday. It’s about a woman from Michigan, Deborah, who travels with an aid organization to Afghanistan in 2002 shortly after the Taliban has been driven out. There, she gets the idea to help set up a beauty school for Afghan women to train to become hairdressers and salon owners. The memoir chronicles Deborah’s efforts to help set up the school during the four to five years she’s there and the women she meets along the way, many of whom become her students. The book gives a glimpse into Kabul and Afghan society that many in the West don’t know too much about.
I appreciated her efforts to try to help the Afghan women and the insights she provides into life there. I thought she was bold — and a bit foolish perhaps — to go to Kabul when the country was still so torn from war and when she still had two boys at home. Like others in my book group, I liked parts of the memoir, which is filled with stories of women’s lives there, but also thought the book has some drawbacks. It’s not written particularly well, and the woman, Deborah, makes some cultural blunders along the way that at times puts her Afghan women friends and students in awkward or dangerous situations. Also why she marries an Afghan man who she’s barely just met there after going through two bad marriages in the States seems beyond perplexing. She’s definitely got an impulsive, crazy, and emotional streak about her that a few in our group found pretty annoying.
Still I’m glad I read it for opening my eyes a bit more to life in Afghanistan, which I’ve also read about in Khaled Hosseini’s novels. Anything that can help women to work or make money there, I’m definitely for. “Kabul Beauty School” certainly paints a bleak picture of women’s lives in Kabul, but it also captures women’s eagerness for change and gaining rights to make their own living and lives. You definitely root for them in this book, which counts as my nonfiction November read, which is a meme co-hosted by Kim over at the blog Sophicated Dorkiness. Check out all the nonfiction this month people are reading!
Meanwhile I picked up two novels from the library: “Life Drawing” by Robin Black and “The Girls of Corona del Mar” by Rufi Thorpe. I hope to race through both before consuming the nonfiction epic “Unbroken: World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand, which is coming out as a movie at Christmas. Hmm … so much reading, so little time.
What about you — have you read any of these and what did you think? And what does your reading look like over the holidays?
It’s been cold here, but not as much snow as Buffalo, but then again who has had that kind of snow, at least here in the States, this year? That hot chocolate looks good. I had a Reese’s Peanut Butter hot chocolate the other night at a local convenience store, oh so good. It’s not something I have all the time, but when I do…ohmygoshhowgood.
I’ve only read one of the books you mentioned: Unbroken and when I read it, it was one of my favorite books that I read that year. I can’t remember which year it was, but it couldn’t have been too long ago since the book isn’t that old. I do remember being very impressed with the book and the amount of research that went into it. I hope you enjoy it and even if you don’t, I still want to hear what you thought of it. 🙂
Yeah Bryan I think I’ll really get into Unbroken. I let you know. Cheers.
It’s been very cold in Minnesota. Until yesterday, we hadn’t been above freezing in 1 days. But luckily we aren’t getting the crazy snow they’re getting in Buffalo. I’m not sure if I could handle that! Unbroken is a really great book — I listened to it on audio earlier this year. I hope you find time to read it (along with the other great books you’ve listed!).
Stay warm Kim. Yeah I have one more book till Unbroken but I’m looking forward to it!
I absolutely loved Unbroken – it’s on my All-Time Favorite Nonfictions List! Hope you enjoy it and thanks for stopping by my blog today.
Thanks Sarah. Yep I think Unbroken will be epic.
I cannot complain about the cold. In fact, it is only slightly cool. It is 58 degrees right now…so I haven’t even really turned on the heater. I am very happy that it’s not colder.
Enjoy your hot chocolate; what a great way to spend a cold day.
Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for visiting my blog.
Thanks Laurel. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
It is snowing now but not hard here in Minnesota. We did have cold weather a while ago in the negatives but the weekend was in the 30’s which is t shirt weather for me 🙂
Yeah I know what you mean Sheila. 30s feels warm to me now too!
We are very cold and have snow here in southwestern Wisconsin but not nearly as cold as other parts of the country or as much snow as Buffalo. That is just insane!! The snow is doing wonders for my holiday mindset, about which I am thankful. I was really struggling getting into the holiday spirit when it was just incredibly cold and dreary. My doggies sleep all day too, especially during winter. My basset spends most of winter shivering, so she can usually be found on someone’s lap or on someone’s bed bundled into the covers. I don’t blame her at all for that one.
I hope you like Life Drawing. I really enjoyed it!
Have a great week!!
Thanks Michelle. I just finished Life Drawing and I’m gathering my thoughts. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I read Kabul Beauty School and liked it too – it did open my eyes. But I agree with your re: the writing. I think she has a second book out and the writing has kept me from putting it on the TBR.
Thanks for stopping by Colleen. I haven’t heard from too many who’ve read Kabul Beauty School. Yeah I liked this one, but like you, I’m not sure I need right now to read her others.