My vote for novel of the week goes to….

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

I think my sister mentioned she’d read it recently and so when I was at the library last weekend the title jumped out at me from the shelf.  I saw the movie, The Kite Runner (by the same author), on a transatlantic flight once.  I thought I’d give this a read and see.

It’s a very moving story of two Afghani women.  At first, we read about their lives separately, and then, by certain twists of fate, their lives converge.  It’s one thing to hear about things via the news, quite another to actually feel like you’re inside the head of a person experiencing the atrocious conditions of life in Afghanistan with rockets going over your house and blowing up your friends and relatives.

It’s hard for me, as a resident of Canada, to understand the way that people like the Taliban treat women.  Not allowed to work outside the home, not even allowed to walk outside without being covered from head to foot and accompanied by a husband or male relative or risk a beating.

It disgusts me that women are made out to be such sinners and men so perfect, and I know this isn’t just an Islamic thing, other religions are just as culpable (Roman Catholic for one).

mini bag

Before this turns into a rant, on a brighter note, I pulled out some yarn I had left from my tarot card bag and made this little bag.  It’s just garter stitch, very simple, with a jeans button I found in my sewing bag.  It measures 4.5 by 3.5 inches and the crochet chain cord is about 46 inches long.  If I want to go out minimally encumbered, I can slide a key, a credit card and some cash into this and sling it over my shoulder.