please excuse my drool on the pages

If you haven't read anything by Khaled Hosseini, please, please, do yourself the favor and buy or check out a book of his. And then, prepare for the next few days of your life to be changed.

I know, it sounds like I'm exaggerating here, but the truth is, I am a devastatingly picky reader. I wish I liked books that are on the NY bestseller list, but usually, I don't. Writers tend to be critical people anyway, and when they read someone else's writing, they end up picking it apart or then not allowing themselves to enjoy it at all.

So what do my hang ups have to do with Mr. Hosseini? Because I have developed a writing crush. He is, by far, one of the most talented writers I have ever read. And the fact that his books address important issues such as social justice for women and Afghanistan's culture makes it all the more crush worthy. Last night, I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns and said the same thing I did after closing his first book, The Kite Runner.

"Wow."

My "wow" constitutes more than just his beautiful imagery that make me read sentences over and over again. It means more than his hooks after the end of every chapter that make me stay up into the wee hours of the night because I can't stop reading. Really, the "wow" is for the work that God is doing in my heart for the people who his characters represent.

A Thousand Splendid Sun's female characters really affected me, and when talking to Brandon about it earlier this week, I stated, "I really don't know what it means to be born a girl on this side of the world vs. that one." The closest thing I've experienced to gender injustice is being fully aware that a man was being paid more that was lower or equal to me at a certain job I had in the past. I even purposely never brought it cookies or baked goods to another job so I wouldn't run the risk of being treated differently in an office full of men. Now, I spend my days doing everything that a stereotypical housewife would do, but it's easy when I am able to choose to do this. Or because I know my husband respects me and my opinions. Or when I'm fully aware that he loves me as Christ loved the church.

When a prospective writer sends in a book query or proposal, a literary agent prefers that they compare their writing to other authors' styles. I know I'm not at this place--I'm probably years from it--but I can only hope to I compare my scribblings to his. In the meantime, I'll be drooling all over his books.