And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

I'm sure I'm the only reviewer who will compare this book to Olive Kitteridge.  And maybe I'm crazy to do so.  But this wonderful book has the same format as Olive.  Each chapter is written from the point of view of a different character, and yet they are all loosely connected.  And like Olive, there is one character, Pari, who is either central to the story in the chapter or at least there is a reference to her.

OK, enough of the comparison.  This is the latest book from the author of The Kite Runner.  Like his previous books, he gets gold stars for his writing.  It's fabulous.  The book jumps to different decades and to different characters, so there were times when I felt the need to almost draw out a timeline as to what happened and when it happened.  It can be confusing.  But I really loved the character development and found the book fascinating.  The basic story is about how Pari is sold to a childless, wealthy couple in Kabul in the 1950's.  Her uncle, Nabi, works for the family so we learn his story, Pari's brother's story, and several more.  There were some characters who needed more attention and I wanted to know what happened to them, but overall I highly recommend this one. - June

Hikikomori and the Rental Sister: A Novel by Jeff Backhaus

A friend sent this to me via the Kindle share program, and after looking at the name, I just wasn't sure about reading it.  I had no idea what Hikikomori was and assumed it was someone's name.  Come to find out Hikikomori is a Japanese term for someone who withdraws from the world.  Evidently there are many  young Japanese men who live in their rooms and refuse to come out.  This story, however, is about an American living in New York City.  Thomas and his wife, Silke, have lost their young son, and as the story begins, he has spent the last three years in his bedroom.  He only leaves at night to buy frozen food that he prepares in a microwave in his room.  His wife seeks the help of a young Japanese woman named Megumi who had a brother who lived in his bedroom.  So the book is about the relationship between Thomas and Silke, and Thomas and Megumi.  It's very well written, and I did enjoy reading it - although there were several times I considered scanning it rather than really reading it because the prose became a bit over the top.  And the writing style was unusual.  Every other chapter was written by Tom in the first person, and every other was written in the third person.  But it worked, and overall I enjoyed it.  -June