Book Clubs are Cozy: The Bookseller of Kabul

Although there are no happy endings in this book it is sooooo interesting and really makes you appreciate the freedom we have in this country, especially as a woman!

The bookclub met at Elizabeths house last Thursday night August 28th where she successfully re-created the delicious Cream of Crab soup recipe we had had in Annapolis. Arugula salad with cherry tomatoes and asparagus with capers were delicious

Crab Soup Essentials……

but nothing could have prepared us for the most delicious desert on earth, a warm chocolate pudding cake with fresh whipped cream! This, by the way, almost didn’t happen as the rolling blackout Los Angeles is currently experiencing with its crazy heatwave resulted in a power outage and lucky for us the candles were already lit.

We agreed on many aspects of the book, the oppression of women for centuries, why it continues even after the fall of the Taliban and how can these women break the psychological mold to break out of their cultural prison?
I’ve gotten into the habit of doing a little follow up on our books and in the case of The Bookseller of Kabul we now know that the families patriarch Shah Mohammad Rais, who agreed to let Asne Seierstad live with them for 3 months didn’t like the way he/they were portrayed in the end and is suing the author. Additionally, when the novel was published in Persian it put their lives in danger and they are now seeking political asylum in Scandanavia.
My Wikipedia research!

Perhaps because of the intensity of the subject matter, a little comic relief was in store so somehow we ended up in the Piano room being super silly! Poor Ryan!

Next on the list of book club: Hemingway “Garden of Eden”.
We certainly missed Monty and Susan and hope they can make it!