Sporty: The Kite Runner by Khaleed Hosseini

Modern day "dark ages" with Hitler like enthusiasm, vengeance and insanity is the backdrop for The Kite Runner.

This book, like A Thousand Splendid Suns, is set in war-torn Afghanistan and shows the destruction that occurs when religion is used as a weapon and as a tool to justify human depravity and evil.



Beyond the setting though, is a story that really moved me..."I became what I am today at the age of twelve" is the first line in this coming of age story about Amir and Hassan, childhood friends .... there were literally times I had to close the book because I needed to brace myself for what was coming next. The Kite Runner is about friendship, sacrifice, guilt and forgiveness but it is also about defining moments and how we allow them to shape our lives.

The Kite Runner is one of those books that people will continue to talk about and even use as Republican propaganda to justify the war. Regardless of the reason, it is another "must read".

*Update*
Kite Runner movie to be released November 2, 2007.

Sporty: A Thousand Splendid Suns

I just finished bawling my eyes out.......A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini is a heartwrenching novel about survival, hope, love and lost. The story, as told by two women, is set in Afghanistan during the last 30 years, has opened my eyes to a world I do not know. I was filled with emotions of guilt and gratefulness for the freedoms I am fated with ... feelings of kinship, hatred, horror, helplessness .... a desire to do.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is gutwrenching, tragic, revealing and relevant... with similiar themes to those in Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance...a must read.

Ginger: Reference Library -More on Sugar + Other Stuff

So, I gotta confess that I haven't actually read this one yet. BUT, I'm a big Dr. Oz fan so I'll get it eventually. It'll probably be worth a "purchase" vs. a "borrow" from the library.

Just to follow up on the sugar thing...Dr. Oz offers two guidelines for label readers. If sugar is one of the first five ingredients, skip it! Also, stick to foods with 4g or less of sugar per serving.

Here's an excerpt from the Discovery Health website.

Ginger: Reference Library -Sugar

Remember I said that I'd post something about sugar? Well, here's some stuff that I found on pp. 86-87 of the Fast Track Detox Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman. One day, I am going to do this diet!

Sugar and other sweeteners, natural or artificial, stress both your liver and your colon. Moreover, both natural sugar and sugar alcohols have the potential to feed yeast, a known liver stressor because of the aldehydes that are formed -substances that overload the detox pathways and inhibit the action of the detox enzymes.

Refined carbohydrates, along with sugar, are deadly to both detox and weight loss. Not only do they inhibit the liver's detox pathways, but they create those roller-coaster highs and lows in blood sugar, insulin, hunger, and cravings. Due to these blood sugar ups and downs, the white stuff -whether sugar, flour, or white rice -is most likely to be stored as fat.

Uh, yeah. Fat storage is clearly the last thing I need. More later...