I HAVE been reading, just not much...

I took a small hiatus from reading this summer, and I'm not even sure why.  Honestly, the best time to read SHOULD be when you are laying on the couch after invasive knee surgery...but I just slept/ate/watched TV/worked instead.

But before I took my hiatus, I managed to read these two books:

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, by Neil White was a book club pick.  I can't say that I loved the book, and I definitely found the author to be overly pretentious.  The best thing about the book was learning an interesting fact (and since I'm about to share it with you, you can skip the book):
Less than 20 years ago, there existed a leper colony in Carville, LA that also served as a prison.  I didn't know that leprosy was still a concern 20 years ago.  Or that our government thought it was appropriate to group these people with criminals; hadn't they suffered enough? 
Now, in fairness, White does give you more details about the colony, leprosy, and his experience in prison.  But, for me, White came across as someone I couldn't trust.  He characters seemed unrealistic and his experience at Carville exaggerated.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini was recommended by a coworker.  I had seen Hosseini's The Kite Runner movie and loved it, so I took this to be a good suggestion. 
Warning: this isn't a light read.  The story is told from the perspective of two Afghan women; both of whom have suffered numerous hardships in life.
It is an emotionally draining book and some parts were hard to get through.  But it was beautiful!  I can't explain it.  Even though a majority of the book was exhausting, I absolutely loved it, and even found it to be uplifting.  Strongly Recommend.