TOP 5 TRANSFORMATIVE SUMMER READS (Indian and Afghanistan inspired literature)

Inspired by Indian and Afghanistan literature, if you are drawn to transformative, thought-provoking, philosophical, heart-wrenching, and cant-put-down reads, these books are 100% for you.

Shantaram: Hands down the best book I have ever read in my entire life. I am not saying this lightly. After the first sentence, I was HOOKED IN. Sex, pain, war, drugs, India, religion, and philosophy all warped in one marvelous story. The book's length is curated for you to step into the lives of the characters and setting. The character development is the best I've felt and seen. You are taken through a story of extreme hardship, love, and devotion to friends and family. This book showed me that life really is one great movie stringing you along from one life-shaping event to another. I knocked this book out in 10 days — 100 pages a day is the only way to do it… 11/10

Life of Pi: Woah. This book was invigorating, questionable, extremely visual, and mind-blowing. It is an easy read and captivates your attention well! We witness a young boy go through something extremely unfathomable and the storyline makes you hurl and clap at the same time. Wonderful, adventurous, religious, and shows you that god gives its hardest battles to its strongest warriors! 9/10

The White Tiger: Recommended by one of my favorite yoga instructors, she hit the nail! My favorite part about this book is the way it is written because it isn't a regular storyline. This entire book is written in letters. You witness a man start in the “Darkness” and reach the “Light” through a malicious and life-saving story. From the beginning, you are aware of how the story ends but the story of how he got there is revealed based on extreme societal unfairness. 10/10

The Kite Runner: Inequality, culture, religion, pressure, and PAIN! This book is no joke at all. It's incredibly sad but incredibly eye-opening to cultures around the world. Hosseini is such a talented author and created such an authentic story. It’s heartbreaking but if you grew up similar to me, you feel the utmost appreciation for living in a community that accepts women and their freedom. 8/10

A Thousand Splendid Suns: Same author as The Kite Runner but an even better read. Unfortunately, this story is even more heartbreaking. Hosseini constantly throws curveballs at you and you're just like “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” I don’t know how he wrote a story like this but it is a must-read. It's captivating, heartbreaking, and jaw-dropping. Broken into different parts, you get the perspective of two young girls and the course of their lives in a country where they have no rights, respect, or dignity. 11/10

Happy reading!

Xoxo,

Chelsey