The Lost Symbol | Entry 1

I have had the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown on hold at the library since last July. Today I got an email stating the book
had arrived. I quickly went and got the book and immediatly started reading.
The book starts off much like the Da Vinci Code. Langdon is brought to the nation's capital only to learn of his friend's abduction. It soon becomes a race against time to free his friend and uncover secrets that have long been hidden under DC. I haven't been able to get too far into the book, but I have just passed the part where Landon learns about the abduction. When this happens he is in the Capitol building, where he recieves a phone call from a mysterious person. While talking he hears screaming in another room, where he rushes over to find a severed human hand on the floor. According to Langdon, the hand is a Masonic symbol known a the Hand of Mysteries, which is offered to people who are invited to learn deep, dark, secrets. Soon, the CIA shows up, and they work in conjunction with Langdon to uncover the symbolic trail being left by the kidnapper.
This is as far as I have read, hopefully the bool will continue to be as thrilling as it has.

Troy and A Thousand Splendid Suns

I finished reading the last bits of Troy. Although I did not like the book, as before mentioned, the ending was a bit sad, yet incredibly unrealistic. They through the king's baby off of a sheer cliff so he would not be able to avenge his father's death. That really shocked me. But what really seemed unrealistic was the reaction from the prisoners captured from Troy. They seemed pretty happy, or indifferent when the news of the prince reached them.
Also over the Thanksgiving break, I read the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossini. The book takes the same theme of the Kite Runner: in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. This book does a better job of showing the oppression that the Taliban commits on a daily basis: random killings, random arrests, random beatings, no rights for women, and more. This book was another connection for me, as most of the characters in the book are Muslims, and I too am a Muslim. But what separates us is the cultures we live in, and the interpretations of our religions. This book is about a woman who is forced into marrying an abusive husband. This happens very commonly in the Middle East. Eventually, she becomes a loner, as her husband won't even let her go outside. Then her husband married another woman. The first wife and the second wife become friends almost immediately, and plot to avenge their husband for all the cruelty he commits. All in all, it was a good read.