“The Bookseller of Kabul” is one of those excellent works of non-fiction that’s easy to read and gives you a true inside glimpse of a family drama.The author, Ingrid Christophersen, formed a friendship with an Afghan man who ran a bookstore in Kabul and was intrigued enough by his stories of surviving through the Russian presence and then the Taliban’s to want to write a book about him. He invited her to come stay in his home and live as a member of his family, which she did.

She writes about his two wives, his sons, his mother and sisters, in a way that makes you feel as if you are seated on the floor of their home overhearing their conversations and participating in their arguments.

It is a hard book to read in many ways, because you want to love this bookseller who risked so much to keep the literature of Afghanistan alive amidst tremendous pressure from the Taliban. And yet his insistence on maintaining tight controls at home seem to completely contradict his political views.

Still it is our contradictions that make us interesting and none of us can claim to be completely free of hypocrisy. So take a few hours and explore. It’s not as sweeping or grand as “The Kite Runner“, but you’ll be glad you took the time to read it nonetheless.