Tuesday, February 24, 2009

A Must Read

I just finished a fantastic book. The first book I would rate a 5 out of 5 in several years. I'm never very good at summarizing a book so I will rely on Amazon's description:

" Some failures lead to phenomenal successes, and this American nurse's unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world's second tallest mountain, is one of them. Dangerously ill when he finished his climb in 1993, Mortenson was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe; in return, he promised to build the impoverished town's first school, a project that grew into the Central Asia Institute, which has since constructed more than 50 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. Coauthor Relin recounts Mortenson's efforts in fascinating detail, presenting compelling portraits of the village elders, con artists, philanthropists, mujahideen, Taliban officials, ambitious school girls and upright Muslims Mortenson met along the way. As the book moves into the post-9/11 world, Mortenson and Relin argue that the United States must fight Islamic extremism in the region through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. "

The author of this book, Greg Mortenson, is an incredible guy. He is surely a contender to win the Noble Peace Prize someday.

3 comments:

Tamara said...

I read this book last year. It is very good! What an inspirational story.

Gorgeous Things said...

I've heard of this book. I do want to read it. Must clear out some time.

I nominated you for a Sisterhood Award!

Elyse said...

That book was so amazing. <3