Three Cups of Tea

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As a general rule I am typically "reading" two books at a time. At least I try to keep up with two at a time. The reason I put reading in quotes is that the second book is usually an audiobook. About a year or so ago I became hooked on audiobooks. My boyfriend bought me an iPod for my birthday and I downloaded a few audiobooks and listened to them in my car. I love, love, love listening to books while I'm driving. They're awesome when there's nothing on the radio. If you think this might be a way for you to get some extra reading time in, I highly recommend it!

But, back to the purpose of this post. I finished this book, Three Cups of Tea, earlier this week.

Everyone I knew that had read this book thought it was wonderful. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get into it. However, once the story got rolling I couldn't put it down. The gist of the story is that a man, Greg, who intended to climb a mountain in Pakistan failed in his attempt, but on his way back down met some villagers in the tiny town at the base of the mountain. The children of this town had an intense thirst for knowledge and an education, breaking the man's heart as they wrote in the dirt with their sticks because they had no chalkboards, paper or pencils. The rest of the book is about the trials and tribulations Greg endures to get a school for these children (boys AND girls) built, then another school, and another, and so forth. Greg has quite a bit of trouble in parts of this story, being that a lot of people in this part of the world do no believe that girls should have an equal chance at an education. Not to mention the fact that corruption is rampant throughout the areas in which Greg is working. This book is an extremely heart-warming true story that I would highly recommend. I would also venture to say that I actually learned a bit about this region of the world and culture simply from reading this book. It gave me a slight tilt in my assumption of what the belief system and culture is in this area. If you haven't read this yet, then consider putting it on your "to read" list.