Khaled Hosseini Popular Books

Khaled Hosseini Biography & Facts

Khaled Hosseini (;Persian/Pashto خالد حسینی [ˈxɒled hoˈsejni]; born March 4, 1965) is an Afghan-American novelist, UNHCR goodwill ambassador, and former physician. His debut novel The Kite Runner (2003) was a critical and commercial success; the book and his subsequent novels have all been at least partially set in Afghanistan and have featured an Afghan as the protagonist. Hosseini's novels have enlightened the global audience about Afghanistan's people and culture.Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, to a diplomat father, Hosseini spent some time living in Iran and France. When Hosseini was 15, his family applied for asylum in the United States, where he later became a naturalized citizen. Hosseini did not return to Afghanistan until 2003 when he was 38, an experience similar to that of the protagonist in The Kite Runner. In later interviews, Hosseini admitted to feeling survivor's guilt for having been able to leave the country prior to the Soviet invasion and subsequent wars. After graduating from college, Hosseini worked as a physician in California, a situation he likened to "an arranged marriage". The success of The Kite Runner meant he was able to retire from medicine in order to write full-time. His three novels have all reached various levels of critical and commercial success. The Kite Runner spent 101 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, including three weeks at number one. His second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), spent 103 weeks on the chart, including 15 at number one while his third novel, And the Mountains Echoed (2013), remained on the chart for 33 weeks. In addition to writing, Hosseini has advocated for the support of refugees, including establishing with the UNHCR the Khaled Hosseini Foundation to support Afghan refugees returning to Afghanistan. Early life and education Early life Hosseini was born on March 4, 1965, in Kabul, Afghanistan, the eldest of five children. His father, Nasser, worked as a diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul while his mother worked as a Persian language teacher at a girls' high school; both originate from Herat. Regarding his ethnicity, Hosseini stated, "I'm not pure anything. There's a Pashtun part of me, a Tajik part of me." His mother's family is believed to be from the Mohammadzai tribe of Pashtuns. Hosseini describes his upbringing as privileged. He spent eight years of his childhood in the upper class Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in Kabul. Hosseini does not recall his sister, Raya, ever suffering discrimination for being a female, and he remembers Kabul as "a growing, thriving, cosmopolitan city", where he regularly flew kites with his cousins.In 1970, Hosseini and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. In 1973, Hosseini's family returned to Kabul, and Hosseini's youngest brother was born in July of that year. In 1976, when Hosseini was 11 years old, his father secured a job in Paris, France, and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the April 1978 Saur Revolution in which the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power. In 1980, shortly after the start of the Soviet–Afghan War, they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California. Hosseini, then aged 15, did not speak English when he first arrived in the United States. He describes the experience as "a culture shock" and "very alienating".Despite their distance from the country's turmoil, the family was aware of the situations faced by a number of their friends and relatives. Hosseini explained: We had a lot of family and friends in Kabul. And the communist coup, as opposed to the coup that happened in '73, was actually very violent. A lot of people rounded up and executed, a lot of people were imprisoned. Virtually anybody [who] was affiliated or associated with the previous regime or the royal family was persecuted, imprisoned, killed, rounded up, or disappeared. And so we would hear news of friends and acquaintances and occasionally family members to whom that had happened, [who] were either in prison or worse, had just disappeared and nobody knew where they were, and some of them never turned up. My wife's uncle was a very famous singer and composer in Kabul who had been quite vocal about his dislike for the communists and so on, and he disappeared. And to this day, we have no idea what happened to him. So that sort of thing, we began to hear news over in Europe of mass executions and really just horror stories. So it was surreal, and it also really kind of hit home in a very real way. Education Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. in 1993. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1997. He practiced medicine for over ten years, until a year and a half after the release of The Kite Runner. Career Novels In 2003, Hosseini published his first novel, The Kite Runner, the story of a young boy, Amir, struggling to form a deeper connection with his father and coping with memories of a traumatic childhood event. The novel is set in Afghanistan, from the fall of the monarchy until the collapse of the Taliban regime, as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area, specifically in Fremont, California. The novel was the best selling novel of 2005 in the United States, according to Nielsen BookScan. The Kite Runner was also produced as an audiobook read by the author. The Kite Runner has been adapted into a film of the same name released in December 2007. Hosseini made a cameo appearance towards the end of the movie as a bystander, when Amir buys a kite which he later flies with Sohrab. Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was published in 2007, and is also set in Afghanistan. The story addresses many of the same issues as Hosseini's first book, but from a female perspective. It follows the story of two women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives become entwined when Mariam's husband takes on Laila as a second wife. The story is set during Afghanistan's tumultuous thirty-year transition from Soviet occupation to Taliban control and post-Taliban rebuilding. The novel was released by Riverhead Books on May 22, 2007, at the same time as the Simon & Schuster audiobook. The adaptation rights of the novel were subsequently acquired by producer Scott Rudin and Columbia Pictures. Hosseini's third novel And the Mountains Echoed was released on May 21, 2013. Prior to its release, Hosseini said:I am forever drawn to family as a recurring central theme of my writing. My earlier novels were at heart tales of fatherhood and motherhood. My new novel is a multi-generational family story as well, this time.... Discover the Khaled Hosseini popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Khaled Hosseini books.

Best Seller Khaled Hosseini Books of 2024

  • Summary and Analysis of The Kite Runner synopsis, comments

    Summary and Analysis of The Kite Runner

    Worth Books

    So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Kite Runner tells you what you need to knowbefore or after you read Khaled Hosseini’s book. Crafted and edited with care...

  • Once I Was a Princess synopsis, comments

    Once I Was a Princess

    Jacqueline Pascarl

    Can you imagine what it would be like to be swept off your feet by a royal prince to live a charmed life in the marble palaces of an oilrich nation and then to watch your fairytal...

  • The Orange Girl synopsis, comments

    The Orange Girl

    Jostein Gaarder

    From the author of SOPHIE'S WORLD, a modern fairy tale with a philosophical twist.'It should be read by all' VOGUE'My father died eleven years ago. I was only four then. I never th...

  • Green on Blue synopsis, comments

    Green on Blue

    Elliot Ackerman

    From the author of Waiting for Eden and the National Book Award Finalist Dark at the Crossing, a “compassionate, provocative, and alive” (Vogue.com) debut war story about a young A...

  • The World According to Anna synopsis, comments

    The World According to Anna

    Jostein Gaarder & Donald Bartlett

    When fifteenyearold Anna begins receiving messages from another time, her parents take her to the doctor. But he can find nothing wrong; in fact he believes there may be some truth...

  • The Castle in the Pyrenees synopsis, comments

    The Castle in the Pyrenees

    Jostein Gaarder

    Two former lovers are brought back together ... but can they really trust their pasts? The new novel from the bestselling author of SOPHIE'S WORLD.Through five intense years in the...

  • Melmoth the Wanderer synopsis, comments

    Melmoth the Wanderer

    Charles Maturin & Victor Sage

    Created by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth exchanges his soul for immortality. The story of his tort...

  • The Flea Palace synopsis, comments

    The Flea Palace

    Elif Shafak

    By turns comic and tragic, Elif Shafak's The Flea Palace is an outstandingly original novel driven by an overriding sense of social justice.Bonbon Palace was once a stately apartme...

  • Wenn die Nacht am hellsten ist synopsis, comments

    Wenn die Nacht am hellsten ist

    Nadia Hashimi & Ulrike Werner-Richter

    Fereiba führt in Kabul ein glückliches Leben bis die Taliban ihr die Arbeit als Lehrerin verbieten und ihren Mann hinrichten. Fereiba sieht sich gezwungen, mit ihren drei Kindern ...

  • And the Mountains Echoed synopsis, comments

    And the Mountains Echoed

    Khaled Hosseini

    An unforgettable novel about finding a lost piece of yourself in someone else.Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid S...

  • Quicklet On The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini synopsis, comments

    Quicklet On The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini

    Karen Lac

    Quicklets: Your Reading Sidekick!Never read a book alone again! Supercharge your reading with Quicklets. Quicklets are jampacked with information like those notes you totally copi...

  • Silent Hearts synopsis, comments

    Silent Hearts

    Gwen Florio

    For fans of A Thousand Splendid Suns, “a rich, haunting, immersive story of cultures at the crossroads” (Jamie Ford, bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) ...

  • The Complete Father Brown Stories synopsis, comments

    The Complete Father Brown Stories

    G. K. Chesterton & Michael Hurley

    The complete adventures of the wellloved clerical sleuth, collected in one brilliant volume.Shabby and lumbering, with a face like a Norfolk dumpling, Father Brown makes for an imp...

  • More Than You Can Say synopsis, comments

    More Than You Can Say

    Paul Torday

    The bestselling author of SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN returns with a Buchanesque thriller.'Torday has an extraordinary gift for making apparent "normality" look sinister and strang...

  • The Storm synopsis, comments

    The Storm

    Arif Anwar

    From an immensely talented new voice in international fiction, this “fascinating, ambitious” (The New York Times Book Review) and epic novel seamlessly interweaves five love storie...

  • And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini Conversation Starters synopsis, comments

    And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini Conversation Starters

    Daily Books

    And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini  Conversation Starters A Brief Look Inside:    EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER than the surface of its pages...

  • Honor synopsis, comments

    Honor

    Thrity Umrigar

    THE JANUARY 2022 REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK “In the way A Thousand Splendid Suns told of Afghanistan’s women, Thrity Umrigar tells a story of India with the intimacy of one w...

  • Music of the Ghosts synopsis, comments

    Music of the Ghosts

    Vaddey Ratner

    This “novel of extraordinary humanity” (Madeleine Thien, author of Do Not Say We Have Nothing) from New York Times bestselling author Vaddey Ratner reveals “the endless ways that f...

  • The Kite Runner synopsis, comments

    The Kite Runner

    Khaled Hosseini

    The #1 New York Times bestselling novel beloved by millions of readers the world over.“A vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people [of Afghanistan] have been str...

  • Sea Prayer synopsis, comments

    Sea Prayer

    Khaled Hosseini

    Please note that this will work best on a color device and will appear in a horizontal formatThe #1 New York Timesbestselling author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, a...

  • Sadness Is a White Bird synopsis, comments

    Sadness Is a White Bird

    Moriel Rothman-Zecher

    A 2019 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist A 2018 National Jewish Book Award Finalist for Debut FictionIn this “nuanced, sharp, and beautifully written” (Michael Chabon) debut nov...

  • The Gaze synopsis, comments

    The Gaze

    Elif Shafak

    A beautiful and compelling novel, Elif Shafak's The Gaze considers the damage which can be inflicted by our simple desire to look at others"I didn't say anything. I didn't return h...

  • In the Wars synopsis, comments

    In the Wars

    Dr Waheed Arian

    AS HEARD ON DESERT ISLAND DISCSAS SEEN ON THE CHANGEMAKERS, a Paramount+ docuseries profiling activists fighting for changeA WATERSTONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR'A riveting story of l...

  • To Marry a Prince synopsis, comments

    To Marry a Prince

    Sophie Page

    One night is about to change Bella's life for ever...Bella Greenwood isn't a fairytale girl. If pushed, she'd probably tell you that her perfect wedding would involve a handful of ...

  • Les Cerfs-volants de Kaboul de Khaled Hosseini synopsis, comments

    Les Cerfs-volants de Kaboul de Khaled Hosseini

    lePetitLitteraire

    Testez vos connaissances sur Les Cerfsvolants de Kaboul de Khaled Hosseini !Ce questionnaire de lecture sur Les Cerfsvolants de Kaboul de Khaled Hosseini vous aidera à : vérifier v...

  • The Hilltop synopsis, comments

    The Hilltop

    Assaf Gavron

    Mordantly funny and deeply moving, this awardwinning novel about life in a West Bank settlement has been hailed as “brilliant” (The New York Times Book Review) and “The Great Israe...

  • The Kite Runner Graphic Novel synopsis, comments

    The Kite Runner Graphic Novel

    Khaled Hosseini

    The perennial bestsellernow available as a sensational new graphic novel. Since its publication in 2003, nearly 7 million readers have discovered The Kite Runner. Through Khaled ...

  • Spiritual Verses synopsis, comments

    Spiritual Verses

    The Jalaluddin Rumi & Alan Williams

    Begun in 1262 AD, Masnaviye Ma ‘navi, or ‘spiritual couplets', is thought to be the longest singleauthored ‘mystical’ poem ever written. As the spiritual masterpiece of the Persian...

  • The Boy on the Beach synopsis, comments

    The Boy on the Beach

    Tima Kurdi

    An intimate and poignant memoir about the family of Alan Kurdithe young Syrian boy who became the global emblem for the desperate plight of millions of Syrian refugeesand of the ma...

  • A Thousand Splendid Suns synopsis, comments

    A Thousand Splendid Suns

    Khaled Hosseini

    Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, the #1 New York Times bestseller A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredib...

  • Jacques the Fatalist synopsis, comments

    Jacques the Fatalist

    Denis Diderot & Michael Henry

    Denis Diderot (17131784) was among the greatest writers of the Enlightenment, and in Jacques the Fatalist he brilliantly challenged the artificialities of conventional French ficti...

  • America Is Immigrants synopsis, comments

    America Is Immigrants

    Sara Nović & Alison Kolesar

    A gorgeously illustrated collection featuring inspiring immigrants from every country in the world, celebrating the incredible range of what it means to be an American This dazzlin...