"A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
I think this is even better than "The Kite Runner". A tough story to read in some ways because of all the pretty awful things going on in Afghanistan but he does write beautifully and beauty and the triumph of the human spirit do win out. I really do admire his ability to do this and still get the ugliness across without making the reader hopelessly mired in it.
