The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N Murari

I really wanted to love this book but I didn't. I did enjoy it, but it was a lot lighter and more 'feel good' than I was expecting given the subject matter. It is about a young Afgan girl, Rukhsana, who tries to bring the truth of the Taliban regime to the public through journalism but who is thwarted by the brutality of the regime's laws.  When the local Taliban leader announces a PR cricket competition, the winners given the opportunity to leave for Pakistan, Rukhsana coaches a team of her cousins in the hope of winning and escaping the violence of Kabul. The plot is unrealistic and fundamentally a love story rather than an observation on life in a totalitarian state. This is not a bad book - the writing is good and the plot full of suspense - but it is not a heavy weight novel and will not teach you much about the Taliban.