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It’s a question Multnomah County Library asks and answers each year as it encourages area residents to read and discuss one book through its Everybody Reads program.

This winter’s book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, is also a must-read on campus, as Portland State hosts guest speakers, roundtable discussions, and book-group talks on the novel and its backdrop of Afghanistan.

The Kite Runner tells the story of an upper-class Afghan boy, Amir, who betrays his best friend and servant. Amir flees with his father to America to start a new life away from the horrors of the Soviet invasion, but decades later must return to Afghanistan, now under Taliban rule, to make up for his past mistake.

Faculty experts will present two panel discussions, “Afghanistan: Politics, History, and Culture,” February 9; and “The Kite Runner; Literary Criticism and Cultural Studies,” February 16. Both will be presented twice, at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. in 296 Smith Union. PSU is sponsoring guest speakers on campus February 24 and 27. In addition faculty will visit book groups sponsored by the library, Starbucks, and local bookstores during February.

For a full schedule of Everybody Reads events, see the Multnomah County Library Web site.