English language Afghanistan Books that I thought worth keeping (in no particular order)
To Afghanistan and Back Ted Rall (graphic novel by a journalist and cartoonist who reported from Afghanistan in 2003 and ten years later. This is about the first trip in graphic novel form. He can be self centered but it is still interesting)
After We Kill You, We Will Welcome You Back as Honored Guests: Unembedded in Afghanistan by Ted Rall (This book is about the trip ten years later)
Operation Dark Heart by Lt. Colonel Anthony Shaffer (experience of a US military intelligence officer in Afghanistan)
The Places In Between by Rory Stewart (memoir of a man who walked across Afghanistan in 2002. Well-written, but he sounds entirely like a noble adventurer and historical preservationist. He leaves out the part that he went on to work for a military contractor of the more secret type and maybe was then too).
Afghanistan of the Afghans by Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah (really, start here) (He is the undisputed father of modern Afghan history, at least in the West).
The road to Oxiana by Robert Byron (Travelogue of a man who travelled through the region in the 1930s)
My Khyber Marriage by Morag Murray Abdullah (the experiences of a Scottish woman who married a Pashtu man and moved to Afghanistan in the beginning of the 20th century)
Valley of the Giant Buddhas by Morag Murray Abdullah (more from Morag Murray Abdullah on Afghanistan)
My Life from Brigand to King by Amir Habibullah (Autobiography dictated by a brigand who overthrew the government before himself being overthrown form prison)
Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World (exhibition book by the British Museum)
Afghanistan by Nancy Dupree (more of a guidebook, but written in the 1970s and a window into how things were then)
Afghanistan by Louis Dupree (more in-depth complement to the guide book)
Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (this one at least covers more modern events, albeit from one perspective).
Taliban by Ahmad Rashid (of the people who have read Afghanistan-related books in the West, most have read this one).
Avoid: Saira Shah. I read one of her books that had obvious concoctions and exaggerations in it.
Also avoid the Kite Runner, or any of the other misery porn type English language novels churned out in recent years.