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Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El

Friday Finds -- Jan 15, 2010

Friday Finds

This meme is hosted by MizB at Should be reading. What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?

My finds

This week, I came across some really interesting books.



 Fireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff
Lily was married for just days before her husband was sent abroad to fight in WWII. Now, he and the other soldiers are returning, and the small town of Toccoa, Georgia plans a big celebration. But a handsome and kind Italian immigrant, responsible for the elaborate fireworks display the town commissioned captures Lily's heart and soul. Torn between duty to society and her husband, and a poor, passionate man who might be her only true love--Lily must choose between a love she never knew and a commitment she'd already made.





The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard
Seventeen-year-old Colt has been sneaking out at night to meet Julia, a girl from an upper-class neighborhood unlike his own. They’ve never told anyone else about their relationship: not their family or friends, and especially not Julia’s boyfriend.When Julia dies suddenly, Colt tries to cope with her death while pretending that he never even knew her. He discovers a journal she left behind. But he is not prepared for the truths he discovers about their intense relationship, nor to pay the price for the secrets he’s kept.





The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
First published in 1892, The Yellow Wall-Paper is written as the secret journal of a woman who, failing to relish the joys of marriage and motherhood, is sentenced to a country rest cure. Though she longs to write, her husband and doctor forbid it, prescribing instead complete passivity. In the involuntary confinement of her bedroom, the hero creates a reality of her own beyond the hypnotic pattern of the faded yellow wallpaper รข€“ a pattern that has come to symbolize her own imprisonment. Narrated with superb psychological and dramatic precision, The Yellow Wall-Paper stands out not only for the imaginative authenticity with which it depicts one woman's descent into insanity, but also for the power of its testimony to the importance of freedom and self-empowerment for women.





Lake of Sorrows by Erin Hart
American pathologist Nora Gavin has come to the Irish midlands to examine a body unearthed by peat workers at a desolate spot known as the Lake of Sorrows. As with all the artifacts culled from its prehistoric depths, the bog has effectively preserved the dead man's remains, and his multiple wounds suggest he was the victim of the ancient pagan sacrifice known as the triple death. But signs of a more recent slaying emerge when a second body, bearing a similar wound pattern, is found -- this one sporting a wristwatch. Someone has come to this quagmire to sink their dreadful handiwork -- and Nora soon realizes that she is being pulled deeper into the land and all it holds: the secrets to a cache of missing gold, a tumultuous love affair with archeologist Cormac Maguire, the dark mysteries and desires of the workers at the site, and a determined killer fixated on the gruesome notion of triple death.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oooh, I loved The Yellow Wallpaper. It's probably one of my favorite short stories of all time!
Anonymous said…
I loved The Yellow Wallpaper. I reviewed it on my blog the other day.
Athira said…
JessiKay and Kat, Wow, I can't believe I only just heard of The Yellow Wallpaper!
Alayne said…
Excellent finds, especially The Yellow Wallpaper. Mine is at The Crowded Leaf.
bermudaonion said…
I think Fireworks Over Toccoa is going to be big!
I read The Yellow Wallpaper for one of my lit classes. It's pretty fascinating. You have some good finds, I've added a couple to my TBR list!
The Yellow Wallpaper is a head trip. Fantastic!

I'm interested in Fireworks over Toccoa also.

I've read Erin Hart's first book, Haunted Ground, and I remember liking it. I should probably get around to reading Lake of Sorrows also.

Great choices!
Aleksandra said…
I think I'll definitely like "Lake of Sorrows" and "Fireworks over Toccoa" looks interesting, too!
Cat said…
I've never heard of The Yellow Wallpaper but it sounds like its worth trying to find for myself.
Have read Lake of Sorrows and enjoyed it.
Andrea said…
I read The Secret Year and enjoyed it...and I received Fireworks Over Toccoa as a suprise to review!
Sherry said…
Hey, Aths! I made it here! Wow, I can't wait to read a few of these books... so much for keeping my TBR list under control in 2010.
Athira said…
Alayne, StephTheBookworm, Jennifer G., I'm still whacking my head for not hearing of The Yellow Wallpaper, sooner.

Cat, that makes two of us who didn't hear of The Yellow Wallpaper. :) Glad to hear you liked Lake of Sorrows.

bermudaonion, Aleksandra, Fireworks over Toccoa has been making big news in the blog world lately. I can't wait to read it soon!

purplg8r, glad to hear you liked The Secret Year. I can't wait to hear how you liked Fireworks over Toccoa.

Sherry, thanks for making it here!! :)
Beth Kephart said…
My son read Yellow Wallpaper last year at college and couldn't stop talking about it. Thanks for giving me a clearer view.

You have great taste!
Athira said…
Beth, glad to hear that, and thanks! :)