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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...

Yet another Monday! (January 17, 2011)


It's Monday! What are you reading this week?

This is a weekly event initially hosted by J. Kaye at J. Kaye's Book Blog, now by Sheila @ One Persons Journey through a world of Books, to celebrate what you are reading for the week as well as books completed the previous week.

This week, I mostly struggled with my reading. Weekdays are not a great time for me to read, so if I start a book on Sunday/Monday, I'll still be reading it all through the following Friday/Saturday. The big downside to this is the book starts losing its appeal after a couple of days. I'm usually careful about what I read on weekdays, but with all the review copies and library books piling up, it's not easy. Pressure-free reading seems to be disappearing! That said, I did get a few reads out of the way, and plan to spend more time this week reading, since Bloggiesta is this weekend, and I'll have to pamper my blog a bit.

Books completed in the last week
-  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling: It felt great to kick-start this year with an old favorite. It could be a while before I pick the next book of the series, and I'm trying not to pull it out of the shelf, because then I'll have to read it.
-  Diary of a Wimpy Kid #3: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney: And that's the last book of the series I had yet to read. I found this one the funniest of the lot, or maybe I enjoyed it more knowing that I finished all the other four books as well. I read the newest (the fifth book) first. It helps to read in order, but it doesn't take away your enjoyment of the series.
-  Bel Canto by Ann Patchett: Ever since I finished this book, I've been asking myself why it took me two years to finally pick this one and read it. Because, I was totally blown away by it! It was simply WOW! Clearly, that's the first book to go on to my 2011 WOW list!


News from over my blog
I'm finally beginning to tackle the books I read towards the end of last year. I still have a few more reviews to post, over this week and the next. The first one to go up was a 2010 favorite, Room by Emma Donoghue. Meanwhile, I also spent some time ruing the fact that I struggle to randomly pick a book from my library (or even bookstore, as happened yesterday). Along the same lines, Kim of Sophisticated Dorkiness was talking about the missing serendipity in book browsing on her blog yesterday. Seems to be a problem ailing book bloggers lately.

Books on my nightstand
For the first time in a year, I'm beginning to see some structure to my nightstand. I would usually have 5-10 books piled up here, and even then I'll go pull up a new book from the shelves. Maturity or discipline? Or learning the hard way?

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: After absolutely loving Still Alice, which made my 2010 WOW list, I requested this book at the library soon as I saw it on hold. At the time of writing this post, I'm about 80 pages in. Somehow, it has been slow and slightly boring. Or maybe I don't know where it's going, and am expecting some magic right away. I do hope this book stands up to Lisa Genova's first book. I hope I don't cry as much, but if I do, I'll know the tears are well-spent.
Eaarth by Bill McKibben: My first book by Bill McKibben, I'm pretty excited to read this. There's a lot of number-crunching in here, and at the same time, a lot of new stuff, or rather stuff new to me. I know our environment is going through a major illness right now, but just how bad it is - that was a revelation.
The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life by Jasmin Darznik: I requested this galley from Netgalley, the bane of ereader readers (Did that confuse you?). Unless I am up to my eyes in work this week (which does seem likely to happen), I'll be reading this on my phone. Thank technology for the Overdrive app on my phone which makes the geek in me thrilled at bringing micro-reading to work (micro to mean device size here).



Comments

DI d you see that Cheryl at I Totally Paused is doing a Harry Potter Reading Challenge? I am so tempted!

Have a super reading week :)
Aleksandra said…
I read only Diary of a Wimpy Kid so far & the movie was hilarious, so I'm looking forward to the 2nd movie & I'll have to get the other books :) Have a great week!
Carol said…
I too have problems just browsing the library these days. Quite often I bring something home and don't finish it! :(

I tend to search our library online for books I have found on blogs.

enjoy ur reading week
carol
bermudaonion said…
I think 3 books in a week is great! I'm glad to see I have something to look forward to with the Wimpy Kid series. I met Jasmin Darznik at SIBA and she's gorgeous and brilliant. Did you know she teaches at UVA?
Nina said…
I have a lot of books on my nightstand. Not a good look when I'm going to sleep! ;) Have fun reading the books you got there and have a happy Monday.
So glad to hear you loved Bel Canto! I thought it was wonderful when I read it. I am the same, reading through the week doesn't happen much so books can seem to take a long time.
Cat said…
I'll look forward to your thoughts on the Lisa Genova. My expectations are high but that so often leads to disappointment.

Am adding Bel Canto to my list - hadn't heard of it before.

Happy reading! :-)
Anonymous said…
I am also tempted to join the Harry Potter reading challenge. I love, love, looove that series! Here's what I'm reading this week: http://southernfiberreads.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/its-monday-what-are-you-reading/
Vasilly said…
I'm the same way about books when it comes to reading. I have a lot of books picked out to read this month, but I'm constantly selecting the newest books to read! Happy reading.
Marce said…
I preorder left Neglected because like you Still Alice was amazing and on my 2009 favourite list. I want to read it before to many reviews, but so far they haven't been impressed like Still Alice :-0
I love the Harry Potter series. I want to re-read them this summer sometime, if I have the time.