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
I am a voting member of the Fiction panel, and hence I cannot nominate. But I would love to share some of my favorite books I read this year so that if you also loved any of them, you can nominate. I looked at my read shelf this year for 2011 releases, and this is the one time I'm glad I don't read too many books in a year, so it wasn't too hard to draw up my favorites. Today, I'm focusing on a few Fiction titles that I loved. Tomorrow, I'll post about some books in the other categories.
Some of my top favorite books so far in Fiction among this year's releases have been Irma Voth, State of Wonder, Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb, The Four Ms. Bradwells, In Zanesville and The London Train. It's pretty hard to choose a single favorite among these books, since each of them brought something different to the reading experience but if I had to, it would be Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb.
Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb was about a young boy with a mental illness. He becomes friends with and later obsessed with Pia, who likes to be called Miss Entropia, because of her obsession with fire. Since the two first meet, their lives are heavily tangled, until the end, while all the time their minds are slowly unraveling. The interesting thing is that despite the very eerie sensation of watching a person crumble slowly, the book was hilarious! I would never have put humor and mental illness on the same shelf even, but the author makes it work wonderfully!
The Four Ms. Bradwells left me breathless once I finished it. It was truly in all ways a woman's novel, especially a career woman's. I loved how this book tackled some of the issues women in law or politics face and how being in a high-visibility career position, they are sometimes forced by others or circumstances to not talk about the tragic events in their lives. I also loved how when I took some things for granted, Meg Clayton questioned that. If you especially loved this author's The Wednesday Sisters, this is a book you may not want to miss!
Ann Patchett is probably the only author I have read twice this year. Her State of Wonder is as magical as Bel Canto, even though I did have some issue with the ending. Still, it is pretty hard to forget how she could hold me captivated over 300-400 pages, especially during the lulls in the story. There are many things that happen in this book - an unmarried woman's private love life, a former professor's obsession with research, a tribe whose women can get pregnant even in their seventies, and research on humans with all the ethical issues around it.
The London Train was also a slow book in terms of what happens through the pages, but I still loved how the book evoked feelings of loneliness, love, anxiety, and desperation. The two protagonists in this book are running away from their own lives and at some point, they cross paths. That meeting has huge consequences on their own lives and their relationships with others. Although this book is actually told as two independent stories, it doesn't really read as a book of short stories.
Irma Voth was my most recent read. I had loved one other book that I had read by this author, so her writing style was not new to me. What most appeals to me about her books is how she can personalize a feeling without ever mentioning it. The characters' actions, drives, words and thoughts paint a portrait of emotions much better than one could write about it. In Zanesville was another favorite of mine with a nameless teen protagonist who has a wacky sense of humor. This isn't a YA book, even though the characters fall in that age-group. It's a coming-of-age story but there's so much more - in a strange way, it reminded me of my own junior and high-school years, in a way very few other books managed to.
So these are some of my favorite reads so far this year. I hope I did convince you to check out one or some of them. If you did read and love any of these books, then I hope you will vote for them in the Indie Lit Awards! What 2011 releases made your favorites list?
Comments
I have voted for 1 Mysteey so far.