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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

The Sunday Salon: A potpourri of random thoughts


The Sunday 
Salon.com

I woke up today morning to the thought that I'm finally going to post my first Sunday Salon of the year. Then I remembered that it's Jan 22nd today. Where did this month go? After the very hectic weeks that I had over the last month, I have the sensation of time having stopped for everyone while things settle down for me. It's strange realizing that not only have I gone many days without reading much, rather the first month of 2012 is almost over as well. Weird!

Anyways, since I have a month's worth of Sunday Salon-ish thoughts, I'm going to simply write down whatever comes to my mind.
  • I completed my two years of blogging a month ago! I've missed my blogiversary twice already now - since it always comes during the winter vacation, I seem to always be missing it.
  • My google reader is beginning to look tamed. One of the last things I did before I disappeared on my vacation was to really organize my reader according to how it makes sense to me. I'm glad I did that because catching up on blogs was far easier and much less overwhelming now than it usually used to be even after a week off. After two years of blogging, it feels great to have a balance on this front.
  • During my month lurking around blogs (yes, I admit to still having been reading blogs when I was busy, but no, I didn't have the time or feel the compulsion to leave comments simply because it was busy), something I noticed was how many of you were trying to kick in the new year with that one special read. If I remember correctly, it was Sheila at Book Journey who introduced the idea, and I so wanted to do the same, preferably start with a reread of the Harry Potter series, but that didn't happen. Instead, I started 2012 with a book about a mentally ill woman, who was seeing things in wallpaper patterns, and whose secluded life in an upstairs room in a mansion was no fun, and whose actions in the climax left me feeling very disturbed. I wonder what my book choice tells about me?
  • My husband and I are still in India - my visa ran into some administrative roadblock that typically takes its own sweet time to get resolved. Although, we're relishing the extra unplanned time at home that this has brought me, being away from life as I know it for this long is no fun either. Worse, all my books are in the US - horrors! I just hope all my mail (especially any books) are being kept safely at the leasing office or the post office.
  • I just started reading Tayari Jones' Silver Sparrow today. I had been yearning to read this one since it was released last year, and was glad to see it on the Indie Lit Awards shortlist. My physical copy is in the US, so I had to borrow an ebook from my library to get started on the awards reading.
  • Kim @ Sophisticated Darkness  recently shared an essay she read at The Bygone Bureau, called In the Land of the Non-Reader, which I liked. I particularly enjoyed this quote in the book, because it spoke for me.
  • ...when I was a reader, it often troubled me when friends claimed that they had no time to read. Was it possible that their lives were so full of wonders that they could not spend five minutes here or there to read? How was it that my life, in comparison, seemed to offer so many chunks of reading time throughout the day? A train ride, a late-night break, and an office wait. Through marriage, babies, graduate schools, and new jobs, I always found time to read for pleasure.
  • Anyone planning to read the books listed in the 2012 Tournament of Books? There are a number of them there that I want to read and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder is the only one I've read. I'm tempted to read some others before the tournament, but I don't really need another reading project or plan. Still, last year, I would never have entertained the idea of doing such a reading, since by now, I would already have lists of books that needed to be read. I'm really relishing my affair with serendipity.

Comments

zibilee said…
An affair with serendipity is exactly what I have been having, and I am loving it. I think it's ok for us to do that sometimes, you know? I also never understood people who don't read. I have asked my husband on more than one occasion "Well then what do they do?" I think it helps that I don't really watch too much television, and that I spend most of my time reading or on the blogs, but man, those non-reader types...I just don't get them!
Jenny said…
I've managed to get my google reader under control too and it's a great feeling! I hope you like Silver Sparrow! I really like both the books I read by her.
bermudaonion (Kathy) said…
I'm glad  you're able to put a positive spin on the visa snafu - I'd be going crazy.  I'm sure your mail is waiting patiently for you.  You should be able to go on the Post Office's web site to have your mail held.
Juju at Tales of Whimsy.com said…
Still in India? Oh no! Best of luck! We miss you.
Tea Time with Marce said…
Oh no Visa issues, sigh, good going with the positive attitude.   Do you know I went to the calendar because I was saying Aths is wrong, there is no way it is the 22nd, omg.  Crazy.
Bibliophilebythesea said…
I hadn't realized you were still away. At least you are with family and friends. Hope your visa problem is resolved soon. We miss you.
softdrink said…
I feel the same way about the Tournament of Books books. I want to read them. But when??

I hope your enjoying your extended vacation!
softdrink said…
I meant you're...I hate it when I do that!
Helen Murdoch said…
A little extra vacation is probably good for us! I tried to reorganize my reader, including unsubscribing from a few, and they all came back to me! What do I need to do to unsubscribe successfully?
Vasilly said…
Aths, I'm so glad things are slowing down for you. I've missed your posts. :-) I can't wait to hear what you think of Silver Sparrow. After I read it last year, I wanted to talk about the characters so badly! 

Congratulations on getting married! 
christa @ mental foodie said…
My first book was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - maybe we do have something in mind since this book involves some well, peculiar children :) I have been a much slower reader too. Good luck with the visa! http://mentalfoodie.blogspot.com/
Ti said…
I don't plan to read all of the Tournament books but I do plan to read some. 

I am right there with you on how time flies. January is almost over and I am very very busy which makes me a bit crazed. I like to ease into a year, not be thrown into it. 
I've never heard of the Tournament of Books - there are a few on the list that I'd like to read though. Happy belated blogoversary!

Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
Athira / Aths said…
I don't either. I get it if someone isn't all that into reading, but lame excuses like I-don't-read-because-I-don't-have-time just don't make any sense to me. There's always time.
Athira / Aths said…
I'm enjoying Silver Sparrow, so I'm definitely looking forward to reading her other book!
Athira / Aths said…
I think the only reason I'm still keeping sane is because I'm stuck at home not in some other country. If I were stranded at some other place, I'd freak out, I guess.

Anyways, I just got the news now that my visa has been cleared. Phew! Finally! 
Athira / Aths said…
Thanks! The issue just got cleared an hour back, so I'll be back this weekend, yay! 
Athira / Aths said…
Haha! I couldn't believe it either - how did it get to the 22nd so fast? That's so not possible. 
Athira / Aths said…
I'm glad I got stuck at home and not somewhere else, lol! Still, the issue just got sorted out, so I'll be back soon! 
Athira / Aths said…
I'm definitely enjoying my vacation, but I guess I'll be back home this weekend, sigh... !
Athira / Aths said…
That's strange! Do you have the 'Blogs I'm Following' list also in the reader? It seems when I follow a blog using that Followers gadget, and also add that blog to one of my personal lists within the reader, unsubscribing from google reader doesn't remove from the 'Blogs I'm Following' list. Maybe you're having the same problem?
Athira / Aths said…
I'm enjoying Silver Sparrow a lot! I can't wait to discuss it either! I also hope reading and blogging happens more frequently for me!
Athira / Aths said…
LOL! I feel better already. I do want to read that book too though. :) 
Athira / Aths said…
I'm going to try getting my hands on some of the Tournament books if I can. They are all books 
I want to read, so I'll give it a swing.
Athira / Aths said…
Thanks so much! I'm impressed by the list too.
nomadreader said…
Hope you two are enjoying your newlywed days! I'm planning to read all of the Tournament of Books before it starts. Thankfully, I've already read 8 of them!
Athira / Aths said…
That's wonderful that you have already read 8 of them. Not too many left to go on. I'll be looking for your thoughts on the remaining ones, and possibly see your choices of who should win in each round?
nomadreader said…
Yes, I hope to share my picks and predictions for each match-up. I'm toying with the idea of doing a week at a time or one by one (and it may vary by my passion for a particular matchup!)
Care said…
So it a vacation or a honeymoon of sorts?  Congratulations?  and Happy Bloggiversary!  Did you ever get to Neuromancer?  Just wondering. ;)   and I would love advice on how you tamed your Google Reader.  I can't even open it without breaking out in hives.
Buriedinprint said…
The month has just slipped past for me, too, even though there's been no travel or big change or anything to explain that sensation. I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed your time away and that the process of returning is nicely underway by now, so that you can get back to your "real books". I've read 5 of the Tournament books; I'm not going to work very hard at the remaining titles, but I do have two of them at hand, and I hope to finished a few before the discussions begin in earnest; I'd like to take it on more seriously, but I've had a few reading projects of late and I'm reluctant to add another just now!
Athira / Aths said…
Wow, it's taken me four months to reply. :) I never got to Neuromancer. :( I think I already messaged you in Goodreads, but I forget.


What I did to my Reader is set up some folders. There are a few bloggers I visit every day or every other day. I have them in a folder named like (b0-favs). The number is so that it gets listed first in the Reader and I don't have to go hunting for it. Then there's one folder for people I visit once every few days. And then another folder for all my bookish news, etc. I figured rather than categorizing the feeds by their type, might as well categorize based on how often I visit each.