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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...

The Sunday Salon: What I've Been Reading


The Sunday 
Salon.com

I meant to write this post sooner. Six days ago. But for some reason, I kept pushing it off and before I knew it, it's Sunday again. After weeks of not blogging regularly, I've sort of forgotten how to do it. Which isn't nice, because when I'm reading all your posts on all the awesome books you're reading, I'm sitting in a corner like a sulking child who wants to be part of the action but doesn't remember yet how to put one foot in front of the other. Maybe I should host a party in my honor just to celebrate my return to blogging. Or maybe I should just blog.

Today afternoon, I picked a book from the library that I had been waiting to read for months. Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman has been getting interesting reviews across the blogosphere. More than the mostly positive feedback, it's the tones of the reviews that impressed me - everyone talking about the book has some very thoughtful and thorough responses to the book. It's not often that I like to hear what everyone thinks about a book beyond the initial slew of reviews. I do like to know if someone liked a book or not, but if I feel that a book has got its time on centerstage, I don't go looking for more reviews about it, if you know what I mean. How to be a Woman, though has been catching my eye all the time. So when I picked the book today from the library, I started reading it right away, despite having one two unfinished books resting somewhere in the house.

Last week I finished The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides - my first by this author. Although the writing of the book reminded me strongly of another book I read last year (The Fates will Find their Way) even though the latter is the newer book, I enjoyed the book enough to want to read more of Eugenides' works. I also read a Jerry Spinelli book, Milkweed, that I had not heard about until my friends in Raleigh gifted me the book for my birthday this year. I initially thought Milkweed was a Newbery Medal winner, but turns out the author won the award for another book. Nevertheless, Milkweed was a wonderful read - harrowing, painful and painting a strong human spirit against the World War 2 in Poland.


I seem to have ended up with a huge review backlog, that I'm hoping to get through in the next few weeks. Books I'm excited about reviewing include The Singer's GunThe Knife of Never Letting GoThe Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt and Battle Royale, which I read five months ago (yikes!). I seem to have forgotten aspects of some of the books, so review-writing is going to be challenging. If there's a book you are interested in hearing about, please let me know, and I'll review them first. In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy what's left of the weekend and read more of what Caitlin Moran thinks about her breasts and body hair.


Comments

Helen Murdoch said…
Sounds like even if your blogging isn't prolific these days your reading is doing just fine. I didn't love Milkweed, but our students seem to like it, which is good. 3 review books... that feels like pressure to me :-)
bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
I've come to realize I'll always have a review backlog. Somehow I've missed How to Be a Woman.
Laurel-Rain Snow said…
I haven't read The Virgin Suicides, but saw (and loved) the movie. I read another book by Eugenides, but didn't especially like it.

Here's

http://accidentalmoments.wordpress.com/2012/09/16/tss-a-week-in-review-sept-16/
Vasilly said…
I can't wait to read your thoughts on The Knife of Never Letting Go and Frankie Pratt. Glad to see you're back.
I hope you'll enjoy Caitlin Moran. It was a little too graphic for me, at times, especially in the first few chapters. But she has some good points to make, too.
Tea Time with Marce said…
I think I like the sound of a party in your honour :-) Can you tell I like parties........
Tina Reed said…
Welcome back! You were missed. I always say the best way to return is to just start right up again. I have been around, but haven't felt much like writing. I have at least 6 reviews that need to be written and I haven't any desire to write them. I feel like shooting the breeze instead, and visiting with my favorite bloggers.