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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 Week in Books (10/15-10/21)


This past week has been a pretty good reading week for me. I did finish a couple of reads, abandon one and start yet another. This year has been mostly a long phase of patchy reading, and while this is no sign of a change in that, it's nice to have weeks like these. Even though I tell myself that number of books read is not important as long as I am reading and enjoying what I read, it's still hard to not be disappointed that I only have 34 read books this year (and about 10-15 short stories).

This week I read...
- What the Zhang Boys Know by Clifford Garstang, is a short story collection, which usually tends to never work for me. But I have to say that this book was tremendously enjoyable! I would even love to say that this is the book that changes my perspective on short story collections, but it's too early to say that.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling: After two years, I'm again doing another reread of this series. The first few books are not as enjoyable to me as the last few, but there is always something different that I find captivating. This time, Hermione's
"We could all have been killed -- or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."
cracked me up a lot.


Currently I'm reading...
- Things Your Dog Doesn't Want you to Know by Hy Conrad and Jeff Johnson: Every day, I read a few stories out of this hilarious book. I've found that to be the best way with this one, and each story is just two pages long. So far, some of the "revelations" have made me wish that our dog could talk so that I could confirm with her!
- American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis: I wanted to read this one for the Dueling Monsters, then changed my mind about it, and then Ti's review made me want to read it again! At page 40, I'm finding this book too boring and all the mentions of clothing, shoe and even toothpaste brands is driving me mad. Those of you who read it, please tell me that it gets better!


Purchased
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Picked at the Library
- Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie: If I make sufficient progress on the Psycho book, this chunkster is what I'm hoping to read the coming weekend.

Abandoned
- Vagina by Naomi Wolf: I wanted to read this one ever since I heard news about this title being censored over at Apple iTunes. Unfortunately, I managed only a chapter, as I got bored by the heavy descriptions of how sacred and mythical and <more adjectives> the vagina is.

Comments

bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
My husband read American Psycho a few years ago and he said all the brand stuff got to him too. He thought the book was rather sick. Have a great week!
softdrink said…
I don't know that "better" is a word I would ever use in conjunction with American Psycho. The brand names become a kind of running commentary in the background. You tend to forget about it as he focuses on, ummm...other things.
Tina Reed said…
The brand name dropping never goes away but you learn to appreciate them. Mainly because they are the only break you get in between the violence. Seriously, the name dropping didn't bother me at all by the time I was done with it.
zibilee said…
I am reading The Passage in preparation for the next book, and I just finished Bring Up the Bodies on audio. That was an amazing book if you liked Wolf Hall!
Colleen said…
I am very interested in Rushdie's book - he seems a fascinating character!
Kim Ukura said…
I really want to re-read Harry Potter. I've read the first four books a few times, but I don't think I've reread the last three in a long time. I was thinking about doing a marathon over my Christmas break, but we'll see how it goes :)