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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

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore


Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
But I kept at it with the help-wanted ads. My standards were sliding swiftly. At first I had insisted I would only work at a company with a mission I believed in. Then I thought maybe it would be fine as long as I was learning something new. After that I decided it just couldn't be evil. Now I was carefully delineating my personal definition of evil.

Thanks to the Great Recession, Clay Jannon is out of a job along with countless other people, and has been idling his time looking through the Classifieds and job websites. During one of his strolls through a San Francisco street, he comes across a midnight store clerk vacancy posting on the wall of the strangest looking bookstore ever. Knowing fully well that he may not be the intended applicant but feeling worried about his lack of job prospects, he takes the job, subject to certain conditions - no browsing through books in the Way Back Shelves (I forget what it was called in the book), and he had to note down details of every single customer in a book. Not expecting much activity during his night shift, he is greeted by the opposite instead. There are all kinds of customers who come to check out books from the Way Back Shelves and not buy anything. Also, they seem to be very purposeful when they request a book - almost as if they were hunting for clues for their next read in their current book.

After hearing about the charm and bookishness and eccentricities of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, I was quite eager to read it. It did turn out to be charming and very bookish, and some characters were even eccentric, but I also found it very silly, boring and filled with one-dimensional characters.

There is a lot going on in this book - a very mysterious book society that has been in existence for a few centuries, a secret code hidden in a much-used font type, a marriage of technology and books to try to solve a mystery. I liked how the author tried to bring books and technology together to wage a war between the two. I especially enjoyed it when he talked about a few technologies I had worked with or heard about - it's lovely when a book geeks you out. And it was fast-paced.

But, that's all I really liked about the book. The mystery felt really poor-constructed, and the final revelations were hastily narrated. I didn't particularly like any of the characters - they all felt heavily stereotyped (which, I realize, was the point), but what bugged me was how it seemed that each character had some ability that was put to use in this story. It was overwhelming at one point.

There is a lot of mention of Google. Really a lot. Some of my book club members that I read this book with didn't enjoy all that name-dropping, so if you tend to get annoyed with Google this, Google that, Google is great chatter, then this book is probably not for you. It didn't bother me much - I guess, because I hear that a lot in my real life, both at work and at home, but I definitely didn't find the Google-mentions subtle.

Despite the issues I had with Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, it was a page-turner. I have gotten into the habit of putting down a book if it wasn't working for me anymore, but luckily, I didn't have to do that to this book. Although I didn't care much for the characters or the book, I did want to know more about the secret society and what sort of mystery its members were trying to crack.


I borrowed this book from the good old library.


Comments

bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
I've heard great things about this so I'm kind of disappointed to see the characters aren't fleshed out all that well.
zibilee said…
I have a thing for books about books, so it sounds like this one might work for me, despite the one-dimensional characters. And it's a good sign that you couldn't put the book down!!
Helen Murdoch said…
Not sure what I think about this one. It sounds like it has so much potential that just kind of fell flat
Aarti said…
Oh, no! I was so excited to hear you rave about this book! Sad that it was boring, but at least that is one off the wish list :-)
Becky (Page Turners) said…
Most of the reviews that I have read have been very similar to yours. "Read good reviews, but it didn't meet expectations". I am hoping that means that when I finally get around to reading it I will be able to enjoy it.
Athira / Aths said…
That disappointed me greatly. I wasn't thinking it would be a deep read of any sorts but I would have liked better constructed characters.
Athira / Aths said…
I hope you enjoy it a lot more than I did. This book has its merits and was also fun to read at times.
Athira / Aths said…
Yeah, that's kind of what I felt too. It just felt very disappointing overall and if not for an intriguing mystery, I may not have bothered to complete it.
Athira / Aths said…
Yeah, I'm glad I read it because I was always curious about this book. Even though it was disappointing, it was a good mystery.
Athira / Aths said…
Yeah! I find that's usually true for me so I hope it works for you. I liked the mystery in this book but that's it.
Tina Reed said…
Oh no! Silly and boring? Really? That is not good. I had this one on my list but I can't deal with silly.
Lisa Sheppard said…
I'm definitely getting feedback on both sides of the spectrum on this one. Think it's one I'm going to put on the "maybe I'll rethink this one someday" list. I really don't have that list, but you know what I mean!
Vasilly said…
Now I can take this off of my reading list. When you call a book "silly and boring", it's not for me.
Fay_C said…
I have read many different things about this book. Personally I liked it - it reminded me of The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas just something about the whole mystery side of things. I am now on the search for another book like it!
Athira / Aths said…
I liked the mystery aspect of it. I wish there was a little more depth to it.
mayceegreene said…
I read this book very quickly but I was disappointed with the content. It was written as if for a high school boy.

Maycee (Skagway Alaska)