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Showing posts from October, 2013

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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

What's Reading this Week! (Oct 28, 2013)

The spookiest day in the world is coming up soon, and in my book that is the beginning of the end of the year. Although I read very little during the first half of the year, the second half made up for it mostly. Over the last two weeks, I finished only two books - Monsters of Men and The Perks of Being a Wallflower . I enjoyed the Chaos Walking trilogy quite a bit and Monsters of Men brought it to a nice conclusion. Since I never reviewed any of the books of this trilogy, I'll do it in one post. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was an amazing read. It brought to mind another book - Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian but I think I loved this one more. It was sad, moving and occasionally made me worried for the narrator but it was also very uplifting and made me feel very hopeful by the end. Next in the list Last night, I started reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, which is another title that I've been intimidate

The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke

Sometimes an answer doesn't come in one go. Sometimes it has so many layers to it that it takes time for the person to tell you what they really mean. Ten-year old Alex Connolly's best friend is a demon. A 9000-year old demon called Ruen. He sees other demons too, occasionally, and sometimes they laugh at him or his mom but he ignores them. He only speaks to Ruen, who sometimes controls or bribes him to do things he doesn't want to do. Like hurt or kill people. When Alex's mom attempts suicide and is taken to a psychiatric facility to be treated, Alex's social worker, Michael, tries to arrange a suitable alternative for Alex. Unfortunately for him, the psychiatric facility has other plans for Alex. Dr. Anya Molokova has been assigned Alex's case. Even though Michael is against separating mother and son, Anya brings her own baggage to the decision table. Having lost her daughter by not seeking enough professional help, she is determined not to repeat tha

The Sunday Salon: Book Sale!

Good morning, Sunday Saloners! It's been cold this weekend, more so than usual, and that's messed with the routine a bit. The weather is perfect for relaxing by the fire pit in our backyard, and reading on the iPad, as we did last night. Yesterday, we visited a farm about a half hour from here and did a nice farm tour to see the animals they had. Despite living in Central-Southwest Virginia for five years now, I had never been to a farm in the US. It was quite nice to see a non-commercialized animal farm and trust that there are places that breed and rear animals in a much humane way. Of course, as the husband pointed out to me, they all go to the slaughterhouse eventually, so it's not much consolation. It was sad though when we passed by their turkey enclosures, knowing that they're going to be in the store's poultry section in a month. On Friday, we had a Friends of the Library book sale. The husband, brother and I bought home quite a good pile. Even be

The Dinner by Herman Koch

The first thing that struck you about Claire’s plate was its vast emptiness. Of course I’m well aware that, in the better restaurants, quality takes precedence over quantity, but there are voids and then there are voids. The void here, that part of the plate on which no food at all was present, had clearly been raised to a matter of principle. I wish I had reviewed this one right away when I read it 7 months ago. I loved The Dinner so much that I rated it 5 stars almost immediately. Usually, I let myself subconsciously ponder the book for a few days, bash it a bit, compare thoughts, criticize and praise it some before I come to a complete opinion about the book. With this one, I was almost blown away by its construction, and more than willing to overlook its somewhat lackluster ending. The Dinner is set through an entire dinner in a nice posh restaurant, where two couples are meeting to discuss a certain sensitive matter. Our narrator, Paul, makes it clear to the reader that

What's Reading this Week! (Oct 14, 2013)

It feels good to summarize my reading after doing a readathon . I had a couple of so-so reading weeks and then finished two books on Saturday.  I finished Maus couple of weeks back, for the second time and loved it more than I did, the first time, if that's even possible . I read it slower the second time and discovered a lot of new things. Soon after, I picked up the " Maus encyclopedia", MetaMaus , which was a treasure to read! If any of you are Maus fans, you should read this one too. In addition, I finished Quarantine (quite good) by Rahul Mehta and The House on Mango Street (just okay) by Sandra Cisneros. Next in the list I'm a quarter of my way through Monsters of Men , which I'm enjoying. The Chaos Walking series has been a lot of fun to read, even though it's taken me awhile to get to it. I'm waiting to pick up The Perks of Being a Wallflower next. This is another book that's got a lot of positive vote. Reviews posted 1.  Ni

The Sunday Salon: The Day after a readathon

Good morning, Sunday Saloners! I woke up just about an hour and a half ago, got some muffins into the oven, made my cup of tea and am sitting at my desk, browsing, reading and doing everything a lazy Sunday morning is supposed to be about. I have some office work I need to finish today, but hopefully, it doesn't transform into a day-long affair. Rue, trying to insist that playing with her is more fun than reading. Yesterday, I participated in Dewey's readathon, after 3 years. Last time I did it, I read through the entire 24 hours, so that by morning, I was woozy and nauseated and having the beginnings of a migraine. But I loved it! The downside was that the readathon led to a long reading rut - all that reading just burned me out. There's a first time for everything. This time, I read at my pace - took breaks, went shopping, went browsing in B&N, made sure the husband wasn't bored out of his mind with my reading, and slept by 1 am. I did finish both the

The readathon is here!

Updated: Hour 14 Second book done. At this point, I've finished both the books I planned for the readathon and I'm super happy! I had to sneak out two hours ago to go drool over some books at the local Barnes & Noble, but now I'm back and ready to pick the next book. I'll mostly pick Monsters of Men , which is book #3 of the Chaos Walking trilogy . Books finished: 2 Pages: 514 Before that, some questions from Hour 12: How are you doing? Sleepy? Are your eyes tired?  Not really. I could probably go on for another 4-5 hours. Woohoo! What have you finished reading?  I'm done with two books so far - MetaMaus and Quarantine. Hoping to get at least half of a third book in before I throw in my towel. What is your favorite read so far?  I would say MetaMaus. It was super-awesome! What about your favorite snacks?  Can't say I snacked much. My feeling off-color for past few days has something to do with that. Have you found any new blogs thr

Night by Elie Wiesel

I learned after the war the fate of those who had stayed behind in the hospital. They were quite simply liberated by the Russians two days after the evacuation. Elie Wiesel is not a new name in the book world. I don't remember when I first heard of him - all I know is that as soon as I started following the social world of books, everyone thrust Night at me. When I heard words like moving, amazing, profound, associated with this book, I imagined a hefty volume filled with lots of sad notes. When my copy arrived at home by mail (few years back), the size raised my eyebrows - this book is real slim! And finally, when I got to it early this year, I was even more surprised that although this book is sad, it is not in the written-to-make-you-cry manner. Every time I read a Nazi concentration camp book like this one, I end up wondering how I would have fared, had I been born Jewish in Nazi Europe during WWII. It's a hard pill to swallow - every book I read amplifies the ima

The Sunday Salon: When rereading is more enjoyable than reading a book the first time

I've been rereading The Complete Maus over the last week and a half. Certainly an eternal period for someone who whizzes through graphic books. In fact, the first time I read Maus , I finished it within two weekdays. And then I spent a long time wondering how to review it and where to start. By the time, I considered writing the review, I had forgotten all the little things about the book and could just recollect the main essence of the book. That was sad because Maus was so complex and so profound that it felt a pity to not be able to remember it all by rote. When Art Speigelman's new book, MetaMaus , was released last year, I spent some fan-angst moments in front of the book and then walked away because of the frightening price. The husband, thankfully, thought otherwise and gifted both The Complete Maus and MetaMaus for Valentine's Day last year. Let me begin by explaining how beautiful the books looked. I'm a sucker for bound books with beautiful cover a

September in review

After a long season of minimal reading, I finally had a month of a lot more reading, though not quite where I want to be. Still, no complaints, it's good to just be reading something most of the time. Fall is the season of TV and it's no different over here. The Voice, The Vampire Diairies, The Walking Dead, and Once Upon a Time are what I mainly watch. I'm still catching up on Supernatural, so that is more in the category of binge-watching. (On a side note, it's funny that I watch shows I would never read about on books. Magic? Vampires? Zombies? Give me a book having one of those and I will groan heavily.) Last month I read... Wish I could read this again: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman The dud: Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish  by David Rakoff. Reviews posted... The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman How to be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman Attachments by Rainbow Rowell Oth