Skip to main content

Featured Post

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! (Apr 28. 2014)

I missed the readathon this weekend, but looks like so many of you had fun while at it. I did have a good reading week otherwise though.


In the car, I finished listening to Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji. This book is the story of a fifteen-year old girl affected by the expulsion of Indians from her home country Uganda. Even though her parents and herself are born Ugandans, their ancestry is Indian. I had mixed feelings about this book - the story was harrowing, but occasionally, the narrator sounded like she could be 8 or 9 years old. Still, I would recommend it. I ended up spending the next four days debating if I should resume listening to the A Game of Thrones audiobook. Finally, I decided not to, as I have a feeling I would enjoy the books much more. Who doesn't like losing themselves in a chunkster epic saga! The husband has stated that he prefers the TV show - besides the book is very very...... slow!

After finally deciding that, I started listening to Does my Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah. So far, I LOVE this book! The narrator is very charming to listen to and her problem (how she would be received after choosing to wear hijab to school, while still keeping her friends and a boy's interest) is a very relatable one, even if I have never grappled with that kind of choice before. (Personally, I think the hijab is a beautiful garment and love it quite a bit.)

On the paper side of things, I finished reading The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and that book is everything I was hoping for it to be. Charming, magical, whimsical, and well-written. I cannot wait to review this one. It is definitely a book I would love to read again, for the first time. Soon after, I started reading A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah - a memoir of a man who was once a child soldier in Sierra Leone. It is harrowing reading but not that tough a read yet. I'm only about 6 chapters in, so I have a long way to go.

What are you reading?

Comments

Great to hear another positive reaction to A.J. Fikry! Everyone is loving that book and I know I have to get to it. Does My Head Look Big in This sounds really interesting, going to check that one out!
ooo the first sounds fun on audio.
readingtheend said…
Oo, I don't know if I could handle the Game of Thrones books on audio. I enjoyed the books, but I liked being able to skim -- you're right, they're veerrrrry slow in parts!
Athira / Aths said…
I loved the Fikry book! Cannot wait to review it.
Athira / Aths said…
Yeah! Being able to skim the books is necessary with a series like Game of Thrones. The author tends to go and describe nonsensical things for a long time before getting to the main point.