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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 Sunday Salon: Where did this week go?

The Sunday 
Salon.com

This week...

This has been one crazy week, so much so that I was very surprised when Thursday rolled around and then Friday. And of course, it's Sunday already because the weekends go by much faster. I had been having a somewhat uneventful week at work for the first first couple of days but then many big things came up together that swamped the rest of the week. I still have some more work to finish before tomorrow, so I'm going to have to spend some time today on getting that in order.

One good aspect of having a week that flew by is that it IS already Sunday and the husband will be back tonight from his short India trip. This time, it was a lot easier being by myself than it was in December because I am not sick anymore (I could barely eat anything in December), the weather is wonderful and cheery, and there is a lot of motivation to do a lot from my self-imposed list of "stuff to do before the baby comes".


The baby update...

I spent a huge chunk of yesterday building our baby registry. I had been tinkering with it for a few minutes every once in a while for the past month but it wasn't getting anywhere. What's worse is a lot of the items look like stuff you can easily live without but many still recommend it as the most useful thing they ever got. I'm trying to be extra mindful, especially since I'm still in a decluttering phase and don't want to buy something I may use for a month or two, only to watch it get relegated to the donate box. This is hard work. But I'm 28 weeks now and I better get this thing going while I still have the energy to do a lot of tedious work.

Last night, I went for a one-year old's birthday party and with all the kids running havoc at the venue, I did get a scary reminder of how much life is going to change. I do get that moment every once in a while though most of the time, I am excited and looking forward to it. Not helping at all was all the oodles of advice and tips I got from other mothers - all good advice, of course - but still it's stuff that's new to me and I don't have much to compare with, unless you consider having a dog as a lot of work, which it is, but it becomes your life and they are creatures of routine so everything is predictable.


Reading...

I'm still reading The Magicians. I imagined I'd zoom through the book, much like how I read each of the Harry Potter books, but either I must be getting old or books don't do the same thing to me or this book just wasn't the kind. With all the work I had this week, I was mostly tired in the evenings. Couple of evenings, I pretty much dozed off in the living room with the book on my lap.

Are you doing the readathon next week? I'm still undecided but likely won't. I have penciled in some chores for next weekend that just need to be done so reading probably will end up getting slotted for bedtime. It's been a long time since I did a readathon. The first time I participated, I was still at grad school - my roommate also joined in and we had a lot of fun reading through the night. I wanted to do one before the baby comes and I may still try and do it another weekend, but night-outs are certainly out. I'm still going to see how I can get a mostly reading weekend next week, in which case, I may try to get in on the readathon bandwagon.

Comments

I'd do the readathon...except I'm working. I only work one Saturday a month and this Saturday happens to be this month's Saturday. It seems like it always works that way with readathons or events I want to participate in. Hope you can find the time to participate, though.
Care said…
I haven't officially committed to the readathon because I will be traveling but that also usually means I will have good reading time. so... Maybe.
BEST to you in getting ready for baby! I have no advice. :D
Diane D said…
The baby wish list is always fun to plan. Can't believe u only have 3+ months left.
JoAnn @ Lakeside Musing said…
Hope your husband had a safe trip home. No readathon for me... we'll get home from our road trip on Friday and I'm sure the weekend will be crazy. Hope to join in for the fall event though.
bermudaonion(Kathy) said…
Don't pay any attention to all that advice and trust your instincts. I know you'll be glad to have your hubby home with you.
Alex (Sleepless Reader) said…
I remember my Amazon
babylist was also full of what I thought then were useless things. Some
actually where. For instance, I almost didn't use the baby monitor, we just turned on the AngelCare (because my husband was really
scared of SUNDS).
Our apartment was small enough that we could hear the baby from everyroom anyway. Things I didn't have enough of: baby blankets. I know they're a bit price expensive, but
I absolutely love my Aden + Anais muslin ones.
Ti Reed said…
People who give advice DO mean well but it can be overwhelming to hear so much of it at once.


As for the registries, they are good for the big stuff but so much of what I ended up getting was useless. Both kids spent so much time in onsies... I need ten times more of those than what I had.
literaryfeline said…
I hope your husband had a safe return flight! I imagine you are glad to have him home again. :-)


I remember the registering process all too well! I'm with you. I wondered why anyone could need some of that stuff. And then most people didn't get me things I'd registered for anyway. It worked out though.


One thing I feel very lucky for was that one of my friends had twins four months before Mouse was born. She handed down all of her daughter's clothes as her daughter out grew them. I will forever be grateful. I didn't have to buy my daughter clothes for the first year of her life. I never turned down the opened packages of diapers her kids out grew either.


I probably won't participate in the read-a-thon. It's hard for me to give up a weekend day and devote it to reading even if I want to. I admire those who are able to manage it with young kids in the home.


I hope you have a great week!
Yeah, The Magicians isn't a tear-through-it-at-breakneck-speed kind of book. When I want something like that, I'm increasingly turning to YA trilogies. I like to save a few YA trilogies up for when I'm in that kind of mood, and then binge on them on the weekend. (Just got done doing that, in fact! The Sarah Rees Brennan Lynburn Legacy trilogy! And it was excellent!)
Helen Murdoch said…
Okay, Ihave been away WAY too long because I didn't know you are pregnant! I am so excited for you!! It really is the most exhausting and amazing thing you'll ever do. Congratulations!
Trish said…
Ha! The thing about motherhood is every mother has her opinion! You'll get your footing...and the life that you have now? I'm not sure you'll remember it in a year. And I mean that in a very good way. It is overwhelming at times, but you adjust and you just DO. It really is amazing how that all works out in the end.


My last dedicated readathon was when I was 38 weeks pregnant with Elle. Now it falls on her birthday weekend every April! I'm hoping I can ship everyone out of the house in October and participate most of the time. :) If you participate, I hope you have a great time! Sounds like a perfect excuse to relax with a good book or two.
Athira / Aths said…
Sorry you couldn't participate in the readathon. I wasn't sure I could either but somehow managed to reorganize the weekend somewhat. It did make my Sunday busier than the Saturday would have been but it worked out in the end.
Athira / Aths said…
I find that I cannot read much during a readathon. Something to do with the travel bug, I'm sure.
Athira / Aths said…
It sure is a lot of fun to plan, until I have to start buying items off the buy list, lol.
Athira / Aths said…
You had a wonderful road trip back home! I would take that any day over reading at home, but... it sure would have been great if the two didn't collide. I know I have wished for that many times.
Athira / Aths said…
It feels so good to have him home. But he is gone this week again for a training. Grrr!
Athira / Aths said…
I guess that's my worry - you can never say what is going to be useful until the baby comes here. So I try to separate the absolute must-haves (diapers, cribs, etc) from the nice-to-haves (monitors, carriers, etc). It's difficult and I appreciate all the tips I get. It just makes it hard to decide whether I need something or not. :-)
Athira / Aths said…
I do appreciate all the suggestions and advice I have been getting (heck, I know I won't be able to resist from imparting a couple of my choice wisdoms either lol), but it sure makes it hard to decide what I want to buy for the baby NOW vs what can wait. It's funny that one kid would love to be put in a swing, and another one would absolutely detest it. Oh well.
Athira / Aths said…
That's sort of why I decided to do the readathon. I doubt I will be able to do it after little kiddo is here, at least for a few years. So I wanted to dive in while I still could.

Our best friends have been handing down their clothes and other baby products too and that has been super helpful. But I hear what you say - it is hard deciding what to buy before baby is born.
Athira / Aths said…
YA trilogies are certainly the books to read when you want something fast-paced! I haven't read one in a long time though - will have to look at some of the ones I missed.
Athira / Aths said…
On the plus side, if you ever forget Elle's birthday (God forbid) or the April readathon, you always have a reminder. :-) I remember once we got our dog I was so worried about how much life will change and whether I will adjust well, and now I barely even remember the days without her. You're right - life will change, but it will mostly be in a good way and then it will be the new routine.