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
Happy Memorial Day in advance to my US readers! Hope you are having a good long weekend.
This week (and weekend)...
I spent much of this week waiting for the weekend. Not that we (or rather I) had any major plans for the weekend. The husband's friend is visiting us right now and the two of them have plenty of plans lined up - they visited the Natural Bridge, Caverns, and Zoo yesterday and came home super tired and happy. I did nothing but read, but I promise I felt more tired than they did. Today they are planning to visit Shenandoah National Park and Luray Caverns, and tomorrow, take part in an archery session at Wintergreen resort, which I plan to do as well.
Three days back, I stretched my legs when I woke up in the morning and instantly cramped both my calves. I have no idea where that came from and I've been mostly penguin-limping since then. The cramps have reduced a LOT today so I hope they're on the way out. At this point (33 weeks), I am pretty close to being done with being pregnant - only close, I still love every minute of this journey, even if it means I cannot hike or walk too much or be anywhere that doesn't have a restroom. But this week has been tough - sleeping is hard, trying to sleep is hard, walking is hard, having energy to do anything at all is hard. More reason to love having a stay-at-home weekend for myself.
Reading...
Then I went back to Flowers for Algernon, of which I have just a quarter more left. I know the remainder of the book is going to be a tough read but I am bracing myself for it. On the other hand, I am a little bothered by the portrayal of women in this book - they just have no substance to their character, all they exist for is to propel the protagonist's story forward.
Last week, I also went and picked up Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In from my library. When I checked my library catalog, I was surprised to see that they had a lot of copies available, but most of them were checked out and expected to be returned on the same day next month. Turns out, my library's book club is reading it this month. I would love to go join the discussions but I don't expect my next few weeks to be that free. I did start reading Lean In, and so far enjoy the voice of the author.
This weekend is unexpectedly turning into a readathon weekend. This morning, I decided to just read for much of this weekend and not do any chores. After Algernon, I am thinking of reading Annie Barrows' The Truth According to Us. You may remember Annie Barrows as the co-author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Unlike the latter book, The Truth According to Us is a chunkster but luckily, I have it in both ebook and print format so that should make for a quicker reading.
How is your weekend going? I hope you have plenty planned as well - reading and otherwise. Are any of you going to BEA this week?
Comments
I've been hearing from many women that they had cramps while pregnant. One of my friends just told me the same yesterday. Now I feel better about it. It was bumming me so much to complain about it.
I hope you have a great week, Athira!
My co worker had her baby this past weekend. Made me think of you.
My week is crazy but I am trying to read A Little Life and All The Light We Cannot See in the mornings before work. It's the only uninterrupted reading time I have.