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Showing posts from June, 2016

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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

On the Hunt for the Next Audiobook | The Book Update

Last two weeks were somewhat heavy on reading (heavy for me). I've started defaulting to reading whenever I get a few free minutes, rather than browsing through the interwebs or playing WordWhizzle on my phone. I'm hoping that this continues because I desperately want to read 10 other books right now and am just about trying to focus on a couple instead. Finished reading Over the past two weeks, I finished two wonderful books.  God Help the Child  was my first Toni Morrison that I read, plus it crosses off one author from my Summer Reading List . I loved the writing and the bold ideas that Morrison explores in this book but was somewhat underwhelmed by the plot. Under the Banner of Heaven  by Jon Krakauer was more a mixed bag, compared to his other books. There were plenty of chapters that I found very fascinating with much of it making me angry and not very hopeful for humanity. It mainly explores the 1984 murder of Brenda and Erica Lafferty (the latter a 1.5 year old b

Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar

"Siberia," historically, has been less a geographical designation than a state of mind, a looming threat—the frozen hell on earth to which czarist and Communist Russias sent their political undesirables. In 1959, nine highly experienced hikers ventured to hike the Ural Mountains. All except one were students at the Ural Polytechnical Institute and were highly skilled mountain climbers. Part of the reason they were making this particular trip was due to their passion for this activity but the other reason was because they got credits at school for completing such treks. Despite being lauded as some of the most experienced hikers ever, none of them (except one) were going to return from this hiking trip. The lone survivor had turned back much earlier due to a severe back injury that only threatened to get worse. When the rescue party came across their campsite weeks later, they were puzzled by what they saw. The contents of the camp looked undisturbed, as if

Father's Day and Yummy Breakfasts | This Week's Five

1. Happy Father's Day Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful dads out there. This is the husband's first as a father, of course, and Shreya I got him a Fitbit to replace the old Flex that has been giving him a lot of trouble lately. I love that the newer Fitbits show the step count (and more stats) right on the screen of the gadget itself. 2. The Storm We had a big bad storm hit our area on Thursday night. The news had been warning about it all day but I confess not to have taken it seriously. We get thunderstorms often and sure, they do sound scary when they happen and also move our grill from one place to another in the back deck, but they have never done more damage than out the power for a while. However, this was the worst storm I had ever seen/heard. In retrospect, I realized that we should have headed straight to the basement but that thought didn't hit me then. I woke up in the morning to see a huge white rectangular something in our front yard. I figu

Five Authors I need to read this Summer | Summer Reading List

I don't typically do any special reading over the summer. I love the idea of it but there is nothing that makes summer an extra special reading season for me. Nor is it a worse reading season, for that matter. So I wasn't going to make any special reading lists when it's hard enough to follow a list. Still, there's been one project I've been hoping to undertake for a while and whether it's the summer or not, I'd like to jump right into it. I have a giant list of authors I wish I had already read by now. But their immense popularity among readers means that their name is now associated with a feeling of intimidation - what if I don't 'get' this author? Or what if I did, but didn't like the author's writing at all? Since I do really want to like this author's writing so much, I end up not reading any of the authors' books preferring instead to continue admiring this author without worrying about ruining that sentiment. But I'

The Happy Marriage by Tahar Ben Jelloun

Whenever you’re struck by misfortune, either through an illness or an accident, the people around you suddenly change. There are those who scurry off the sinking ship, like rats, those who wait to see how the situation develops before making their next move, and finally those who remain loyal to their feelings and whose behavior doesn’t change. The Happy Marriage is, as most books with such titles go, the story of a marriage that is anything but happy. Our protagonist is a very successful and well-known painter who had just suffered a stroke and is now reminiscing on his marriage as he recuperates. His marriage started off being ideal and bliss but over time, cracks had started appearing in it. According to him, his wife was manipulative, cunning, and not supportive of him or his career. She sometimes deliberately made life difficult for him - by firing his agent or his chauffeur or his nurse. Throughout his complaining, he never faults himself or the fact that he sleeps with ot

On a fantasy kick | The Book Update

Through much of May, books have been taking a backseat. I began to listen (and sing along) to music in the car and chose to aimlessly browse the webs during my usual reading times. I'm not sure what caused the low reading morale then but the reading mojo is back. Been back for a week now, and probably thanks to... Finished reading Saga : Read. This. Series. That's all I can say. It is just the kind of fantasy I love (intergalactic) and yet it's not about space at all. Makes sense? It is about earth today and all the virtual boundaries between different races. Of war and a love that threatens to end the war. Of a couple's determination to give the best life possible to their daughter. Oh, I could go on but the short answer is that this is a fabulous series that everyone should read. Currently reading Under the Banner of Heaven : The only reason I am reading this book is because it's written by Jon Krakauer, whose Into Thin Air , Into The Wild , and Missou

Reading and Running | This Week's Five

1. Cape Cod Vacation Last weekend, we were at Cape Cod. We didn't really go anywhere while we were there but we did catch a glimpse of one of the island's famed lighthouses and spent a morning playing ball at a beach. Much of the weekend was spent basking in the pond beside the house we rented. They had kayaks, pedal boats, paddle boards, bikes, and billiards / ping pong / air hockey tables - something for everyone in the group. It was a very relaxing weekend. Our return wasn't that smooth however. Our connection flight from Charlotte got canceled because a storm system was moving through town and all flights were grounded. It was quite the sight - everything motionless outside. As hard as it was for us to sit at our gate for hours waiting for the next flight, I am sure it was worse for those passengers still trapped inside their planes, waiting for the storm to pass. 2. Reading Saga The husband and I have been reading Saga since last night. I believe he is t