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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

After the holidays | Weekly Snapshot

Happy New Year again, fellow readers! Three days into this new year - how are we all doing? 



The week that was

We had my husband's brother's family over for this week and it felt so good to meet them after so long. Like us, they stay home most of the time, barring the occasional grocery runs, so we agreed that a visit will do us all good. Whenever they have visited us in the past (pre-Covid), we've made short day trips or gone shopping often. It was funny that we did none of that this time and still had loads of fun. We watched a lot of movies, played board games, and spent the night of New Year's Eve listening to our favorite current and classic songs. My daughter and her aunt danced away to K-pop while my son took joy in waking everyone up at 6 in the morning even when we had stayed up late the previous night. They just left this morning and so, we're going to spend much of today doing very little and getting ready for the week. 


Wrapping up and Planning ahead

Over the last two weeks, I've spent a ton of time looking ahead to the new year and wondering where I want my reading to take me. I find I am always in two minds over the course of a year. I often crave having no plans to follow and just go with the flow, whereas other times, I look for the compass and wonder what happened to that reading structure I spent some time building earlier in the year. I know most of you are like that - and so, like always, when I make reading goals, I plan for both personas. Or rather, I plan for one persona but also account in the unpredictability of the other persona. By this weekend, I have my reading goals all set so I hope to share them shortly.


Reading

I did not finish any book this past week - in fact, I didn't read much at all this week. I did finish 2001: A Space Odyssey the previous week and I loved it except for the ending. I didn't hate the ending; just didn't care for it.



Currently, I am in between three books. Usually that means, I'm not making progress with any of them so it will be a while before I finish something.

  • For my first book of the year, I picked up Barack Obama's A Promised Land. I'm only one chapter in but so far, I love it. I'm hoping to read a chapter (or at least a few pages) a day though to be honest, I don't usually enjoy reading to such a schedule. So I'll go with what works.
  • I also started reading Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, which is also one that I am reading only a few pages of at a time. This one comes heavily recommended by Bryan. I am hoping to make a habit of meditation this year though I'll let the rush of the new year pass before I jump into it. 
  • The other book I'm only a few pages in is The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. This is honestly a new-to-me book that I only recently heard of and then borrowed from the library. Not very far in yet but if my week isn't too busy, I may be able to finish it this week.


Watching

Gosh, we must have watched something every night this past week. Soul, Wonder Woman 1984, Tenet, Ice Age 4, Planes: Fire and Rescue, Greyhound, Fellowship of the Ring, and many more. In the midst of all this, I also finished watching the last episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, so the husband and I are going to start bingeing on Discovery (we had watched the first few episodes a long time ago but didn't continue with it then).


On the blog


I'm not doing any New Year's resolutions - haven't done in a while, but I have several things I want to try or sample. What about you? Any non-bookish resolutions or plans for 2021?


Linking with The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz and The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Reviewer.


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