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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

Some 'firsts' in this new-normal world | Weekly Snapshot

I almost didn't make it here today! It's been an insanely busy week that's going to continue into today.



Life

This week has been a combination of busy at work and busy at home. The kids did not have school on Monday, which is also typically my busiest day at work. So when Monday ended, I felt as if I sucked at both life and work. The rest of the week was better - at least I was able to keep work and life separate. 

This weekend just happens to be one of those when I have so much to do - thanks to the many tasks and chores deferred from previous days/weekends. We were getting quotes for some home improvement projects, had to start prepping rooms for my parents' arrival next month (mainly because I still haven't moved my daughter's online school materials out of the room from the Fall school year), and do lots of seasonal shopping. If it weren't going to be constantly raining this entire weekend, I would be prepping my garden beds as well, but now that needs to wait for next week.

This week, we had a few firsts in a year. The husband and I had lunch at a restaurant indoors (yummy Mexican!) - luckily, it was empty except for the two of us. We were in downtown for an appointment that ended much earlier than expected so we had time to grab a bite. While I wasn't too sure about eating indoors, even if vaccinated, I braved through. Another day, we also browsed at a mall, mainly because we needed to shop at one particular store that was located there. Here's something I never thought I'd say - I missed browsing and shopping at a mall! The parking lot was almost full and that had us worried but it wasn't crowded inside. So without intending to, we had some post-vaccination pandemic-year firsts, and it felt good. That said - there is still that feeling of guilt gnawing at me, even though we were all masked and kept our distance. Wonder if that feeling will ever stop. 


Reading

Last week, I did get through at least one book a day - my favorite read was George Takei's They Called Us Enemy. I had been holding off on reading that since I first saw it on the Hoopla lists but finally caved in and read it this past week. Beautiful, haunting, and a must-read. Especially hard to read it in today's US climate.

I also gave Avatar: The Last Airbender a try by reading The Promise. And... I don't think this is for me. It was fun but also too silly. Maybe I'll wait for someone to convince me that I should give it one more chance.



I didn't pick up The Alice Network this week because I didn't get many opportunities to listen to an audiobook. Otherwise, I am still reading through Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead and enjoying it. I also started reading Something Unbelievable, thinking I can read it in time to make release date but nah, I don't think that's happening. Both are very good and engrossing books though.


On the blog

How many of you use Bloglovin? I've recently started using that site and while it is not as great as Feedly, in my opinion, I did need to split out the blog feeds I follow into a new place, and Bloglovin works well for that. Follow my blog with Bloglovin


What is (or would be) the first thing you'd do to celebrate post-pandemic or being vaccinated?


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

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