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Inland
Inland | Téa Obreht 
108 posts | 58 read | 2 reading | 45 to read
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Avanders
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Oof guys. This genre is a rough one for me, especially when my brain is struggling with focus! But I‘ve been pushing through and, just past the halfway mark, I think I might actually finish in time for #RealLifeBookGroup next weekend! 🤞ðŸ½

Also, it *has* improved as a read for me with progress… it helped that one of my friends put so eloquently why she felt Nora‘s story was such a page turner: will she ever get a drink of water?! 💦🤭

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VDG
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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“Every day we would go on is home.â€
Haunting story, full of talks with the “other livingâ€, thirst, longing and waiting. And yes, camels and canteens containing rivers and memories.

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ponyflorist
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

Really slow start, I nearly bailed a few times.. but glad I stuck it out. The imagery is wonderful! Ghosts, camels, grave robbing, a mostly catatonic random granny.. it's defo a very different take on the American western theme...

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Billypar
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

Arizona Territory 1893. Missing family members. Drought. Outlaws. Journey. Ghosts. Camels. Those words should be enough to pick up Inland, especially if you've read Obreht's debut The Tiger's Wife. And if you haven't, you definitely should. I went in expecting to be disappointed as you do when you read an author's next book after one you love. But Inland landed pretty close: it's a magician trick of a novel that seems to hold more than its size.

Billypar I was cat sitting for my brother-in-law over Thanksgiving when my Google photos reminded me that I took the top picture exactly three years ago, so I thought this was a good anniversary photo opp. 2y
vivastory The Tiger's Wife has been on my shelves for awhile now. I've heard nothing but great things. 2y
Leftcoastzen 😻 2y
See All 13 Comments
Nute A few years back, The Tiger‘s Wife, was scheduled to be read in my irl Bookclub, but the member that selected it, read it early, didn‘t like so it got nixed in a no-vote kind of way. Your your review has pushed me into action to request reconsideration. 2y
Billypar @vivastory @Nute I feel like The Tiger's Wife reached a level of popularity where after it was embraced it started reaching readers outside of the usual audience for a literary novel that takes its time developing the story and who didn't like the pace. It has over 100,000 Goodreads ratings, but only a 3.42 average. But based on both of your tastes, I think you should really enjoy it. 2y
Ruthiella I also really loved this book. And it‘s SO different from her debut (which I also loved). The Camel Corps (which was real!) and the ultimate fate of Lurie was so bizarre and yet fascinating. This is a western and a ghost story all rolled into one. (edited) 2y
Billypar @Ruthiella I love how different the two are - the only common thread is how well she can craft a good story that is steeped in folklore. And the Camel Corps - what a fascinating snippet of history I would have never known existed. The ending was definitely memorable! 2y
Suet624 I didn‘t know she had written another book. I really liked Tiger‘s Wife. 2y
Billypar @Suet624 Apparently she wrote most of another book after Tiger's Wife only to discover it wasn't working and had to scrap the whole thing, which was why it took so long in between books. 2y
Suet624 I can‘t imagine having to do that. Heck, I can‘t even imagine writing one book 2y
ponyflorist Tigers wife rocked, that's why I grabbed this! 🙂 2y
Billypar @ponyflorist Hope you enjoy it! I don't think it tops Tiger's Wife but not far off either. 2y
ponyflorist Tigers wife is gunna be hard to beat.. 2y
40 likes2 stack adds13 comments
review
quietlycuriouskate
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

I'm not sure what I expected from my first Western, but am fairly confident a camel train wasn't it! ?
This tells the (alternating) stories of homesteader Nora and outlaw Lurie, the connection between them being that they are both aware of the spirits of "the other living". I found Nora's story the more interesting of the two. Would I have liked more made of the supernatural theme? Possibly. It's a good book but it never quite takes off.

rockpools Your review has me intrigued though… 3y
Cortg Try another western! I didn't like her book Tiger Wife much. 3y
SamAnne I liked this read but yeah the camels! 3y
BiblioLitten @Cortg Me neither. 2y
41 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Andorsey
Inland | Téa Obreht 
Bailedbailed

Promising intro and likeable premise but I couldn‘t get into the style of writing and had a hard time resonating with the characters. not for my taste

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cariashley
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

This is historical fiction at its absolute best - such immersive and magical writing. I took my time with it to savor all the details. Obreht makes you feel the stifling Arizona heat and how desperate the characters and the land are for water. Am surprised this has such a low rating here, it‘s wonderful. It happens to be pouring buckets in NYC today, incongruously!

Ruthiella I loved this one too. The two story lines come together so late in the book. I enjoyed the suspense of it. 3y
TheKidUpstairs That cover is stunning 3y
cariashley @Ruthiella me too. The final pages knocked the wind out of me, I didn‘t see it wrapping up that way. So good. 3y
See All 6 Comments
SamAnne I really enjoyed this one too. And appreciated it more as I reflected on it. 3y
KristiAhlers I read this when it was a book club selection for B&N and i loathed it. I‘m glad you enjoyed it. 3y
BarbaraBB The view is still great 😀 3y
57 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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cariashley
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Would like to read my book, but guess that‘s not happening! TV it is 😹 #catsoflitsy #KAL #sullivancat

Liatrek Awe 😻😻 3y
CareBear The things we do for our cats 😻 3y
65 likes2 comments
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AmyG
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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My thrify store finds today! 🙌ðŸ»
$2 each and a signed Tea Obreht.

Ruthiella Score! 😀 3y
mariaku21 Ooh good finds! 3y
squirrelbrain Great finds! 3y
marleed This $2 finds justify all the ones that are, uh, slightly more ;) 3y
92 likes4 comments
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CuriousG
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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I'm posting one book per day from the ever growing unread stacks in my personal library. No description or explanation, just books I own and plan to read. #tbr

Day 18

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SamAnne
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

I will be thinking about this one for awhile. A reimagined Western, turned on its head.

73 likes1 stack add
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SamAnne
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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I'm joining in a day late. Only was able to read a chapter of Mansfield yesterday. My goal this week-end is to make major dents in 2 books I'm reading for book clubs. Loving the tagged book--I am sucked into the story 80 pages in. LIstening to The Honey Bus and enjoying that. Hoping to get 5 hours of reading/audio in. @Eggbeater @MidnightBookGirl @kimmypete1

kimmypete1 Thanks for joining! 3y
Eggbeater Never too late to start reading! Glad you're with us! 3y
40 likes2 comments
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SamAnne
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Diving into this one for a book club and am intrigued.

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Lcsmcat
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

It takes a bit for this book to grab you, but when it does you‘ll want to gulp the rest of it down as if you were Nora and had gone days with no water, and this was the Platte. Be prepared- Obreht‘s writing is vivid enough to make you feel the drought. Believable magical realism, a bit of history you probably never knew (cavalry camels?) and a cast of mostly unlikable characters combine to make a very unusual western. #doublespin

MamaGina And the ending was perfect, I loved this one!🤓 3y
Ruthiella I really enjoyed this too and that the most outrageous stuff ( 🪠camel corp ) was actual history. (edited) 3y
SamAnne I‘ve been meaning to read this one for a year! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
49 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Purpleness
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Lcsmcat
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Here‘s my #bookspin for August. @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Glad to have you back for another round!! 4y
29 likes1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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#pastelCover Although it looks darker in this photo than it does in person. 🤷ðŸ»â€â™€ï¸ #bloomingbibliophiles @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 📚ðŸ‘ðŸ»ðŸ“š 4y
Hooked_on_books Love this cover. Kinda hated the book. 😂 4y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Pretty 💛 4y
45 likes3 comments
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BrownGirlReading
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Panpan

This was my first read by Téa Obreht. This‘d revised western with camels and ghosts never managed to pull me in. Had some interesting themes are puns women‘s rights but as a whole it was a bit of a slog to read.

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GinaKButler
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

The writing in this book is beautiful, but if had not been a book picked for my book club, I would have never finished it. I enjoyed the ending, but it took forever to get there...the book meandered all over the place and there is a ghost/supernatural element that made it difficult to know what was real and what was not. Inland was just not for me. â­ï¸â­ï¸

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GinaKButler
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Our book club‘s pick for the month. I probably never would have picked this up on my own. The cover is so pretty!

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AReedCollett
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

Do you remember in history class about the time the US army thought camels were a great idea for battle in the United States? Yeah, me either but there is an episode about it on the Stuff You Missed in History podcast, so it must have happened. Long story short - it wasn't a good idea.
This book started out interesting and strong, but became a drag for the last 1/3.
#arrcreads #stuffyoumissedinhistory

saguarosally Yes, it was a big thing in history class. But history is different in some parts of the US? 4y
AReedCollett @saguarosally It wasn't covered in the history classes in Oklahoma. 4y
3 likes2 comments
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DMC_run8
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Panpan

To be fair, I hate westerns. But that was one of the categories in this year's reading challenge. The writing was good but it took me 5 weeks to read because I wasn't really that interested in the story or most of the characters. Did I mention I don't like westerns??

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BookishTrish
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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So far liking the book, loving the cover #coverlove

Hooked_on_books I still love the cover, but I really didn‘t like this book at all. 🤷ðŸ¼â€â™€ï¸ 4y
Tanisha_A This photograph is great! 4y
BookishTrish @Tanisha_A Thank you so much! 4y
Cinfhen PRETTY PRETTY photo 4y
Bette Great picture â¤ï¸ðŸ“¸ðŸ‘ 4y
73 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Caterina
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

I read three #OneWordTitle books this month, but I'm going to pick this one for #ReadWithMrBook! I didn't know anything about it before I started, other than that it was on the #TOB2020 long list, and I loved it! The narration was excellent, the stories, characters, and settings were absorbing, and it made me extra-eager to go #audiorun to spend more time in it. The writing was lovely. 😊 @MrBook

44 likes1 stack add
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MEGR
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Hmmm....nervous to bring this book on a weekend trip because it did not get good reviews. You never know until you try it for yourself though, right? I‘ll bring another book 📚 (or two or three) for backup, just in case LOL 😂

12 likes1 stack add
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AlizaApp
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

I was somehow unaware that this book was a Western. I liked the parts about Nora, the frontierswoman, and even the cowboy and his camel was ok. But I was underwhelmed by the way the stories came together.

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Caterina
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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I'm at 8 hours for the #24b42020 #readathon. 😊 Got in an #audiorun this morning + #audiobook time during weights after my run and the drive to the YMCA and back. Read The Water Dancer and Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way during the afternoon/evening and finished up The Bullet Journal Method on my phone. Now I'm ending my #audioknitting for the night with my hat almost done! Will make the pom-pom and sew the hat together tomorrow or Monday. 😊

marleed I love the hat! 4y
ChasingOm Cute!! 4y
rockpools That‘s great! 4y
Emilymdxn Your commitment to reading, fitness and crafts is all absolutely amazing! In love with your life lol 4y
Lindy Looks cosy. 😊 4y
37 likes5 comments
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Caterina
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Starting #24b42020 (the extended version of the#24b4Monday #readathon) with some #audioknitting!

8little_paws Oohh love this stitch pattern 4y
JulAnna That yarn looks so cozy! 4y
Lindy Is that lopi yarn? It took me awhile to get into Inland, but by the end I loved it. 4y
41 likes3 comments
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Caterina
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Day-after-Christmas #audiorun in my parents' very hilly neighborhood (maybe I shouldn't've been avoiding the hilly parts of Berkeley all these months 😅) and #audioknitting on the project from Stitch & Story that I got for Christmas. Such a lovely project kit and such soft yarn! ðŸ˜

I didn't know anything about this #audiobook before starting it except that it was on the #ToB long list and available from my library, and I'm loving it! #ToB2020

ljuliel Your hat looks like it‘ll be very soft and squishy. 4y
34 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lcsmcat
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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I have an old friend who now lives across the continent from me, and we always send each other books at Christmas. She‘s introduced me to several good authors, so I‘m looking forward to this year‘s read. (I sent her The Women of Copper Country.)

LMJenkins I have this checked out from library at the moment but don‘t think I‘ll have time before I have to return it. I liked her other book (edited) 4y
MamaGina SO good, your friend has great taste! ðŸ‘🼠Worth the library fines @LMJenkins 🤓 4y
Lcsmcat @MamaGina Good to know! 4y
charl08 What a lovely idea. Might try this! 4y
44 likes4 comments
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Caterina
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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First #audiorun since getting home! It was 34°F, which is the coldest run I've ever done, and this neighborhood is very hilly (this picture is from the only flat stretch in the whole area 😂), so it was a fun, challenging run! Loved getting to listen to more of this audiobook, I'm only a couple hours in but it's sucked me in! Glad the #ToB long list got to me pick it up! 😊

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perfectlywinged
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

While I was reading this I wasn't sure how I felt; the writing is beautiful (you really feel the thirst of the characters in this dusty Arizona territory) but I did find myself getting lost in Lurie's story as to what was real. Nora‘s story shone. Luckily I had picked up enough of Lurie's story so that when the story lines cross, things made sense. I think for this to really shine for me I would need to read it again...but I don't want to.

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shaynarae
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

Interesting construction to the story, which made it disorienting/confusing, but also a way to provoke the reader into wondering how everything comes together. While there were pockets of engaging moments, I‘d say overall it meandered too much and the mystery reveals didn‘t have a big enough payoff to be worth it.

LoverOfLearning Love the cover! 4y
20 likes1 comment
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charl08
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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...the Union Pacific had come through and left behind a Babylon maelstrom, a bilious, gray, seething wreck on the plains.... Nora watched the defeated shadows lurching home at dawn and felt this must be the crux of life: everybody blundering around in the full glare of ruination.

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Bevita
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

Admit I had to push my way to the end of this. While it is supposed to be based on some historical event, I‘m not sure what it is—camels in the American West?

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Nitpickyabouttrains
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

Two stories that interact at the end. I liked one of them much more then the other. So overall about half the book was not as exciting for me.

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bookandcat
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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"but first, let me take a selfie" with award-winning writer Tea Obreht! ? #mfob

MicheleinPhilly Holy crap. Is she 12??? 4y
bookandcat @MicheleinPhilly ikr? She was born in '85 4y
39 likes2 comments
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bookandcat
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Next talk: Tea Obreht (L), Sarah Blake and Julie Orringer (R - moderator is between Obhret and Blake). Fascinating conversation about history and fiction and process. Obreht: The Tiger's Wife, Inland. Blake: The Postmistress, The Guest Book. Orringer: The Invisible Bridge, The Flight Portfolio.

#morristownfestivalofbooks #mfob #mfob2019 #bookfestival #authortalk #historicalfiction

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ImperfectCJ
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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1. See above. The more I think about it, the more I like it.
2. Teal.
3. My son's baritone lesson, at which his teacher encouraged him to take up tuba or trombone in addition to baritone. I raised one eyebrow and tried to envision a tuba in the trunk of my car.
4. Yes to both (although the snap with my left hand is pretty lackluster).
5. â¤ï¸â¤ï¸â¤ï¸

#FriyayIntro @howjessreads

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JSW
Inland | Téa Obreht 
Mehso-so

I honestly don‘t know how I feel about this book. It was an odd juxtaposition of stories. I feel very unsatisfied by it. Just... why was it even written? 🤷ðŸ»â€â™€ï¸

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PatriciaU
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

Obreht‘s storytelling is at its finest in this magical and gritty tale of two unlikely heroes who inhabit entirely different worlds. Obreht moves back and forth between Nora, a frontierswoman trying to keep herself & young son alive during a drought and Lurie, an orphan, outlaw, and cameleer trying to stay a step ahead of the law.
This stands tall along with recent American West stories News of the World and Whiskey When We‘re Dry. Recommended.

40 likes1 stack add
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JSW
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Giving this a try. I couldn‘t get into her first novel but this one intrigues me.

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marleed
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

I‘ll give this a so-so since I liked the writing and the ending. But holy cow ‘er camel and a jug of water - it was a long long winding road to get there.

Suet624 😂😂😂 5y
50 likes1 comment
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Expandingbookshelf
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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“They were all moving past each other, the mother and the little girl and the old man too-and it struck me, after all these years of seeing the dead, as I stood there holding your bridle and with your breath in my hair, that I had never seen more than one at a time, and had never realized: they were unaware of each other‘s presence. Nameless and unburied, turned out suddenly into the bewildering dark, they rose to find themselves entirely alone.â€

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ImperfectCJ
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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"The longer I live, Burke, the more I have come to understand that extraordinary people are eroded by their worries while the useless are carried ever forward by their delusions."

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bohemian_yogini
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Bailedbailed

Oof... I had to read this for work and, truth be told, I did not finish it. I‘ve never NOT finished a ‘required‘ book before, so this was a rough day. 😅 But, it seems that the general agreement tonight was this is a tedious & confusing read through the first 3/4 of the book - if you made it to the end it was worth the trip. I am almost convinced it will be worth it to pick it up and push through. But for now I‘ve bailed. #bookswithbohemianyogini

5 likes2 comments
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balletbookworm
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Mehso-so

Finally finished, which I had to since I‘m the book club leader tonight.

Téa Obreht‘s lovely sentences saved this “novel†- which was comprised of two drastically different, cheaply foreshadowed, novellas that converged (finally) at the end of the book. In my opinion, she should have chosen either Nora‘s story or Lurie‘s story and developed an emotionally compelling, complete story. I found neither compelling. I would like to talk to her editor.

balletbookworm Content warning for racism toward non-white people on the page, particularly Native Americans (extremely to-period but it isn‘t easy to read). 5y
ManyWordsLater Sounds more like a 👎 to me! 5y
balletbookworm @ManyWordsLater I was wavering, seriously. She does have gorgeous sentences. I really have to hate on something to give it the 👎🻠tho. 5y
Hooked_on_books “I would like to talk to her editor.†I love it! 😆 I straight panned this, but I think you are absolutely right about choosing one storyline and expanding it. There were moments in this book where I thought it was about to get really good, which suggests potential to me, but it never happened. I was sorely disappointed. 5y
16 likes4 comments
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Lindy
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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Pickpick

Alternating storylines told from close perspective of 2 main characters in 19th c America: Lurie, orphaned as a child shortly after emigrating from the Ottoman Empire, & Nora, a settler struggling with regrets in Arizona Territory. The 3rd MC is Burke, a camel. It was well worth getting to know them in a tale that gradually gains momentum. I could feel the want, “That vast & immutable want everybody, dead or alive, carried with them all the time.â€

Lindy I had to dig out a photo of the only time I‘ve been on a camel, which was in 2002 in Uluru, Australia. 🪠5y
Tanisha_A Nice review! And 👌 photograph! 😃 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great photo too! 5y
See All 10 Comments
Hooked_on_books I rode a camel at Uluru, too! I found the side to side motion vaguely nauseating. 5y
Lindy @Hooked_on_books Ha! I didn‘t mind the motion. I loved the way the camel goes from sitting to standing, then down again. It‘s so high up there! 5y
LeahBergen I rode one in Egypt. Yikes! 😆😆 5y
Lindy @LeahBergen 😄ðŸªðŸ‘ 5y
MamaGina Great 📖 great pic!🫠5y
Lindy @MamaGina Thanks! 5y
62 likes5 stack adds10 comments
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Lindy
Inland | Téa Obreht 
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“He‘d forgive you soon enough. Boys always do.â€
Desma espoused the kind of easy faith in children only held by people who‘d never raised any themselves. And thank God for that, for it was good to be reminded of the merits by someone who lacked the constitution to withstand many of parenthood‘s most profound rewards: the shying & the sulking & the constant ingratitude, & eruptions like the one last night, […]