Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and give the reasons why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

Second Place by Rachel Cusk

Blurb from Goodreads

From the author of the Outline trilogy, a fable of human destiny and decline, enacted in a closed system of intimate, fractured relationships.

A woman invites a famed artist to visit the remote coastal region where she lives, in the belief that his vision will penetrate the mystery of her life and landscape. His provocative presence provides the frame for a study of female fate and male privilege, of the geometries of human relationships, and of the struggle to live morally in the intersecting spaces of our internal and external worlds.

With its examination of the possibility that art can both save and destroy us, Rachel Cusk’s Second Place is deeply affirming of the human soul, while grappling with its darkest demons

Why I Want To Read It

A new day, a new week! And more importantly, a new opportunity to live our lives to the fullest. Or perhaps not. We are, after all, living under uncertainties, where “normality” is something we all long for. Nevertheless, I hope you are all having a happy and great start to the week. I know, Monday is our least favorite day of the week. September has, so far, been a very hectic month but thankfully, things are starting to settle down. There are still a lot of things that need to be accomplished but they are, at last, manageable. I hope you were all able to hurdle the challenges that you had these past weeks. I hope you are all staying healthy, in mind, body and spirit. I am also praying that this pandemic will end soon.

Monday has become synonymous to a new Goodreads Monday update where I feature books I am looking forward to. I extended my “new” books reading journey into September but, without design, it has shaped up to be a 2021 Booker Prize Longlist reading month. I have, so far, completed two books and I am currently reading Francis Spufford’s Light Perpetual, which also happens to be a part of my 2021 Books I Look Forward to List. With two more books in transit, I sure have my hands tied. However, I am featuring a book that I have yet to obtain, Rachel Cusk’s Second Place. I did try to buy it but it was naught. I am just hoping to get a copy of the book soon for it has piqued my interest.

Just like most books in the longlist, I would have not encountered Second Place had it not been nominated for the prestigious literary award although I did hear that Cusk has completed a popular trilogy, Outline. Yes, its longlisting was my primary reason for adding the book to my reading list but I was also intrigued by the book’s premise. It does sound like a deep character study with some shades of ruminations and philosophical intersections, something that I find in a couple of Booker Prize nominated works, and even the winners.

Second Place missed out on the shortlist but I am still looking forward to it. However, I must obtain a copy of the book first. How about you fellow reader? Which 2021 Booker Prize longlisted novel is on your reading list? What made you add it to your list? I hope you could share your answers in the comment box. For now, have a happy Monday!

Advertisement