Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is now currently being hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. 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:

To Each His Own by Leonardo Sciascia

Blurb from Goodreads

This letter is your death sentence. To avenge what you have done you will die. But what has Manno the pharmacist done? Nothing that he can think of. The next day he and his hunting companion are both dead. The police investigation is inconclusive. However, a modest high school teacher with a literary bent has noticed a clue that, he believes, will allow him to trace the killer. Patiently, methodically, he begins to untangle a web of erotic intrigue and political calculation. But the results of his amateur sleuthing are unexpected—and tragic. To Each His Own is one of the masterworks of the great Sicilian novelist Leonardo Sciascia—a gripping and unconventional detective story that is also an anatomy of a society founded on secrets, lies, collusion, and violence.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! The weekends are over but I hope you had a great one. Meanwhile, a new work week has commenced. I hope you had a great start to the week for we still have four more workdays to look forward to! I hope that everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. I am happy to note that COVID19 cases across the world are starting to go decline. I am hoping that the spread of the virus has finally slowed down and that the world finally started to heal and recover. It is my fervent hope that we sustain this. It is also noticeable how Several parts of the world, including the Philippines, have started to resume normal activities. While I understand that protocols are in place, I hope that everyone still observes minimum health protocols. I just hope that the pandemic, with all its variants, will soon come to an end.

To kickstart the blogging week, I am posting a new Goodreads Monday update. This is going to be my first Goodreads Monday update for the month of June. Last month, I embarked on a journey across Europe by immersing myself in the works of European writers. This literary journey provided me with deeper insights into the history, people, and culture of the different parts of the continent, from Sweden to Italy to Spain to Albania to Norway. However, I realized that one month is not enough to cover the entire continent – its literary landscape is equally vast – so I decided to extend this reading journey. I am currently reading Umberto Eco’s The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, my 15th consecutive novel written by a European writer and my third by the Italian writer. For this Goodreads Monday update, I am featuring another Italian writer, Leonardo Sciascia with his novel To Each His Own.

During my European literature month, there was something I realized: my exploration of Italian literature is not as extensive as I thought. Sure, Eco and Calvino have become part of my all-time favorite writers but beyond them, I don’t think I can easily name writers who made an impression on me; well, maybe Collodi. With this being said, I resolved to pay more attention to Italian literature more; I have been wanting to read the works of Elena Ferrante. Another name that I am looking forward to is Leonardo Sciascia although this is not my first time encountering him; I have previously obtained a copy of one of his works, The Day of the Owl, back in late 2019. I think I nearly featured it on a Goodreads update but thought better about it. Unfortunately, despite the passage of time, the book was left to gather dust on my bookshelf. I just might consider reading it this June.

Meanwhile, after posting my May reading journey wrap-up, a fellow book reader, Guylene The Not-Writer, once again reminded me of Sciascia. Guylene gave a nod for The Day of the Owl but also recommended the (short) novel I featured for this week’s Goodreads Monday update. I know I am yet to read The Day of the Owl but I can’t also wait to read To Each His Own, with the hopes that in reading both books I get to gain a deeper insight into Italian culture and literature. One thing is for sure, as I have noted from both books’ synopsis, crime and the police are both involved. Sleuths, both amateur and professional, are seemingly involved as well.

But first of all, I must obtain a copy of the book. How about you fellow reader? Are there works of Baltic literature you can recommend to me? I hope you can share it in the comment box. I hope the rest of the week will be great for everyone. For now, happy reading!

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