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:

In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

Blurb from Goodreads

Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is testament to the transcendent power of narrative and a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.

For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Soon the family’s world of carefully guarded royal privilege is swept up in the chaos of revolution and forced exodus.

Over the next four years, as she endures the deaths of family members, starvation, and brutal forced labor, Raami clings to the only remaining vestige of childhood – the mythical legends and poems told to her by her father. In a climate of systematic violence where memory is sickness and justification for execution, Raami fights for her improbable survival. Displaying the author’s extraordinary gift for language, In the Shadow of the Banyan is testament to the transcendent power of narrative and a brilliantly wrought tale of human resilience.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! I hope everyone had a great start to their week. I know, Mondays can be such a drag. If only we have a long weekend. Lucky for me, I am currently on vacation, and with Wednesday declared a national holiday in the Philippines, I will be resuming work on Thursday. On another note, today is the last Monday of June. In a couple of days, we will be welcoming July and I will be celebrating my birthday. Time does fly fast. Before I know it, I am a year older again. Anyway, I hope the year has been kind to everyone. Otherwise, I hope there will be a reversal of fortune in the coming months. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit. I am happy to see things slowly going back to normal but the virus remains a real threat so I hope everyone is still observing the minimum health protocols.

The first day of the week also means the start of a new blogging week. To kick off another week of blogging, I am sharing a fresh Goodreads Monday update. I am currently in the midst of a literary adventure across Asia; this was after I spent two months exclusively reading works of Japanese literature. Ironically, I am Asian but I recently realized how lacking my exploration of Asian literature is; the only exception is Japanese literature. My forays into Chinese and Indian literature, for instance, are lacking. I am trying to redress this; I am currently reading a work of Chinese literature while I have already read three works by four Indian writers this year. I have also read two works by Filipino writers, so far, and I am hoping to read at least one more.

Anyway, back to the original goal of this weekly bookish meme. Since April, I aligned the books I featured in this weekly update with my current reading motif. As such, I will again be featuring a work by an Asian writer for this Goodreads Monday update. Today, I am featuring Cambodian writer Vaddey Ratner’s In the Shadow of the Banyan. Admittedly, the book made it to my growing reading list just today after it came out as one of the recommended works of Asian literature. Although I have never encountered Ratner before nor have I read any of her works previously. On my first encounter with the book, one thing immediately stood out for me: the writer has a Cambodian heritage. As far as I can recall, I have not read any works written by Cambodian writers.

This then brings me to the premise of the story. A work of historical fiction, this book is right up my alley. Moreover, it captured one of the most seminal but also one of the darkest phases of contemporary Cambodian history: the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s. With the tendency of writers to connect their works with seminal events in their respective country’s history – a prominent example can be noted in how the Vietnam War figures prominently in the works of modern Vietnamese writers – it comes as no surprise that Ratner would shine the highlight on the atrocities perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. But the book is more personal as Ratner personally got to witness these atrocities. In reading the book, I hope I get to gain more insights into the Khmer Rouge, its leader Pol Pot, and the extent of their inhumane actions.

I just hope I get to obtain a copy of the book soon. How about you fellow reader? How was your Monday? What books have you added to your reading list? Do drop it in the comment box. For now, happy Monday and, as always, happy reading!