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:

Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto

Blurb from Goodreads

As the civil war rages in 1980s Mozambique, an old man and a young boy, refugees from the war, seek shelter in a burnt-out bus. Among the effects of a dead passenger, they come across a set of notebooks that tell of his life. As the boy reads the story to his elderly companion, this story and their own develop in tandem. Written in 1992, Mia Couto’s first novel is a powerful indictment of the suffering war brings.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! Wow. Time does fly fast. In the blink of an eye, we are nearly midway through August. I hope the ghost month has been kind to everyone. I hope that the rest of the year will be brimming with blessings and good news. I also hope everyone had a great start to the week. Our work week opened with a heavy downpour only for the sun to shine brilliantly a couple of hours later. The contrast! Might I mention that a heavy downpour, even just one that lasts thirty minutes, can paralyze the transportation network of Manila? I was nearly late going to the office. Anyway, I hope that everyone will have a great and productive week ahead. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit.

The first day of the week also means a new blogging week. Yes, most of us dread Mondays but they are also opportunities to turn in a new leaf. They represent opportunities. In this case, Monday is an opportunity for a fresh Goodreads Monday update. After spending two months reading works of Asian literature, I have decided to travel to the African continent to explore the best of its literature. The time is ripe for another African literature month; the last time I hosted one was back in early 2021. To align with this month’s reading motif, I will be featuring works of African literature in my Goodreads Monday updates this month. For this week’s update, I am featuring Mia Cuoto’s Sleepwalking Land.

Honestly, I do not have an iota about who Mia Couto was. This underlines how lacking my exploration of African literature is. I have also not read any work by a Mozambican writer nor have I read a novel set in Mozambique. His name came up after I searched for the best work of African literature. Along with his name was his novel Sleepwalking Land. Apparently, his full name is António Emílio Leite Couto and he was born in Beira, Mozambique. His parents were Portuguese emigrants who moved to the former Portuguese colony in the 1950s. It seems that Couto is quite the writer. He has quite an impressive list of works. He was only 14 when some of his poetry was published in a local newspaper, Notícias da Beira.

His works have earned him several accolades, such as the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 2013 Camões Prize,  the most important literary award in the Portuguese language. Among these works is Sleepwalking Land which was originally published in Portuguese in 1992. It was translated into English by David Brookshaw in 2006. What is compelling me to read the book is its exploration of Mozambique’s contemporary history. I do admit that my knowledge of the East African nation is rather limited. It seems that Sleepwalking Land played a pivotal role in Couto’s nomination for, and eventual victory at the 2014 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

For now, I am just hoping to obtain a copy of the book. 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!