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:

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Blurb from Goodreads

From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart.

The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under―but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewelry on eBay, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way through her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home.

Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil―can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written―is there still time to find a happy ending?

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! Today is Christmas so Merry Christmas everyone, at least those who are celebrating. To those who are not, happy holidays! I hope that you have all received amazing gifts. I hope you are reaping the benefits of the hard work you put in during the year. More importantly, I also hope that you are celebrating the holidays with your loved ones, may it be your family, your friends, or your significant other. With the year slowly drawing its curtains, I hope the remaining days of the year will be filled with aplomb, good news, and blessings. For those who had to deal with unkindness throughout the year, I hope that the rest of the year will be kind to you and to everyone.

Time flies fast indeed. In a matter of days, we will all be waving goodbye to 2023. Reading-wise, the year has been very productive which surprised me because I barely had any expectations after I achieved reading 100 books in a year for the first time last year. I also went beyond and above that as I reset my personal record for most books read in a year. I am currently reading my fourth Colson Whitehead novel, Crook Manifesto which is the 129th book I read this year. During the year, I also read my 1,000th and 1100th novels. While I was able to complete my two crucial reading lists, I failed in my other reading goals. For instance, I don’t think I will be able to complete fifteen books this year; my current count is ten.

Speaking of new books, one of the 2023 releases I am hoping to read before the year ends is Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting. Before this year, I have not heard of the Irish writer. However, I kept encountering positive reviews of his latest novel, The Bee Sting upon its release. It seems that Murray has quite a reputation amongst Irish writers. His earlier works have received several accolades. His second novel Skippy Dies (2010), for instance, was longlisted for the Booker Prize. His latest novel, moreover, is highly anticipated because it has been eight years since he last released a new work. The positive reviews of The Bee Sting were more than enough to convince me to add the book to my perpetually growing reading list.

What further piqued my interest in the book was when it was longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. The book made it to the shortlist but fell short of the prize; the Prize was awarded to Murray’s countryman Paul Lynch and his novel Prophet Song, another book I am looking forward to. When I added the book to my reading list, I barely had any iota about what the book was about. However, after reading the blurb and the synopsis of the physical book, I was able to obtain a shallow understanding of the book. The premise tickles my imagination. I am also curious about the titular bee sting and how it has altered the landscape of the Barnes family’s fate.

Luckily I was able to obtain a copy of the book before the year ended. After I finish Crook Manifesto, I will be, without further ado, delving into The Bee Sting. 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!