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 Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B. MIller

Blurb from Goodreads

From the Dagger Award–winning author of Norwegian by Night comes a vivid, thrilling, and moving World War II art-heist-adventure tale where enemies become heroes, allies become villains, and a child learns what it means to become an adult—for fans of All the Light We Cannot See.

August, 1943. Fourteen-year-old Massimo is all alone. Newly orphaned and fleeing from Rome after surviving the American bombing raid that killed his parents, Massimo is attacked by thugs and finds himself bloodied at the base of the Montecassino. It is there in the Benedictine abbey’s shadow that a charismatic and cryptic man calling himself Pietro Houdini, the self-proclaimed “Master Artist and confidante of the Vatican,” rescues Massimo and brings him up the mountain to serve as his assistant in preserving the treasures that lay within the monastery walls.

But can Massimo believe what Pietro is saying, particularly when Massimo has secrets too? Who is this extraordinary man? When it becomes evident that Montecassino will soon become the front line in the war, Pietro Houdini and Massimo execute a plan to smuggle three priceless Titian paintings to safety down the mountain. They are joined by a nurse concealing a nefarious past, a café owner turned murderer, a wounded but chipper German soldier, and a pair of lovers along with their injured mule, Ferrari. Together they will lie, cheat, steal, fight, kill, and sin their way through battlefields to survive, all while smuggling the Renaissance masterpieces and the bag full of ancient Greek gold they have rescued from the “safe keeping” of the Germans.

Heartfelt, powerfully engaging, and in the tradition of City of Thieves by David Benioff, The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a work of storytelling bravado: a thrilling action-packed adventure heist, an imaginative chronicle of forgotten history, and a philosophical coming-of-age epic where a child navigates one of the most enigmatic and morally complex fronts of World War II and lives to tell the tale

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! Just like that, we are already midway through the first month of the year. I hope that the first day of the week went well for everyone. I hope that everyone started the work week on a high note. I sure wish that the weekends are longer. I am still feeling a little sluggish; it is no wonder that Monday is the least favorite day of the week by most. But we have no choice but to brush off that sluggishness and prop ourselves up for everything the week has in store. I hope that you all started the week on a high note. I hope that this week and this year will be a great one for everyone. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy throughout the year. With the new year comes the time to turn in new leaves.

I am coming off quite an amazing reading year, two in fact. 2022 and 2023 have both been record-breaking reading years. I want to ride this wave of momentum into 2024. I want to set lofty goals for me this year. Still, a tiny voice inside me is prodding me to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. As such, more than lofty goals, I am setting realistic goals. The reluctance is stemming from the realization that 2022 and 2023 might just be fever dreams and are probably anomalies. What I have achieved in the past two years is difficult to replicate, if I were to base it on historical data. However, a part of me also wants me to go above and beyond what I achieved in 2023 and 2022. I want to be optimistic – the sky’s the limit after all – but I also want my goals to be realistic and achievable. We’ll see how 2024 will shape up.

A part of my annual reading tradition is crafting a list of new releases I look forward to. This is also in line with my goal of reading more new books; new here means books released in the current year. By extending my reach to new books, I am also allowing myself to venture into uncharted territories, into the oeuvre of writers I have not explored previously. As early as November last year, I have been on the lookout for the most anticipated 2024 releases. There were quite a lot and it was a challenge picking 10 books to include in my own list of most anticipated releases. Among the lucky ten that made the cut was Derek B. Miller’s The Curse of Pietro Houdini.

Before 2024, I had not heard of Derek B. Miller. He has already published five books prior to The Curse of Pietro Houdini. His debut novel, Norwegian by Night (2013) was even among the most anticipated titles of 2013; interestingly, it was originally published in Norwegian in 2010. Moreover, prior to pursuing a career in writing, Miller worked in International Affairs. The Curse of Pietro Houdini is Miller’s sixth novel and was his first work I encountered. The book’s title immediately grabbed my attention; I guess the “Houdini” worked its magic. The fact that it is a work of historical fiction further compels me to gamble on the book, well, not really gamble but to give Miller’s prose a chance. The blurb also mentions Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See so I guess this is just the right book for me.

The Curse of Pietro Houdini is set to be released tomorrow. I sure hope that it will be available here in the Philippines. 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!