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 Summer Book by Tove Jansson

Blurb from Goodreads

An elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. Gradually, the two learn to adjust to each other’s fears, whims and yearnings for independence, and a fierce yet understated love emerges – one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the island itself, with its mossy rocks, windswept firs and unpredictable seas.

Full of brusque humour and wisdom, The Summer Book is a profoundly life-affirming story. Tove Jansson captured much of her own experience and spirit in the book, which was her favourite of the novels she wrote for adults. This new edition sees the return of a European literary gem – fresh, authentic and deeply humane.

Why I Want To Read It

It is Monday again, the first Monday of March! I hope that everyone had a great start to the work week. I know, most of us – yes, this includes me – find Mondays an unhappy occasion; most of us are still reeling from the weekend hangover. If only weekends were longer. Thankfully, today was not as hectic as it was in the past few weeks. We are finally entering the final phase of the regulatory report we have been working on for the past two months. A deep sigh of relief. I hope that everyone is also able to complete all the tasks that they have started. There is still a lot that needs to be done but still I am grateful that I can tick off one item.

As we enter the third month of the year, I hope everyone is having a great year. I hope January and February have been kind. I hope and pray that the rest of the year will be brimming with good news and blessings. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. To kick off another blogging week, I am sharing a fresh Goodreads Monday update. This has certainly become an integral part of my blogging week as it sets the tone for the rest of the week. In the past two months, I have been featuring new books, i.e. books to be released this year, which I am looking forward to. For March, I will be changing it up a bit. I will be featuring works of female writers because March is International Women’s Month.

For this update, I am featuring Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book. I must admit, it was only today that I encountered Jansson and her book. It was listed by Good Housekeeping as one of the 100 best books to read by women authors. It is because I have never heard of Jansson before that I researched about her. Interestingly, she is Finnish by nationality but her mother tongue was Swedish; in a way, her last name was a giveaway. She is a part of the Swedish-speaking Finns minority and all of her works were written in Swedish. Meanwhile, The Summer Book was first published in 1972 as Sommarboken. It was, however, just recently that the book was made available to Anglophone readers; the book’s English translation was released in 2003.

Oh. There is another interesting fact. Jansson is more renowned for her Moomin books; I have heard of Moomin before because one of my KPop biases (NCT Dream’s Renjun) loves Moomin. What a coincidence! Apparently, Jansson is also a painter and illustrator. Guess what, Renjun also loves painting. However, throughout her career, Jansson also published a slew of novels, among them The Summer Book. Now, I am just hoping I get to obtain the book, or any of her books for that matter. I can’t recall if I have ever read a book written by a Finnish writer.

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!