Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is currently 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 explain why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

The Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Blurb from Goodreads

A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists.

Why I Want To Read It

Well, it is Monday again. The weekend simply flew past us. Before we know it, we are already starting a new work week. Yeah, I know. Monday is nearly everyone’s least favorite day of the day. “Everyone” includes me. Is anyone else suffering a weekend hangover? I sure am. Nevertheless, I have to put on my corporate clothes and prepare for the battle that lies ahead of me. On the brighter side, Mondays provide windows of opportunity to start anew. As such, I hope everyone started the work week on a high note, with renewed verve. It means a fresh start or the commencement of a new week to go after our goals. With this, I hope everyone started the work week on a high note.

Speaking of time. We are already in the second half of the year. I hope that the first half has been kind to and great for everyone. If it went the other way around, we still have six more months to reverse our fortunes. We still have the time to work on ourselves or improve facets of our lives. We have six months to complete the goals we set at the start of the year. With this, I hope that the year’s second half will be brimming with blessings, good news, and positive energy. As we transition to the year’s second half, I hope everyone will be healthy, in mind, body, and spirit.

To commence another blogging week is a fresh Goodreads Monday update. For the third consecutive month, I have decided to still venture into works of European literature. I have realized that I still have quite a long queue of works of European literature I wanted to read. I am currently reading the recently announced International Booker Prize winner Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck. This means I have read the last four International Booker Prize winners. I just checked and it seems that the only winner I haven’t read yet is Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s The Discomfort of Evening. I have yet to obtain a copy of the book. Anyway, To align with the main reading theme, I have featured works of European literature I am looking forward to in my Goodreads Monday update.

For this week’s update, I am featuring a writer who has long piqued my interest. A couple of years back, I kept encountering the works of Elena Ferrante whenever I dropped by the bookstore. Her works were ubiquitous. However, I ignored her work. A couple of years later, I would encounter the Italian writer yet again. Her works were still ubiquitous and what started as one book became a series. Further, she was shrouded in mystery. Apparently, Elena Ferrante is a pseudonym, very much like the poet Michel Faudet, the husband of poet Lang Leav. Both Faudet and Ferrante’s existence are questioned because no pieces of evidence float to corroborate their existence. They say that Ferrante is a reclusive Italian writer whose real identity remains hidden. Like Thomas Pynchon, very little is known about her. Unlike Ferrante, we have pictures of Pynchon and the American writer occasionally makes his presence felt.

Despite the mystery surrounding Ferrante’s identity, one thing is sure. She is a top-caliber writer with the Neapolitan novels as her magnum opus. The series has been lauded by both readers and literary pundits alike. The first book in the four-part series is My Brilliant Friend. I recently obtained a copy of the book because I can’t resist the temptation of getting to know Ferrante’s oeuvre. My interest and curiosity have both been piqued. I hope the book lives up to the hype because I am looking at completing the series. 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!