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:

Held by Anne Michaels

Blurb from Goodreads

A breathtaking and mysterious new novel from the beloved Anne Michaels, internationally bestselling author of Fugitive Pieces and The Winter Vault.

1917. On a battlefield near the River Aisne, John lies in the aftermath of a blast, unable to move or feel his legs. Struggling to focus his thoughts, he is lost to memory—a chance encounter in a pub by a railway, a hot bath with his lover on a winter night, his childhood on a faraway coast—as the snow falls.

1920. John has returned from war to North Yorkshire, near another river—alive, but not whole. Reunited with Helena, an artist, he reopens his photography business and endeavours to keep on living. But the past erupts insistently into the present, as ghosts begin to surface in his ghosts whose messages he cannot understand .

So begins a narrative that spans four generations, moments of connection and consequence igniting and re-igniting as the century unfolds. In luminous moments of desire, comprehension, longing, and transcendence, the sparks fly upward, working their transformations decades later. This resonance through time—not only of actions but also of feelings and perceptions—desire in its many forms—are at the heart of this novel’s profound investigation.

Held is a deeply affecting and intensely beautiful novel, full of unforgettable characters and imagery, wisdom and compassion. It explores the deepest mysteries, and the ways in which desire in its many forms—and perhaps the deepest desire, to find meaning—manifests itself. Held moves through history to light upon Darwin, Sir Ernest Rutherford, North Sea ganseys, early photography, Ella Mary Leather, modern field hospitals…while lovers find each other and snow drifts down across the centuries. From the WW1 battlefield where the novel begins, and its opening lines, Held is alive with “We know life is finite. Why should we believe death lasts forever?”

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! It is that dreaded day of the week again. I know, most of us don’t look forward to the first day of the work week. Regardless, I hope you were all able to overcome the weekend hangover. I hope everyone had a great start to the work week. Interestingly, according to my horoscope, Monday is actually my luckiest day of the week. I guess this is also why I see it as a window of opportunity to learn something new, start a new adventure, or explore new worlds. This is despite it being a day I do not look forward to. Despite a sluggish start to the week – I hope not – I hope everyone will be able to gradually build momentum as the week moves forward. I hope everyone makes it through the week. I hope that the week will flow smoothly. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit.

Woah, time does fly fast. We are two-thirds done with the tenth month of the year. In a matter of weeks, we will be welcoming a new year. I hope that the remaining months of the year will be filled with kindness and that it will everyone with blessings, good tidings, good news, and answered prayers. I hope that everyone gets repaid for their hard work. I hope that everyone achieves all their goals this year. Reading-wise, October is a mixed bag. I have been alternating works that were recently published with books that are part of my ongoing reading challenges. I still have some catching up to do with some of these challenges. Currently, however, I am focusing on Booker Prize-shortlisted books.

Back to this weekly book meme. In the past few weeks, I have been featuring books that are about to be or were published this year. Last week, I featured Louise Erdrich’s latest novel, The Mighty Red. This week, I am featuring one of the Booker Prize-shortlisted books which I just received today; I am currently reading Charlotte Wood’s Stone Devotional after I read Yael Van Der Wouden’s The Safekeep. This week’s featured book is Anne Michael’s Held. Interestingly, all books on the shortlist were written by writers whose oeuvres I have not explored before. Except for Percival Everett, this is the first time I came across them. This makes me look forward to reading the last three on the shortlist, which includes Held.

Oh. Anne Michaels is quite an accomplished writer. Her body of work includes works of poetry and prose. She is more of a poet and Held is just her third novel. Regardless, her works have earned her several accolades. It seems that Held is a work of historical fiction. This makes me look forward to the book even more. The Booker Prize is a rich mine for works of historical fiction; Everett’s James and The Safekeep are also works of historical fiction. I can’t wait to read Held. 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!