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 Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe

Blurb from Goodreads

When Phyl, a young literature graduate, moves back home with her parents, she soon finds herself frustrated by the narrow horizons of English country life. As for her plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere. But the chance discovery of a forgotten novelist from the 1980s stirs her into action, as does a visit from her uncle Chris – especially when he tells her that he’s working on a political story that might put his life in danger.

Chris has been following the careers of a group of students, all present at Cambridge University in the 1980s, now members of a think-tank which has been quietly pushing the British government towards extremism. And now, after years in the political wilderness, they might be in a position to put their ideas into action.

As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a mysterious conference taking place deep in the Cotswolds. When Phyl hears that one of the delegates has been murdered, she begins to wonder if real life is starting to merge with the novel she’s been trying to write. But does the explanation really lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?

Darting between decades and genres, THE PROOF OF MY INNOCENCE reimagines the coming-of-age story, the cosy crime caper and the state-of-the-nation novel with Coe’s trademark humour and warmth. From one of Britain’s finest living novelists, this is a witty, razor-sharp novel which explores how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! Well, technically it should be “Happy Tuesday everyone!” Today is New Year’s Eve! Today is the last day of the year. Woah. Tomorrow we will be greeting a new year. I hope that 2024 has been kind to everyone. I have been home in the province since Sunday and thankfully there was not that much holiday rush. I guess because most were already on leave or working from home as early as December 23. Today and yesterday are holidays here in the Philippines. For those who do not celebrate Christmas and the New Year, I still wish you all a good day. I hope that you will be showered with blessings and good news. For some, yesterday was the start of yet another workweek. I hope you all had a good start to the workweek. I surmise that our brains have already gone on vacation. I know mine did. I hope everyone makes it through the week. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit.

Before the year ends, let me share a fresh Goodreads Monday update. This is going to be my last for 2024. I hope that the coming year will be filled with kindness, blessings, and good tidings. I hope it will provide you with the sense of inner peace and healing you were yearning for. I hope that you achieve all your goals. While I have completed my 2024 Top 24 Reading List and my 2024 Beat the Backlist Challenge, I have yet again failed my 2024 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List. I just finished Derek Miller’s The Curse of Pietro Houdini but I was not able to obtain a copy of Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s The Tree Doctor. This is just the second time that I was able to finish nine of the ten books on the said list. I hope that 2025 will be better. To wrap up the year, I am trying to read recently published books that I currently have. This brings me to Richard Powers’ latest novel, Playground. Longlisted for the Booker Prize, this is my third book by the prolific American writer.

Anyway, back to this weekly book meme. With no specific reading theme in the past few months, the books I have been featuring in this weekly update are an eclectic mix, although some share similarities. For one, they were all published this year, or at least their English translations were released this year. Some are books that are listed as among the best novels of 2024 by literary pundits and magazines; I have been patiently perusing such lists to look for books that I can include in my perpetually growing reading list. Among the books I encountered in such lists is Jonathan Coe’s The Proof of My Innocence. Before this year, I had never encountered the British writer. Ever the curious cat, the book and its writer piqued my interest.

Jonathan Coe, I learned, is quite a prolific writer who made his literary debut in 1987. His works even earned him several accolades. He was also a judge for the 1996 Booker Prize and a jury member at the Venice Film Festival. He is recognized for satirizing various facets of British life. A renowned work is What a Carve Up! (1994) which grapples with 1980s Britain during the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. His works have been adapted into TV and films. In short, he has quite an accomplished career as a writer. In 2024, he published his fifteenth novel, The Proof of My Innocence, a novel set during the premiership of Liz Truss. I guess this is not new territory for Coe considering how he satirized Thatcher’s era. What I am looking forward to is the opportunity to explore a new literary world. This is also something I am looking forward to this 2025. Speaking of which, I am already searching for 2025 releases to include in my 2025 Top 10 Books I Look Forward To List.

For now, I just hope I get to obtain a copy of the book. How was your Monday, Tuesday rather? 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!