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:

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Blurb from Goodreads

“The world is full of miracles, but none greater than how far a young person can be carried by someone else’s belief in them.”

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of a wide expanse of sea. But Louisa, soon to be eighteen years old and an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise. She is determined to find out the story behind these three enigmatic figures.

More than two decades before, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up every morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that, after a chance encounter in an alleyway, will unexpectedly be placed into Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to discover how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more anxious she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa’s complicated life is proof that happy endings are sometimes possible, but they don’t always take the form we expect them to.

Fredrik Backman’s signature charm, humor, and attention to the poignant details of everyday life are on full display in this funny, moving novel. His most heartfelt and personal tale yet, My Friends is a stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of art and friendship.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! Well, it is already Tuesday. I am well aware that nearly everyone – and this includes me – loath Mondays. The start of the week means marching back to the office or school. It is easier said than done when you are suffering from long weekend blues. Nevertheless, with the start of a new work week, I hope everyone had a great start. I hope the weekend provided everyone with enough energy to cope with another week at the office. After a long stifling summer, the rainy season is finally here. It means that it is starting to cool down. When I lived in the province, I used to dislike the rain but now that I live in the (hot) city, I started to appreciate it. Anyway, I hope everyone makes it through the week. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit, not only this week but for the rest of the year.

Woah, the time has been flying past us. We are already a third through the sixth month of the year. How time flies! It takes its natural course sans any regard for anyone. As time takes its natural course, I hope that the year is treating you well. I hope that as 2025 moves forward, everyone will have a prosperous year. I hope the coming months will shower everyone with good news and kindness. I wish success and blessings for everyone. With the start of the week is a fresh Goodreads Monday update. I initially had no iota about how my June reading journey was going to shape up. But because of some Asian literature backlogs, June eventually turned into the third part of my foray into the works of Asian writers. Not that I am complaining. I am currently reading Eiji Yoshikawa’s The Heike Story. I wasn’t planning on reading the book this year but when I learned that I was about to read my 1,300th novel, I resolved to give it a chance.

Back to the subject of this week’s Goodreads Monday update. During the pandemic, one of the writers who won me over was Swedish writer Fredrik Backman. Even before the pandemic, his debut novel, A Man Called Ove has been making the rounds. However, it is because of this hype that I initially avoided it. I eventually relented and man it changed the way I see life and Backman’s writing. I lamented why it took me so late to try and immerse myself in his works. Fast forward a couple of years later, I have already read six of his novels, including The Beartown Trilogy. I also loved Anxious People. His astute integration of humor and social commentaries make his works compelling reads. His understanding of the complexities of human nature, may it be on the individual or community level, ultimately reeled me in; this is particularly true in the case of Anxious People although it is also prevalent in his other works.

It then comes as no surprise that his latest novel, My Friends, automatically made it to my perpetually growing reading list. I didn’t even know that he was releasing a new work until I encountered it a couple of weeks ago. From the title alone – and not based on the blurb – I can surmise that the novel will have the same intimate voice that I encountered in his works. I am somehow reminded of Hisham Matar’s novel of the same title. Backman is certainly growing on me. Or I should say he has already gained a fan in me and I can’t wait to read all of his works. For now, I just hope I can once again get the chance to obtain a copy of the book. 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!