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:

Arturo’s Island by Elsa Morante

Blurb from Goodreads

On a small Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea there lives a boy as innocent as a seabird. Arturo’s mother is dead; his father away. Black-clad women care for him, give him the freedom to come and go as he likes. Then the father returns with a new wife, Nunziata, a girl barely older than Arturo. At first hatred and contempt are all the boy feels for his stepmother. In time, Arturo and Nunziata re-create the tragedy and passion that are as old as the history of men and women.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you all had a restful weekend. I hope you were able to recuperate and prepare for the workweek ahead. I know. Nearly everyone loathes Mondays; I am among those who loathe Mondays. Here in the Philippines, today is even worse than usual. The monsoon rains have been battering the northern section of the country, including the capital region. It has rained profusely in three of the past four days. I hope everyone here in the Philippines is safe and dry. To those who are in the other parts of the world, I hope that you are doing well. For those of us who have to report to work despite the inclement weather, I hope you get home safely.

Further, I hope everyone is starting or has started the workweek on a high note. I hope everyone makes it through – or survives – the workweek. I hope that the weekend equipped everyone for the tedious week ahead. I hope everyone gets to achieve something this week or at least makes significant progress toward their goals. I wish everyone a great week ahead. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit, not only this week but for the rest of the year. Time does fly fast. Just like that, we are already in the last third of July. Before we know it, we will be welcoming August, the vaunted ghost month. Anyway, as 2025 moves forward, I hope everyone is showered with blessings, positivity, healing, and growth. I hope the coming months will shower everyone with good news and kindness. I wish success and blessings for everyone.

Reading-wise, I am on the right track with my goals. I am well ahead of my target of reading at least 100 books. However, I have been lagging behind in my reading challenges. Ticking off books from these reading challenges will be my priority in the second half of the year. I am currently reading Ivan Turgenev’s A Nest of the Gentry, the second novel by the Russian writer I have read. With the start of the week is a fresh Goodreads Monday update. My reading journey has currently taken me to Europe, hence my current read. My 2025 Top 25 Reading List is also riddled with several works of European writers. In line with my reading motif, I will be featuring works of European writers in this weekly blogging update. This week, I am featuring Elsa Morante’s Arturo’s Island. I would not have come across the book had I not searched for recommended works of Italian literature. It was one of the books that came out, immediately piquing my interest because I had never encountered Morante before, nor have I read any of her works.

Apparently, Morante is a prominent name in Italian literary circles. This just goes to show how much of the literary world I have yet to explore. She started writing at a young age, writing short stories in the mid-1930s. Some of her works were even published in publications and journals, including periodicals for children. Oh. I just learned that she was married to fellow writer Alberto Moravia; yes, I have not read any of his works, but I kept on encountering him. The book I featured in this week’s Goodreads Monday update was originally published in 1957 as L’isola di Arturo. It was a critical success, earning Morante the prestigious Strega Prize in the same year. At the heart of the story is the titular Arturo, who yearned for love. The novel captures how he navigates the tumultuous waters of adolescence. The premise is promising, making me look forward to it.

For now, I will have to find a way to acquire a copy of the book. How about yo,u 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!