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:

Twist by Colum McCann

Blurb from Goodreads

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human existence—words, images, transactions, memes, voices, viruses—travels through the tiny fiber-optic tubes. But sometimes the tubes break, at unfathomable depths.

Fennell’s journey brings him to the west coast of Africa, where he uncovers a story about the raw human labor behind the dazzling veneer of the technological world. He meets a fellow Irishman, John Conway, the chief of mission on a cable repair ship. The mysterious Conway is a skilled engineer and a freediver capable of reaching extraordinary depths. He is also in love with a South African actress, Zanele, who must leave to go on her own literary adventure to London.

When the ship is sent up the coast to repair a series of major underwater breaks, both men learn that the very cables they seek to fix carry the news that may cause their lives to unravel. At sea, they are forced to confront the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging, and the perils of our severed connections. Can we, in our fractured world, reweave ourselves out of the thin, broken threads of our pasts? Can the ruptured things awaken us from our despair?

Resoundingly simple and turbulent at the same time, Twist is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the great storytellers of our times.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday, everyone! Technically, it is already Tuesday. So yes, another late Goodreads Monday update. Nevertheless, I hope you all had a restful weekend and had prepared for the tedious workweek ahead. I hope you were able to slow down and take a rest. I know. Mondays are not everyone’s cup of tea, or maybe coffee. I am no exception. However, viewed from a different perspective, Mondays are windows of opportunity to start afresh. It is a chance to work on our goals; ironically, the start is often the most difficult part. 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 wish you all the best for the week ahead.

Time does fly fast. Just like that, we are already in the ninth month of the year although the ghost month just started late in August and crossed to September. It cannot be denied that time is taking its natural course, sans any regard for anyone. Regardless, I hope that the notorious ghost month is going well for everyone. I hope that September is going to be a good month for everyone and that 2025 is treating everyone gently, and with kindness. I hope that as 2025 moves forward, everyone is showered with blessings, positivity, healing, and growth. I hope good news and kindness will come knocking on everyone’s doors in the coming months. I wish success and blessings for everyone. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in mind, body, and spirit.

In September, I will still pursue works of European literature. I realized that several of the books I listed in my reading challenges are works of European literature. As such, this foray into European literature is timely as I am starting to fear that I might not be able to complete these reading challenges. I have just completed reading Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, which is a part of my 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge, and is about to start reading Hermann Hesse’s Peter Camenzind, which is not part of these reading challenges. However, I am looking forward to immersing myself in the work of the German Nobel Laureate in Literature. Since I have been immersing myself in the works of European literature, I have also been featuring works of European writers in my weekly Goodreads Monday update. This week, I am featuring Colum McCann’s latest novel, Twist.

It was during the pandemic when I first came across the Irish writer. I came across his novel Apeirogon during a random foray into the local bookstore. Out of curiosity, I acquired a copy of the book and immediately immersed myself into the book. Apeirogon was a thought-provoking and insightful book that earned McCann a fan in me. It made me look forward to reading more of his works. I actually acquired one during the Big Bad Wolf Sale but I have yet to read the book. Today, I learned that he published a new work. The premise is quite interesting because it takes the readers to a fiber optic cable repair set. It is also set off the West Coast of Africa. It paints the portrait of a man in a midlife crisis but also some elements of existentialism and a delve into the fragility of human connections. The fiber optic cable then is symbolic.

There are also other elements that pique my interest. The novel explores technology and the underwater world which does remind me of Richard Powers’ Playground. I can’t wait to read the book as it also promises a different dimension of McCann’s prose. Hopefully I get to acquire a copy of the book soon. 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!