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:

Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon

Blurb from Goodreads

Milwaukee 1932, the Great Depression going full blast, repeal of Prohibition just around the corner, Al Capone in the federal pen, the private investigation business shifting from labor-management relations to the more domestic kind. Hicks McTaggart, a one-time strikebreaker turned private eye, thinks he’s found job security until he gets sent out on what should be a routine case, locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune who’s taken a mind to go wandering. Before he knows it, he’s been shanghaied onto a transoceanic liner, ending up eventually in Hungary where there’s no shoreline, a language from some other planet, and enough pastry to see any cop well into retirement—and of course no sign of the runaway heiress he’s supposed to be chasing. By the time Hicks catches up with her he will find himself also entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians, practitioners of the paranormal, outlaw motorcyclists, and the troubles that come with each of them, none of which Hicks is qualified, forget about being paid, to deal with. Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can’t see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is it’s the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he’s a pretty good dancer. Whether this will be enough to allow him somehow to lindy-hop his way back again to Milwaukee and the normal world, which may no longer exist, is another question.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday, everyone! Technically, it is already Tuesday. Yes, I know. Monday again. Mondays are not everyone’s cup of tea, or maybe coffee. I am no exception. Still, I hope everyone you all had a restful weekend and a great start to the workweek. The past few weeks have been a battle between the heat and the rains here in the Philippines. The weather has been unpredictable. It is no surprise many are feeling under the weather. With this, I hope everyone is keeping safe and dry. I hope everyone is doing well, mentally, psychologically, and physically. 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. With this, 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, the ninth month of the year is over. Tomorrow, we will be welcoming the tenth month and last quarter of the year. Despite the uncertainties that the future holds, time keeps moving forward, sans any regard for us. Still, there are a lot of things to look forward to. I hope everything is going well for everyone. As the year approaches its inevitable close, I hope that the rest of the month will be gentle to everyone. 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 concluded my quarter-long foray into the works of European literature. My current read, Hungarian writer Antal Szerb’s Journey by Moonlight, officially concludes this journey brimming with memorable reads. I am also glad that this journey allowed me to tick off books from my ongoing reading challenges and goals; they are the primary reasons why I pivoted toward European literature after spending the first half of the year reading works of Asian literature. With my venture into European literature officially done, I am shifting my focus on the remaining books in my reading challenges, several of which are written by American writers, including Thomas Pynchon whose The Crying of Lot 49 is part of my 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge. I highlighted Pynchon because I just recently learned that he is set to release a new novel this year, Shadow Ticket.

Like most of the writers whose works I have been reading in the past decade, it was through must-read lists that I first encountered Thomas Pynchon. I have not encountered him previously but I was even more compelled to read him when I learned that he has a hermetic existence. He is a recluse who was rarely seen in public. However, he often makes his presence felt when the a controversial discourse calls for it such as when British writer Ian McEwan was accused of plagiarism for his novel Atonement. My interest piqued, I acquired some of Pynchon’s works and in 2021, I was finally able to establish a foothold into his oeuvre with his novel Gravity’s Rainbow. It was a challenging, but interesting read that provided me glimpses into Pynchon’s literary acumen.

The news of a new novel is a welcome one. I have been meaning to expand my exploration of his works and with his name again being part of the Nobel Prize in Literature discourse, there are several reasons for me to look forward to Shadow Ticket. Further, it seems to offer a different dimension of Pynchon’s writing. The novel also has elements of mystery and history. In a nutshell, there is a lot to look forward to in Pynchon’s latest novel. For now, I hope I get to obtain a copy of the book, or at least that it is readily available here in the Philippines. 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!