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:

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Blurb from Goodreads

Winner of the Macmillan Prize for African Adult Fiction An uncompromising novel by one of Africa’s premiere writers, detailing the horrors of civil war in luminous, haunting prose In 1980, after decades of guerilla war against colonial rule, Rhodesia earned its hard-fought-for independence from Britain. Less than two years thereafter when Mugabe rose to power in the new Zimbabwe, it signaled the begining of brutal civil unrest that would last nearly a half decade more. With The Stone Virgins Yvonne Vera examines the dissident movement from the perspective of two sisters living in a small township outside of Bulawayo. In a portrait painted in successive impressions of life before and after the liberation, Vera explores the quest for dignity and a centered existence against a backdrop of unimaginable violence; the twin instincts of survival and love; the rival pulls of township and city life; and mankind’s capacity for terror, beauty, and sacrifice. One sister will find a reason for hope. One will not make it through alive. Weaving historical fact within a story of grand passions and striking endurance, Vera has gifted us with a powerful and provocative testament to the resilience of the Zimbabwean people.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday, everyone! Technically, it is already Tuesday. I know—not many people get excited about Mondays (though I’m sure a few are out there). I, too, am not exactly a fan. After all, we’ve got to start somewhere, and Monday is one of those starting points. It provides us an opportunity to work on our goals; ironically, in any endeavor, the start is often the hardest part. As such, I hope everyone had a restful weekend and is ready for the week ahead. The weather here in the Philippines has been unpredictable. Over the weekend, it has been a mix of overcast and sunny. The same is true today. The stifling Manila heat has been replaced by the holiday breeze, a reminder that Christmas is just around the corner. The cold has led to an inevitable increase in cases of colds and coughs. With this, I hope everyone is doing well—mentally, emotionally, and physically—and that we all make it through (or survive) the workweek.

Time really does fly. Just like that, we’re already in the final stretch of the year. December is literally zooming past us. In a couple of days, we will bid farewell to 2025 and welcome a new year. 2026 is just over the horizon. Despite the uncertainties the future holds, time keeps pressing forward—regardless of our readiness. While the future remains shrouded in uncertainty, there’s still much to look forward to. The new year brims with hope and fresh starts. I hope everything goes well for everyone in the remainder of the year. May the rest of the year be kind to us all and shower us with blessings, positivity, healing, and growth. I hope good news and kindness come knocking on your doors in the coming year. May you be rewarded for all the hard work you’ve put in this year. Wishing you continued success and happiness.

With the start of a new week also comes a new reading adventure, hence a fresh Goodreads Monday update. My venture into the vast landscape of American literature—and, by extension, African literature—is approaching its conclusion. This is in line with my goal of completing all my reading challenges and goals this year; the remaining books from these challenges were written by American and African writers. I am currently reading my fourth Thomas Pynchon novel, The Crying of Lot 49. Interestingly, I thought it was Inherent Vice that I listed as part of my 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge, only to realize that it was The Crying of Lot 49. Nonetheless, I relished this experience as it provided me a glimpse of a different dimension of the hermetic American writer’s body of work. I am just now down to my last book on my 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge List.

Anyway, back to what this weekly meme is about. With the year drawing to a close, literary pundits and prominent publications have been releasing lists of their best reads of the year. 2025 was yet another memorable literary ride. This was the reason why I featured recently published books in the previous Goodreads Monday updates. However, I am going to make an exception this week because I am featuring a backlist read. It was only yesterday, when I was researching works of Zimbabwean writers, that I first encountered Yvonne Vera. You see, yesterday was the commemoration of Unity Day in the African nation. It was because of this that I featured works of Zimbabwean literature in my previous 5 On My TBR bookish meme. Technically, I am a stranger to Zimbabwean literature, although I have already read the works of NoViolet Bulawayo and Nobel Laureate in Literature Doris Lessing (she was born in Rhodesia). I have also encountered Tsitsi Dangarembga before.

Still, I couldn’t say that my exploration of Zimbabwean literature is extensive. I would even call it measly. Among the writers who captured my interest while searching for works of Zimbabwean literature is Vera and her novel The Stone Virgins. I just learned that she has already passed away, at the age of forty, due to complications of AIDS. Still, she has been highly regarded by literary pundits. Her works, including The Stone Virgins, are widely studied and appreciated by those studying postcolonial African literature. Further, her works have been described as deeply rooted in her homeland’s difficult past (Robert Mugabe easily comes to mind). She is also renowned for crafting strong female characters and dealing with difficult subject matters, all the while anchored to her homeland.

There are several reasons to look forward to exploring Vera’s lush body of work. From what I understand, The Stone Virgins was the last work she published before her untimely demise. Another interesting fact about Vera is that she was born in Bulawayo, the second largest city in the country. It was also where NoViolet Bulawayo was born, hence her pseudonym. The challenge, it seems, is acquiring a copy of the book. I sure hope I get to obtain a copy of it. How about you, fellow readers? How was your Monday? What books have you recently added to your reading list? Drop your thoughts in the comments. For now—happy Monday, and as always, happy reading!