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:

The Correspondents by Virginia Evans

Blurb from Goodreads

“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle. . . . Isn’t there something wonderful in that, to think that a story of one’s life is preserved in some way, that this very letter may one day mean something, even if it is a very small thing, to someone?”

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday, everyone! We are already in the ninth month of the year. How time flies! As always, time takes its natural course, ever flowing forward with no regard for any of us. It does not wait for anyone. I hope the year is going—and will continue to go—well for everyone. I hope the rest of the year will be kind to you all. I am now in my third week at my new job, and I am finally getting back into my groove. While I am a little nervous about the pressure that comes with my new responsibilities, I am looking forward to what the future has in store for me. I hope that this reversal of fortune will continue until the end of the year. I hope and pray that everyone is being showered with blessings and positive news as well, especially during the last stretch of the year. I also hope everyone has had a good start to the workweek. Wishing you continued success and happiness. I hope everyone is doing well in body, mind, and spirit.

I know not many people get excited about Mondays (though I’m sure a few are out there). Yet the new week beckons with hope and fresh starts, and I hope it unfolds in everyone’s favor. Here in the Philippines, the heat is once again making its presence felt after several damp weeks brought on by the monsoon season. Anyway, I hope that as the week progresses, you gradually gain some momentum. I hope everyone’s workweek goes smoothly. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well mentally, emotionally, and physically. With the commencement of a new month comes a new literary venture. After touring across the Asian continent, I am now crossing the Pacific to the United States of America. Apparently, I have quite a lot of American books in my reading challenges. Still, I hope that this literary journey will be a memorable one.

My current read, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon, is part of my 2026 Beat the Backlist Challenge and 2026 Top 26 Reading List. In line with this month’s reading motif, I am featuring the work of an American writer. It was only recently that I came across Virginia Evans through social media. During the recently concluded Manila International Book Fair, fairgoers were asked about their favorite books or the books they would always recommend. One of the books mentioned was Evans’ The Correspondent. This naturally piqued my interest. Apparently, the book won the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction; I only learned about this today. There is more to the book than just the award. Evans started writing novels when she was just nineteen. Over the years, Evans wrote seven books, but no publisher would publish them. She even wrote a self-published novel in 2019.

The Correspondent is Evans’ long-awaited literary breakthrough. Interestingly, the novel started as a mere writing exercise, with Evans having no plans to show it to anyone. She wrote it during a particularly rough patch. Her father-in-law was sick, COVID-19 caused lockdowns, and her failure to find publishers for her works pushed her to consider applying to law school. Everything eventually paid off, as The Correspondent earned both critical and commercial success. Commercial success, however, was not instantaneous. The book barely received any attention during the first few months after its publication before gradually gaining popularity. Interestingly, the novel’s main character, Sybil Van Antwerp, is a retired lawyer living alone in Annapolis. She was also inspired by Evans’ mother-in-law. There is certainly a lot to look forward to in the book.

For now, I hope I get to obtain a copy of the book. 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 and keep safe!