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:

Black Bag by Luke Kennard

Blurb from Goodreads

In her first novel in verse, Anne Carson bridges the gap between classicism and the modern, poetry and prose, with a volcanic journey into the soul of a winged red monster named Geryon.

There is a strong mixture of whimsy and sadness in Geryon’s story. He is tormented as a boy by his brother, escapes to a parallel world of photography, and falls in love with Herakles—a golden young man who leaves Geryon at the peak of infatuation. Geryon retreats ever further into the world created by his camera, until that glass house is suddenly and irrevocably shattered by Herakles’ return. Running throughout is Geryon’s fascination with his wings, the color red, and the fantastic accident of who he is.

Autobiography of Red is a deceptively simple narrative layered with currents of meaning, emotion, and the truth about what it’s like to be red. It is a powerful and unsettling story that moves, disturbs, and delights.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday, everyone! Just like that, we are already at the last Monday of the tenth month of the year. This means that the year is slowly inching toward its inevitable close. 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. With roughly two months to go, I hope the rest of the year flows in everyone’s favor. I hope the remainder of the year will be kind to you all. I hope and pray that everyone is being showered with blessings and good news, especially during the final stretch of the year. As the year slowly approaches its inevitable close, I hope that you will be repaid for the hard work you have put in throughout 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. The super El Niño looms, but I fervently hope and pray that it won’t be as devastating as initially forecast. Anyway, I hope you gradually gain some momentum as the week progresses. I hope everyone’s workweek goes smoothly. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well mentally, emotionally, and physically. In September, I commenced a journey across the American literary landscape. As I still have a lot of American books on my reading challenges, I am extending this journey into October. Thankfully, I was able to complete all the works by American writers on my reading challenges ahead of time, allowing me to go beyond American literature.

Currently, I am reading Douglas Stuart’s John of John, just the second book from this year’s Booker Prize shortlist that I have read. Speaking of literary awards and recognition, I have chosen to feature in this week’s Goodreads Monday update a writer who has long been a staple of literary awards. Canadian writer Anne Carson is widely recognized for her poetic works, as well as for her academic work. She made her literary debut in 1984 with the publication of Canicula di Anna, her first published collection of poetry. Meanwhile, Eros the Bittersweet: An Essay, published in 1986, was her first book of criticism and is fundamentally a reworking of her doctoral thesis. Her works have also earned her accolades around the world, including the 2019 Manuel Acuña International Poetry Prize, the 2020 Princess of Asturias Award for Literature, and the 2021 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature. Her name has also long been part of discussions surrounding the Nobel Prize in Literature.

In 2026, Carson was finally recognized by the Swedish Academy. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.” I was happy for her recognition because it seems long overdue, a sentiment welcomed by several literary pundits. However, I am not much into poetry, so her oeuvre is probably something that I will never venture too deeply into. Thankfully, there is one exception. Her most recognized work, which many literary pundits consider her magnum opus, is a novel in verse. Originally published in 1998, Autobiography of Red is considered the work that gave Carson her breakthrough. Interestingly, the novel is a work of queer fiction that also delves into complex subjects such as the role of translation. Carson, after all, is also renowned as a translator, primarily of ancient Greek tragedies. I just hope I get to secure 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!