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 Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories by Yasunari Kawabata
Blurb from Goodreads
A collection of twenty-three stories from one of the most influential figures in modern Japanese literature.
Yasunari Kawabata is widely known for his innovative short stories, some called “palm-of-the-hand” stories short enough to fit into one’s palm. This collection reflects Kawabata’s keen perception, deceptive simplicity, and the deep melancholy that characterizes much of his work. The stories were written between 1923 and 1929, and many feature autobiographical events and themes that reflect the painful losses he experienced early in his life.
Why I Want To Read It
Happy Monday, everyone! Just like that, we are already at the first Monday of the eleventh 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. This also means that we are just two months away from welcoming a new year. I hope the rest of the year unfolds in everyone’s favor and that the remainder of 2026 will be kind to you all. I hope and pray that everyone is being showered with blessings and good news. As the year gradually approaches its close, I hope you will be rewarded for all the hard work you have put in throughout the year. I also hope everyone has had a good start to the workweek. I wish you all continued success and happiness, and I hope everyone is doing well in body, mind, and spirit.
I know not many people get excited about Mondays (though I am sure a few are out there). Nevertheless, the new week beckons with the promise of 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 prospect of a super El Niño looms, but I fervently hope and pray that it will not be as devastating as initially forecast. Anyway, I hope you gradually gain some momentum as the week progresses and that everyone’s workweek goes smoothly. Thankfully, today is a holiday here in the Philippines in observance of All Souls’ Day. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well mentally, emotionally, and physically. After concluding my venture into American literature in October, I have since embarked on a less structured reading schedule, as I currently have no central literary motif guiding my choices.
Since I intend to complete my ongoing reading challenges ahead of schedule, my November reading journey is shaping up to be a venture into African literature, although I am just about to finish Marilynne Robinson’s Home. However, for this week’s Goodreads Monday update, I have chosen to feature a book I recently acquired. Through a friend who recently visited Japan, I was able to secure a copy of The Dancing Girl of Izu and Other Stories by Yasunari Kawabata, the first Japanese writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Ever since encountering Kawabata through various must-read lists, I have resolved to explore his works. Interestingly, when I first came across his name, I barely had an inkling of the significance and prestige of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Since then, I have read about six of his novels, beginning with Snow Country, which I read back in 2015, and continuing to, more recently, The Rainbow. I have also been curious about the works cited by the Swedish Academy in its laudation of Kawabata’s literary achievements. Among them is The Dancing Girl of Izu, a short story that, owing to its length, is sometimes classified as a novella. Although it was not explicitly named in the formal Nobel citation, it was discussed in the presentation speech, which naturally piqued the interest of readers around the world. I have continued to encounter the work, not only on must-read lists but also in numerous paeans to Kawabata’s literary genius. Moreover, the novella appears to have autobiographical elements, which makes me even more eager to read 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 and keep safe!
