21st Century Literature discussion

It’s already time to start Open Pick Nominations for our first book of 2013. Everyone can nominate one book for this month’s poll, but remember that nominations must be works of fiction published from 2000-2012. As usual, selections that are overly genre or fail to meet the group standards of literary quality will not be permitted in the final poll.

Nominations will close on Friday, December 7, and the poll will run from December 7-14. Once the winner is announced, make a mad dash for the inevitable seasonal sales in the hopes of grabbing our selection at a great price!

Is it alright to nominate a book that was already nominated but didn't win in previous months?

I would like to nominate Half of a Yellow Sun which which has won the Orange Prize for Fiction (2007), Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction (2007), and the PEN Open Book Award (2007). I read this book a year ago and would not only highly recommend but eagarly re-read.

Savanna: Absolutely. It would be a shame to leave nominees on the cutting room floor simply because they didn't win one measly vote. And it doesn't matter how many months in a row a book is nominated. If you really believe in a book, keep plugging away until you or we are worn down by the attempt!

Mikela: Yay! So glad to see a nomination from you! If we choose this, I'm going to have to pre-emptively bump Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart to the top of my reading list.

Good to know! But Mikela's nomination looks so good I don't want to nominate anything else, so I'll save mine for next month. :P

Half of a Yellow sun is a FANTASTIC book!

I'd like to nominate a collection of short stories by Alice Munro, reputed to be her best collection yet.

Dear Life: Stories

"Suffused with Munro’s clarity of vision and her unparalleled gift for storytelling, these tales about departures and beginnings, accidents and dangers, and outgoings and homecomings both imagined and real, paint a radiant, indelible portrait of how strange, perilous, and extraordinary ordinary life can be"

I would like to once again nominate Telegraph Avenue, the latest book out from Michael Chabon. Yes, I nominated this last month, but it came in second to Vaniahing Point, so I'm trying again.

All good nominations!

I'd like to include Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan.

It was published in 2011 and was nominated for: Man Booker Prize, Orange Prize, Rogers Writers' Trust Award, and Governor General's Award; it won the Giller Prize in 2011.

The Four Fingers of Death by Rick Moody has really captured my imagination and fired up my inner literary junkie's obsession with anything meta and books that try to take genre fiction to literary places.

One reviewer described it as: "a science fiction novel about a science fiction novel, wrapped in a shroud of weirdness. It's loopy and weird... and surprisingly tender." It's dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut.

It's a sprawling book though...a little over 700pp and Rick Moody's digressive style isn't for everyone. Still, worth a nomination here.

Genevieve, it definitely sounds interesting. Did it put you in mind of Calvino?

Thing Two wrote: "I'd like to include Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan.

It was published in 2011 and was nominated for: Man Booker Prize, Orange Prize, R..."

That was some book. I loved it.

And I loved Half the Yellow Sun. Marvelous writer. I had the opportunity to speak with her last spring. Beautiful woman - inside and out.

Deborah wrote: "Genevieve, it definitely sounds interesting. Did it put you in mind of Calvino?"

I can see why you'd mention Calvino (the meta, novel-within-a-novel postmodern part), but it's actually too comical and pulpy... It actually reminds me of Neal Stephenson's stuff because it is so cleverly digressive. There's just a lot of meat in this book to discuss: The political parodies going on... B-movie dystopia. Inventive plotlines. Would be an interesting book for this group to tackle.

I'm new to the group, and would like to recommend a funny, moving, intelligent novel by a new author: The Second Daughter ...

I'm also new I'd like to nominate Embassytown. Although Meilville writes genre fiction his work is considered literature and is always focussed on a message about today's world.

Katrina I love you. I'm pretty sure that we'll probably have disqualify it, but I completely agree with your assessment of Meiville and would vote for it. Where were you in October!!!!!!

I haven't read Embassytown, but I will note that it has been nominated in the best novel category for last year's Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards, and came in second in Hugo voting. (It lost out to "Among Others" by Jo Walton, a sentimental favorite for many.)

@Katrina: The mods had a quick huddle over Embassytown. Normally we try to avoid books that are overly genre, but we are agreed that there is enough critical acclaim regarding China Miéville's literary qualities to at least merit a nomination.

@Andrew: The Second Daughter is a bit thornier. Although I'm sure it is every bit as wonderful as your pitch, I think we'll need to let that one age a bit longer. We might very well be missing the next modern classic by doing so, but we'll take our chances in waiting for some critical momentum to build up. The silver lining is: You get the opportunity to nominate another book this month!

Daniel wrote: "@Katrina: The mods had a quick huddle over Embassytown. Normally we try to avoid books that are overly genre, but we are agreed that there is enough critical acclaim regarding China Miéville's lite..."

Excellent!

This might be a bit squishy, but I have been on a Cartwright roll and would like to nominate:

The Promise of Happiness

The poll goes up on Friday evening. So, if you are still considering a nomination don't think on it too long. Just do it.

I'll nominate Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. Reprinted in 2011 to general acclaim, it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction that year.

Glenn wrote: "I'll nominate Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. Reprinted in 2011 to general acclaim, it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction that year."

Train Dreams is a fantastic pick!

The poll is up. Go vote

And the winner of our Open Pick poll for January 2013 is:

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Make sure to grab yourself a copy!