21st Century Literature discussion

Nominations are now open until September 11th for the October 2023 Open Pick.

Nominating guidelines:
- Fiction (original & translation, if applicable) first published between January 1, 2000 and October 1, 2022. For translations the latter date must be an English edition.
- One nomination per person (please do not nominate or vote for a book unless you are certain you can read and discuss if it wins)
- A book this group has not yet read (see the group bookshelf or the Index of all Group Reads here)
- A book that is not better suited to the wild card (genre) category

If you are nominating, please begin your post by stating "I nominate [name with hyperlink to book]"

The discussion will start on October 1st

Only a few days left to nominate!

I'll nominate Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell.

I nominate Carpentaria by Alexis Wright.

David wrote: "I nominate Carpentaria by Alexis Wright."

Thanks, David. Looks interesting! How did this one come across your radar?

Alexis Wright has a new book out this year, Praiseworthy, which has been getting some hype on social media and from a handful of critics. I thought her previous novel, Carpentaria, might be a good one for discussion here.

I nominate God's Children Are Little Broken Things: Stories by Arinze Ifeakandu

I am drawing a blank on whether we allow short story collections in our nominations and feel free to disregard if we aren't.
This LGBTQ themed collection had quite a bit of book prize exposure and won a couple of late awarding prizes but didn't seem to generate as much discussion as I would have thought. It is a strong collection, contemporary but working with traditional structure and the stories are political, poignant, and thought provoking.

Short story collections are fine

Good thinking, David.

Thanks for the nomination, Sam.

I’ll set the poll up later today and post a link when it’s live.

The poll is up and will be open through the 19th here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

While the poll remains open for the rest of today, I think it's pretty safe to say Carpentaria will be the winner!

David, would you be willing to lead the discussion starting Oct. 1st?

Yes, I can lead. Would you like me to start a thread or do the mods set it up?

We will set up the folder and leave a placeholder post a day before the start (or earlier if you prefer) and then you can set up a thread (or more) as you see fit.

Thank you!!!

Marc wrote: "Only a few days left to nominate!

I'll nominate Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell."

I've had this on my to-read shelf for awhile after reading another one from this author. I'll check out Carpentaria, but maybe Hamnet can make it in another poll.