21st Century Literature discussion

The 21CL moderators have been at it for quite a few years now and feel this group could use some fresh leadership and ideas at the top. None of the current leaders are planning on leaving the group and will likely to be able to help administratively, but the group could use some new moderators. These new moderators would be allowed to change the future direction of the group (number/frequency/type of discussions, nominating/voting process/rules, etc.).

It's not a big time commitment, but the group could benefit from some fresh thinking and different personalities.

If you're interested in moderating or have questions about it, comment below or direct message Hugh, Whitney, or me. If you aren't interested in moderating, but there are new things you'd like to see the group do, feel free to do the same (comment below or send a direct message).

Thanks for starting this Marc. This is a quick comment to bump the discussion up.

I wonder if it might be fun to take one or two authors and read through their backlists in 2025.

For example, my reading of Scholastique Mukasonga has been a bit scattershot and I've been intending to read her nonfiction/memoir and fiction in succession. Perhaps one book every month or two. I don't know if a project like that appeals to anyone else.

Other options might include Cristina Rivera Garza, Rachel Cusk, Kate Zambreno, Mieko Kawakami, Anne Carson, Geetanjali Shree, Isabel Waidner, László Krasznahorkai etc. etc. Whatever might pique the interest of the group.

I think the idea is wonderful, but I think one would have to refine reasons and criteria for selected author to get the most out of the exercise. Another possibility is a read of books based on a theme which could range from locale, to style to period of time, to shared school, gente, or ideas. The biggest challenge would be commitment of readers and probably the commitment of the reading exercise leader to add materials and encourage discussion.

I definitely think it would be interesting, but if the books aren't very available or not available in the formats I need, it would limit my participation. I often find that one or two of an author's works are available in all formats while others are limited. I see several available to me by Scholastique Mukasonga though.

I like David's idea and of the authors mentioned Mukasonga is the most appealing to me.

Another option, given the focus of the group, could be to do something with the NY Times' top-100 of the 21st century. We could (re-)read the top 10 for instance, or do nominations for any top-100 book once a month.

I like that idea Ruben .

Sam’s idea of reading around a theme appeals to me, Taking a key topic or event of the 21st century & reading a selection of works on that theme. A friend of mine ran a popular course at Pace University focusing on literature about 9/11. Possible ideas include climate change, AI, rise of social media, Arab Spring, 2008 financial crisis, indigenous populations, geographical region. The list goes on.
Should be sufficient breadth & variety for most to find something resonant. I enjoy a Rashomon effect.

I like both Sam's and Ruben's ideas too.

I like all of our ideas. If we incorporated Leslie's approach, I would hope we would entertain the possibility of adding more than fiction, including nonfiction, or film into our themed reads.

When it comes to authors, there are so many possibilities. One could pick the hot name, like Percival Everett, where most of us know him only by his most recent work and could enjoy some back catalog; or we could look for the critic's darling, the future Nobel winner. Mukasonga and Carson both fit that profile but there are authors like Ananda Devi or Peter Nadas who come up but never seem to make it to our reading discussions.

Rueben's idea is good to, sine we tend to let good books go unread as the next new batch appears.

But Greg's point struck me. We should make an effort to insure that at least one book per month is easily accessible by all and preferably library available to accomodate budgets..

Yes. All good ideas.
Agree with Sam on possible non-fiction inclusion.
Something I’d like to more of & could use a guide for is ‘reading off the beaten track’. Perhaps we could have an independent publisher or debut novel pick? I appreciate it may need careful selection to ensure adequate availability.

Hi, I mostly lurk on this forum but often get good recommendations for reads - thanks to you all! I like all of these ideas and would like to toss in another theme that expands a bit Lesley’s idea of reading around the 2008 financial crisis, and that is to read about our rising inequalities, financially, in the 21st century. I’m thinking of novelists like Jonathan Dee, who takes this on in several novels, but perhaps most notably in The Locals which speaks to this theme, and I’m sure there are others. The « one percent » is very much a 21st century phenomenon, with repercussions we still can’t assess in their totality. And novels about « getting and spending » speaks to a long tradition in fiction, think Wharton, James, Dickens, Trollope.

Some really great ideas in this thread--keep'em coming!

Hello, I am interested, as I am doing some research and writing a paper on the 21st century English literature.

I wanted to say that I am working on a literary theory. I find the idea really appealing.

Loose ideas from thinking about springboards & frameworks for choices.
Link choice to literary event or archive - global association of literary festivals has a calendar of festivals & their websites. Maybe use a theme from a current festival to inspire choice & discussion. Or use an archive of author talks & articles e.g. Royal Society of Literature. There are probably many more. Nobel Prize for Literature winners from 2000 onwards - use motivation for award & winners speech as context for discussion.
Also thinking about cross media - link book, film, music, artwork or any combination thereof. Not necessarily film of book but some connection - thematic, inspired by. Painting & book - Le Déjeuner sur L’herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noir/On Beauty. A book/film pairing I like though doesn’t meet 21st century criteria is Hamlet & The Lion King.
Maybe someone can find something in these meanderings.

I would like to be a moderator to any book groups if any available

Another idea would be to go through the "long lists" for awards.

I like the idea of doing historical long/shortlist reads. Also would enjoy thematic reads during for instance a quarter to deepdive in some author their output or reading books connected by a common thread

All great ideas, but for the moment I feel we need to revive the interest and participation in the group. I think all the Goodreads groups are seeing a decline in participation. Partially this is because it is an old platform and members have migrated but I thought I noticed a bigger drop in January which may be attributed to a host of things, but my thoughts pondered people drawing back from social media, people realloting their bookreading/discussion time, people refraining from buying new books, and people shocked by political changes in U.S.
I'm not sure if the preceding have anything to do with our decline, but I hope we can rekindle interest. Personally, all the above considerations also have been considered by me but while I may juggle some of my reading priorities, I feel the need to read more rather than less and to stay involved in Goodreads for the variety of views put forth at this present time. My fears are that my other sources of information are becoming far more narrow.

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025...

I feel the need to read more rather than less, as well.

Sam wrote: "All great ideas, but for the moment I feel we need to revive the interest and participation in the group. I think all the Goodreads groups are seeing a decline in participation. Partially this is b..."

Yes I agree there's a noticeable drop-off, a lot of people doom-scrolling atm. But I also belong to other groups that are very active still.

Both have a general discussion thread where people can post links or make suggestions about anything from TV programmes to films, or have an ongoing discussion about a theme or even political issues - which builds a sense of community. One also has a thread where individual members can suggest a buddy read and if they get takers a thread can be set up for them. It's very popular.

So there's more bottom-up activity, this group feels very top-down at times. So, for instance, if I'm not interested in the books being put forward for group reads or the questions posed by moderators there's no reason for me to contribute. And the less I contribute the more the group becomes less of a forum I'm inclined to visit. I sometimes just post something because I feel bad that nobody's been posting!

Alwynne wrote: "Sam wrote: "All great ideas, but for the moment I feel we need to revive the interest and participation in the group. I think all the Goodreads groups are seeing a decline in participation. Partial..."

Those are definitely things we could think about, and I agree they work well in other groups.

Thanks! I should probably add that when I have taken part in group reads I've found them stimulating and entertaining. And that many of Marc's questions are inventive and thought-provoking.

I've been in this group but inactive for years. I don't have the time/energy to be a moderator, but I'm really feeling at a loss for good things to read. I see the group is reading Everything Is Illuminated for May and I'm so in for that. I love this book and the Jesse Eisenberg movie, A Real Pain, reminded me of it. So, I'll show up for that discussion!

A belated thanks for the input, ideas, constructive feedback, and participation from everyone. It seems like there's a fair amount of interest in buddy reads, so we've opened up a folder to allow for those here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Guidelines and a nominating thread are posted there, but it's pretty simple:
- Any one can nominate any book
- As soon as a total of 3 members are interested, you all can agree to when you want to do the buddy read
- Open a single thread/topic within the "Buddy Reads" folder for the discussion and name it by month, year, and book title (e.g., if you were to discuss The Flat Woman in May the discussion would be named "May 2025 - The Flat Woman").

We'll advertise this in the next group announcement that goes out, as well.