21st Century Literature discussion

Nominations are now open for the January 2018 Wild Card. This time around, it’s the wildest card of all. No rules! Any book may be nominated, no restrictions on genre, publication date, whether it’s been previously read, etc.

Nominating guidelines:
None! (But we will publically shame you if you nominate or vote for the winning book and don’t show up for the discussion.)

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

Nominations will be open for a week or so before the poll goes up. Discussion of the Wild Card will start January 15th.

And don't forget the poll is open for two more days for the Open Pick; with two books running neck and neck, this could be your chance to pick our next read! Open Pick poll is here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Thanks for kicking this off Whitney.

Fascinating looking nomination, LindaJ!

I'm torn between an old favorite (Geek Love) and a much older unread selection... I think I'll go with the much older one: I nominate Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: The Strife of Love in a Dream.

I nominate a book of short stories, Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell. Fantasy... magical realism... first published in 2013.

Ima just remind people this is NO RULES Wild Card. You can nominate books published in the 17th century, if you like.

This is your chance to read a book with the group that missed the 21st century cut-off!

Whitney, you have caused me to change my nomination to a book my husband inherited from his mother about 20 years ago that is sitting on the TBR shelf just a few books from my original nomination, which I have deleted so as to not cause confusion.

I nominate Old Mrs. Camelot (Kindle edition) by Emery Bonnet (pen name of Felicity Winifred Carter).

The book was originally published in 1944 and Abebooks has numerous used copies available for less than $10 - search by author and title and do not use the ISBN on the Kindle edition published in 2016 (available from Amazon for $3.99, at least in the US). The book was originally published in the UK in 1944 under the name "High Pavement."

Excellent! That's the spirit!

It's so hard picking only one book to nominate when we can pick pretty much any book we want! I was leaning towards one of several non-fiction books from the last few years when I decided to go a completely different direction and am landing on Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. I've never read any of her work and this one sounds like a good place to start.

Caroline wrote: "I decided to go a completely different direction and am landing on Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. I've never read any of her work and this one sounds like a good place to start."

Butler was a great science fiction author and one of my favorite authors in any genre. However, I think Kindred may be her only book that non sci fi lovers might find accessible.

Oh, what the hey, I'm going to nominate my favorite grand-pastiche , Silverlock by John Myers Myers. A relatively early example of metafiction taking place in the Republic of Letters. And it has songs and poetry.

I was very tempted to throw in a semi-silly nomination such as 1066 and All That, but since my nomination has won the open pick vote, I don't want to do two discussions simultaneously.

I nominate A Melon for Ecstasy by John Fortune.

It's ridiculously hilarious and brilliant to boot, from what I've read about it...Simply put, "don't get between a man and his trees!" Might be fun to read after the holidays?

Excellent choices!

So many I want to nominate, but I will go with Hunger by Knut Hamsun.

Nominations closing in 2 days!

I nominate Falconer by John Cheever.

I am very intrigued to see how this vote turns out!

I nominate V. by Thomas Pynchon

I would like to nominate Orlando by Virginia Woolf - first published in 1928

So many awesome nominations!

Marc wrote: "So many awesome nominations!"

Yes, but isn't it supposed to be "21st Century Literature"??

Clarke, This is a one-off special nominations round. Normal rules will resume for the next set.

Just for ... of it: The Maltese Falcon (1930) by Dashiell Hammett. Been wanting to read again and would be fun to do with a group, even though I don't really expect it to win -- don't intend as a downer, just realism. (Other possibilities I toyed with were The Glass Key (1931) or Chandler's The Long Goodbye (1953).)

All right, a crazy fantastic assortment of books! Thanks everyone who nominated. Nominations are closed and the poll is up until the 12th. Happy voting.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Thanks Whitney. The early votes aren't offering many clues about what will win!

"your soul will be cursed to wander the desolate spirit lands for eternity if you fail to participate in the discussion"

Kirsten, if you read them carefully, you will see that all sorts of dire threats have appeared in our recent polls, not that it seems to make a blind bit of difference!

Hugh wrote: "Kirsten, if you read them carefully, you will see that all sorts of dire threats have appeared in our recent polls, not that it seems to make a blind bit of difference!"

It does make a little bit of difference, Hugh. I don't vote because I'm not confident of joining in the discussion. (I'm not complaining - I'm just pointing out that it does have the desired effect.)

I'm glad to hear it has some effect! (But I still suspect it's largely just providing amusement for those already considerate about voting).

Kindred has pulled ahead in the voting, leading "V." by 2 votes!

Whitney wrote: "I'm glad to hear it has some effect! (But I still suspect it's largely just providing amusement for those already considerate about voting).

Kindred has pulled ahead in the voting, leading "V." b..."

I think it’s really about timing... We’re in the heart of “the most wonderful time of the year!” ;P Concentration of voters isn’t going to be as high, compared to other months. Your January 2015/2016 Wild Card Polls, although they had half the number of nominations, the overall number of voters in these polls are comparable (+/-4).

Kindred claims victory in the polls! This will be the group's first time reading Butler. January is shaping up to be an exciting discussion month!

Hope everyone enjoys (or, at least, survives) the holidays!

Marc wrote: "Kindred claims victory in the polls! This will be the group's first time reading Butler. January is shaping up to be an exciting discussion month!

Hope everyone enjoys (or, at least, ..."

Oooo! I'm excited!

Kindred is a very good book by an excellent author but certainly not the "wildest" of Butler's books! Since I have all her books on my keeper shelves, I may pull it down and reread but it won't be until the end of January.

The discussion threads for Kindred are now open. You can find them on our main discussion page or by visiting this link.