21st Century Literature discussion

Nominations are now open for the November Wild Card.

The purpose of the Wild Card is to choose books that fall outside our usual rules by being more on the ‘genre’ side of things (e.g., sci-fi, fantasy, YA, romances, westerns, graphic novels, etc.) but still of literary interest. More about the Wild Card can be found here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

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

If you are nominating, please begin your post by stating "I nominate [name with hyperlink to book]". Comments on why you selected a particular book are encouraged.

Nominations will be open through September 30th. The voting poll will be up for the following week. The discussion will start on November 1st.

I just learned about Jeff Vandermeer's first novel, Veniss Underground, which hadn't been on my radar. I'd love to nominate it unless we've read him too recently.

Also, FYI I tried the link to check when we read his stuff last and the link wasn't working. (I found it through the main page though - we read Borne in April 2021)

As long as we haven’t read the book itself, and it meets all other criteria (which it does), you are good to go! Hadn’t even heard of this title. Thanks for nominating!

Sam nominated God's Children Are Little Broken Things: Stories last month. I'd like to renominate it here.

David wrote: "Sam nominated God's Children Are Little Broken Things: Stories last month. I'd like to renominate it here."

Great choice David but I think the wild card is for genre fictio although God's Little Children could considered an LGTBQ book if that is a genre. Hugh and Marc will need to make the call.

I will nominate Devil House by John Darnielle. I consider this literary fiction but it was marketed as thriller/ true crime pastiche or something in that vein. I will let Marc and Hugh decide if this is eligible. All I know is it has a great after Halloween feel to it.

Sam wrote: "I will nominate Devil House by John Darnielle. I consider this literary fiction but it was marketed as thriller/ true crime pastiche or something in that vein. I wi..."

Oh man, I didn't even think of Halloweenie books for the nomination!

I haven't read God's Children but having accepted it as an Open Pick nomination it would be inconsistent to accept it for the Wild Card, as the wild card was designed as a category for fiction that doesn't fit the open pick rules.

I corrected the link above with additional explanation about the Wild Card:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It is a good time for "Halloweenie books" !
:D

We tend to look to the Wild Card for gems amongst sci-fi, fantasy, westerns, horror, romance, mysteries. Inevitably, there are some books that fit multiple categories or blur the lines.

Hugh wrote: "I haven't read God's Children but having accepted it as an Open Pick nomination it would be inconsistent to accept it for the Wild Card, as the wild card was designed as a category for fiction that..."

Makes sense!

Sam wrote: "I will nominate Devil House by John Darnielle. I consider this literary fiction but it was marketed as thriller/ true crime pastiche or something in that vein. I wi..."

This is fine for Wild Card. Agree it's "literary fiction", but as it's usually marketed as horror or thriller, it has a home here.

Whitney wrote: "Sam wrote: "I will nominate Devil House by John Darnielle. I consider this literary fiction but it was marketed as thriller/ true crime pastiche or something in tha..."

Thanks Whitney, that is the reason I thought it might make an interesting topic for discussion, as how our expectations of genre define our reaction to a book. This book went under the radar for much of the literary fiction fans I think. IMO it shares more in common with Helen Dewitt's work than either genre mentioned.

I've never read DeWitt, but if she's like Darnielle I definitely need to rectify that. Which would you recommend starting with?

First not to mislead I likened this book to DeWitt because Darnielle is swinging for the fences in ambition; he's got a original topic, done his research, written good prose in a variety of styles, has layered depths of meaning, and has written something unique of undefined genre though mimicking several. If that interests you start with her first and best known, The Last Samurai, called the best novel of the 21st century by some.

Sam wrote: "First not to mislead I likened this book to DeWitt because Darnielle is swinging for the fences in ambition; he's got a original topic, done his research, written good prose in a variety of styles,..."

Perfect, thanks!

The poll is now up here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Voting ends Oct. 8th.

Veniss Underground has won the poll!

Bretnie, would you be willing to moderate the discussion?

The discussion will start Nov 1st.

Thanks for nominating and voting!

Sure thing! Looking forward to reading it together!

Thanks, Bretnie!

Veniss Underground is currently $3.99 for the ebook.

https://www.amazon.com/Veniss-Undergr...