21st Century Literature discussion

Nominations are now open until September 24th for the November 2025 Open Pick.

Nominating guidelines:
- Fiction (original & translation, if applicable) first published between January 1, 2000 and Nov 1, 2024. 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 but note that this list is now missing the last couple of years)
- 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 November 1st

I nominate We Are Light Gerda Blees Winner of the 2021 European Union Literature Prize

Thanks Sam

Sam wrote: "I nominate We Are Light Gerda Blees Winner of the 2021 European Union Literature Prize"

Oh very good, I loved it in the original Dutch!

Just realised we are now well past the end date for this and still have only one nomination. Are we happy to accept We Are Light without a poll or should we reopen nominations for a day or two?

I nominate Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Nobel Prize winning Nigerian author Wole Soyinka

I completely missed this thread. I think I'll pass this month's group reading.

Thanks Greg. Let's keep nominations open for the rest of today and move to a poll tomorrow.

Nominations are now closed. The poll is up here and will run until October 7th.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...

We Are Light has won the poll. Sam - are you happy to lead the discussion?

Yes, I can, though I suggest we track participation and gauge how we can change things to encourage more. We have been up and down in participation and with the Knausgaard I thought we might have turned back toward upward but the nominations and vote were poor this month. I went for a new name, a Dutch debut literary fiction murder mystery that had some critical recognition but did not get a lot of mention in the groups I follow. From the polls I don't expect much participation in the read but we will see. I know Goodreads is bleeding members that participated to the degree they did in the past, but I feel if we are able to find the right books we can still generate decent group participation.

Sam, this book looks really good! But I can't seem to find an audio version through my library (Libby), through Audible, or through Spotify audiobooks. And with my job demands, usually it's hard for me to join unless I can find an audio copy to supplement my physical copy reading time. Most books, I listen to about 50% of and read a physical copy for the other 50%.

Greg wrote: "Sam, this book looks really good! But I can't seem to find an audio version through my library (Libby), through Audible, or through Spotify audiobooks. And with my job demands, usually it's hard fo..."

I don't believe an audiobook was released. I usually depend on a mixed audio and print experience, and am just going to have to rely on my eyes.

I hope to participate myself this time, but I haven't yet checked what the UK availability is. I agree that group participation has been disappointing recently (though the level of interest has always fluctuated pretty wildly), and we moderators have to take some of the blame for that, but speaking purely for myself, I am struggling to find as much time as I used to for GoodReads commitments, and the Mookse group has to take priority over this one as it is more active (and more dependent on me). Would love to have some new blood in the moderating team.

The UK edition is quite reasonably priced as a premium paperback, so I'll add it to my next order.

I am honestly trying not to commit to group reads at the moment, unless they are books I already own or was desperate to read anyway. Otherwise it is so hard to make a dent in my TBR, and my months become a marathon of reading other people's choices (esp. with my in-person book groups).

It's a hard balance to hit because I do love how montly readings "force" me to get to things... Mariana Enriquez´s latest in my current case.

This does look very interesting though and like a good choice, but I need to clear some shelf room. :-)