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There is an obvious error in the list description -- the year 2016 is mentioned, and I certainly mean 2018.

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Kara wrote: "There is an obvious error in the list description -- the year 2016 is mentioned, and I certainly mean 2018."

I changed the year 2016 to 2018 in the description.

Kara, I am seeing one title with no cover, and also wonder about Thomas Perry's The Bomb Maker, which is listed as literary fiction by nobody ever. What do you think? I can pull them down if you want me to.

Raluca wrote: "Kara wrote: "There is an obvious error in the list description -- the year 2016 is mentioned, and I certainly mean 2018."

I changed the year 2016 to 2018 in the description."

Many thanks, Raluca.

Donna wrote: "Kara, I am seeing one title with no cover, and also wonder about Thomas Perry's The Bomb Maker, which is listed as literary fiction by nobody ever. What do you think? I can pull them down if you wa..."

-Touche, Donna; I actually listed that title myself. My justification is the Kirkus starred review, etc. as well as an excerpt which point to literary execution of this genre fiction. That is, genre fiction and literary fiction are certainly not mutually exclusive.

More fundamentally, the category literary fiction is rarely as exclusive as it probably ought to be (based on bookstore listings, etc.). Stephen King's listings in this category were the first to shock me when I started reading modern fiction after a long time focusing exclusively on classics in both my leisure and academic reading. For the purposes of this popular opinion exchange site/forum, I just find it more fun to apply a very liberal definition.

What do you think of a starrred review in PW or Kirkus as a mark of literary qualities of some note among fiction released in a given year? I am open to tightening my own standards. What sort of criteria are legitimate? Publisher categorization? Bookseller listing? Authorial reputation and/or critical acclaim? How much & what kind?

Should a list of the best literary fiction of a given year be as tight as say, the best literary ficton of an era or even a decade? I am inclined to think not. What would you propose as a good standard?

Thanks for this smart response, Donna!

Kara wrote: "Donna wrote: "Kara, I am seeing one title with no cover, and also wonder about Thomas Perry's The Bomb Maker, which is listed as literary fiction by nobody ever. What do you think? I can pull them ..."

Sorry, Kara. I probably ought to have looked to see whose contribution it was, but it didn't occur to me. Your choice seems appropriate to me.