What to Read February 2013: Open Pick has been chosen!

[Daniel]

The nominations for our February 2013 Open Pick are now open. Everyone is allowed one nomination, but remember that eligible books must be works of fiction published from 2000-2012. As usual, selections that are overly genre or fail to meet the group standards of literary quality will not be permitted in the final poll.

Nominations will wrap up on January 9th and the poll will run until January 16th. Happy nominating!

[Deborah]

I'd like to nominate Primeval and Other Times
Sorry, if it was awarded a prize in 97 it was clearly originally published before that.
Ok, in that case The Yellow Birds

[Casceil]

I nominate The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. This book was nominated once before, but disqualified by the then-moderators, who were under the misimpression that it was insufficiently literary and more in the direction of genre or paranormal. I've read this book a couple of times, I loved it, and I believe it is successful as literature. It is also a very engrossing story about intriguing characters.

[Savanna]

I nominate Irma Voth, the new novel by award-winning author Miriam Toews.

I read it in the summer and I think it'd be a good choice since it's less experimental than some of the stuff we've explored lately and has a really engaging plot and great, vivid yet straightforward style.

It also paints a really interesting and critical picture of life in rural Mennonite communities, and interestingly is partly a fictionalized version of the author's real-life experience making the beautiful, award-warning Mexican indie film "Stellect Licht," which I think could be cool to some people. (Toews is an ex-Mennonite, and she starred in that film about a Mennonite family as a first-time actor. Her protagonist, Irma Voth, works as a grip when Mexican filmmakers come to make an identical movie in the novel, and it's really cool to see the movie and then read the book's quite critical behind-the-scenes story, although the movie stuff is incidental to the book and the book is well worth a read regardless of the film.)

That was longer than I meant it to be :P

[Thing Two]

I'd like to nominate Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, which was a nominee for both the Pulitzer and Orange in 2012, and it's on Will's tbr list. (Still trying to make up for my Captain Underpants gaffe!)

[Daniel]

@Thing Two: Ha! That got a chuckle from me, although I wouldn't worry about making up for anything. It's a new year, and I think we're all more interested in keeping our eyes on the good reads to come.

[Deborah]

Swamplandia looks awesome!

[Sophia]

I'd like to nominate May We Be Forgiven: A Novel -

"May We Be Forgiven is a semi-serious, semi-effective, semi-brilliant novel which could not be called, overall, an artistic success. But you'd have to have no sense of the absurd, and no sense of humour, not to be pretty impressed."

[Thing Two]

Deborah wrote: "Swamplandia looks awesome!"

As does Yellow Birds. My boss read it on vacation and recommended it highly.

[Thing Two]

Sophia wrote: "I'd like to nominate May We Be Forgiven: A Novel -

"May We Be Forgiven is a semi-serious, semi-effective, semi-brilliant novel which could not be called, overall, an artistic success. But you'd h..."

This looks interesting. I haven't read anything by her yet. Big yet.

[Sophia]

Big HA!

[Daniel]

The polls for the February 2013 Open Pick have been closed, and we can now officially declare the winner:

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

Make sure to grab yourself a copy so you can join the discussion beginning February 1st!