Brilliant Books You've Never Heard Of discussion
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January 2019 Nominations
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I would like to nominate Hell: A Novel by Robert Olen Butler:One of American literature’s brightest stars and author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain reimagines the underworld in an uproarious novel. Its main character, Hatcher McCord, is an evening news presenter who has found himself in Hell and is struggling to explain his bad fortune. He’s not the only one to suffer this fate—in fact, he’s surrounded by an outrageous cast of characters, including Humphrey Bogart, William Shakespeare, and almost all of the popes and most of the US presidents. The question may be not who is in Hell but who isn’t.
McCord is living with Anne Boleyn in the afterlife but their happiness is, of course, constantly derailed by her obsession with Henry VIII (and the removal of her head at rather inopportune moments). One day McCord meets Dante’s Beatrice, who believes there is a way out of Hell, and the next morning, during an exclusive on-camera interview with Satan, McCord realizes that Satan’s omniscience, which he has always credited for the perfection of Hell’s torments, may be a mirage—and Butler is off on a madcap romp about good, evil, free will, and the possibility of escape. Butler’s depiction of Hell is original, intelligent, and fiercely comic, a book Dante might have celebrated.
I’m new to this so I’ll just wait for a few books to appear, read about them and then nominate one:)
I will second Hell: A Novel by Robert Olen Butler:
I'd like to second The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror.
I'd like to nominate Loki: Why I Began the End, by Maia Jacomus. Read this a couple years ago and thought the perspective was genius. It's the tale of Loki, told from his own perspective, to his wife while they both wait for Ragnarok. Great imagery, hilarious asides, and well-written.Loki: Why I Began the End
Get your last nominations in, because recommendations close tomorrow night, and the poll goes up.
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Brilliant Books You've Never Heard Of
Books mentioned in this topic
Loki: Why I Began the End (other topics)The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror (other topics)
Please nominate according to the rules below:
1. All nominations must meet the following criteria:
-Published in or after 1960, but at least 6 months old
-No more than 5,000 Goodreads ratings
-No self-promotion
2. Each member may nominate ONE book per month
3. Each member may also second ONE book per month
If someone else nominates a book that you are interested in, simply post that you would like to SECOND that book to give it another nomination vote.
4. We will vote on the five books that have the most seconds for the month's read
If less than five books receive seconds, I will pick whatever other nominated books have the highest star rating to round out the five needed for the poll.
5. Please use the "add book/author" link above the comment box to add a link to the book you are nominating. If you are in the mobile app and are unable to use this option, please provide the name of the book and the full name of the author. There are a lot of books out there with the same name and sometimes it's tricky to track down the right one.
*let me know if you'd like to lead out in discussion for the month, or any month really.