November Open Pick - Nominations Are Open

[Whitney]

Time to nominate books for November! Nominations will be open for 1 week before the poll goes up. Remember the usual rules: books must be works of fiction published from 2000-2014. Selections that are overly genre or fail to meet the group standards of literary quality will not be permitted in the final poll.

To start things off, I re-nominate Canada by Richard Ford. This was nominated by Ben last month but I missed getting it into the poll. Here's what Ben had to say about it:

'...like all of his books it is full of wonderful sentences and moments. Here is the start “First, I’ll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later. The robbery is the more important part, since it served to set my and my sister’s lives on the courses they eventually followed. Nothing would make complete sense without that being told first.”'

[Zulfiya]

Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson was nominated for our October read and lost only by one vote. I am willing to give this book another chance - I re-nominate this book.

[Terry]

I haven't nominated an Open Pick in awhile. I'm going to throw in one I think looks beautiful:

The Clearing by Tim Gatreaux.



The Guardian says: "This is a novel so firmly located and vividly realised that you can almost smell the Louisiana swampwater as you read. The dank cypress forests with their deadly wildlife - venomous snakes and lurking alligators - form the perfect foil for a violent, brooding narrative of revenge and reconciliation."

And: "This is a gripping, action-packed tale, but also a notably intelligent one, its powerful narrative drive counterbalanced and controlled by a meticulous attention to detail and a traditionalist's concern for depth and density."

[Kirsten]

I would like to nominate by Philipp Meyer

NPR's review: http://www.npr.org/2013/05/28/1860554...

Interview with the author: http://www.npr.org/2013/05/28/1864693...

[Lily]

Have we used this one -- I lose track and don't feel like checking carefully this morning. But, of the books I have read this year, I rank this one second only to Wave and that one is ineligible here (nonfiction):

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

[Kirsten]

Do we not read nonfiction (just wondering)?

[Terry]

Kirsten, we don't except for sometimes in the wildcard picks. A very broad interpretation of what constitutes 21st Century Literature might include non-fiction, but that's not the interpretation we go with for the general picks.

[Kirsten]

Thanks, @Terry. I'm new here.

[Jen]

I want to read 4 of the suggested books so I'll hold back from nominating another!

[Cactus]

All the Light We Cannot See is lovely, but I'd like to nominate again the book Open City, by Cole Teju. I'll add links once I'm on a PC.

[Lily]

Karen wrote: "All the Light We Cannot See is lovely, but I'd like to nominate again the book Open City, by Cole Teju. I'll add links once I'm on a PC."

Open City: A Novel by Teju Cole

There you go, Karen! The selection list now has both my second and third top reads for 2014! Open City was second until I read AtLWCS. (It may have been you that brought OC to my attention.)

Can't even say which I would rather discuss. And The Son should generate a good discussion, too. The others look like good reads, too, so will be interesting to see where the selection bends. Have had Canada on my ebook for some time. Terry always has thoughtful suggestions. FoJC I know not at all.

[Cactus]

Thanks for adding the links and the favorable words, Lily. Here's are two reviews - one quite laudatory, and the second (NYT) panning the book:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/boo...

[Lily]

Karen wrote: "Thanks for adding the links and the favorable words, Lily. Here's are two reviews - one quite laudatory, and the second (NYT) panning the book:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011......"

Despite Kakutani's review, OC made NYT's list of 100 top books in 2011 (but not its top ten list). http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/boo...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/boo...

However, Foden at The Guardian does hit it on the head when he refers to the narrator as a "cultural dandy." I enjoyed the NYC wanderings and all the Internet searches done while reading the book; I learned a lot. But probably not everyone's cup of tea. Have you read it, Karen? I know I would enjoy an online discussion -- I am trying to talk my son into one just between the two of us.

[Cactus]

Yes, I've read it. After initially thinking it quite pretentious ( and nearly putting it down) I began to sense a lot more worth pursuing. Ultimately, I found it stayed in my mind for days, and still manages to intrigue me -- one of my marks of a good book.

[Pip]

I've a feeling this has been nominated before, but not for a while. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

[Whitney]

Nominations are closing and the poll is going up soon. Get any last minute books in now.

[Kirsten]

Have we read Someone yet? Or maybe State of Wonder?

[Zulfiya]

There are many, many tempting nominations! It will be very hard to choose.

[Whitney]

Kirsten wrote: "Have we read Someone yet? Or maybe State of Wonder?"

I don't believe so. You can always search through the group bookshelf or do a text search of posts if you're curious if something has been read before. Are you nominating one of those?

[Edgarf]

I see a Haruki Murakami novel has been a pick previously, but I would love to read and discuss Kafka On The Shore.

[Whitney]

Nominations are closed and the poll is up. A very lyrical assortment of books to choose from this time. Poll can be found on the homepage, or by clicking here. The poll will be open until October 1st.

[Kirsten]

Oops! Too late!

[Whitney]

Kirsten wrote: "Oops! Too late!"

There's always next month :-)

[Whitney]

Poll is closing tomorrow. It's a close race among 6 books, so now is the time to vote or change your vote to boost your pick.

[Whitney]

It was a tie between Kafka on the Shore and All the Light We Cannot See. We will be reading both for November. Please see the discussion thread beneath the poll for more details. Thanks for all the participation, hoping for some good discussions!

Link: November picks.

[Matthew]

I'll be sure to listen to BNL's "Einstein on the Beach" while reading "Kafka on the Shore".

[Matthew]

I'll be sure to listen to BNL's "Einstein on the Beach" while reading "Kafka on the Shore".