Voting January 2024 botm voting CLOSED

[Kristel]

Welcome to 2024 voting. I've removed most of the books with over 600 pages from the list and most months will have about 48 options. All botm in 2022 are also removed. The author groupings are then put into a randomizer to assign which month they will be voted on. For January the author's are Kennedy Toole through le Carre.

Voting starts today and ends on the 24th when the winners are announced. Please send your choices by private message to either myself or the Shelf Personality. You can use your participation points through this year. Remember to use them or they will just go away. You get one free vote and if you have participation points you can have up to 5 votes. You can use them all on one choice or you can make 5 choices.

So here's our choices;
John Kennedy Toole, US
1. A Confederacy of Dunces - 341 pgs

Jack Kerouac, US
2. On the Road, 307 pgs, 2009 botm

Imre Kertész, Hungary
3. Fatelessness, 262 pgs, 2013 botm

Ken Kesey, US
4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 281 pgs

Jamaica Kincaid, Caribbean
5. Annie John, 165 pages

Charles Kingsley, England
6. The Water Babies, 224 pgs

Barbara Kingsolver, US
7. The Poisonwood Bible, 546 pgs, 2009 botm

Rudyard Kipling, British/India
8. Kim

Danilo Kiš, Serbia
9. Garden, Ashes, 170 pages

Ivan Klíma, Czech
10. Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light, 234 pgs

Wolfgang Koeppen, German
11. Death in Rome, 224 pgs

George Konrád Hungary
12. The Case Worker, 192 pages

Ciril Kosmač, Slovenia
13. A Day in Spring

Alfred Kossmann, Dutch, Geur der droefenis is not translated to English but if you want to vote for it, go ahead. It will not go into the randomizer however.

William Kotzwinkle, US
14. The Midnight Examiner, 320 pgs, 2020 botm
15. The Fan Man, 191 pgs

László Krasznahorkai, Hungary
16. The Melancholy of Resistance, 314 pages

Karl Kraus, Czech
17. The Last Days of Mankind, 263 pages

Nicole Krauss, US
18. The History of Love, 255 pgs, 2013 botm

Miroslav Krleža, Croatia
19. The Return of Philip Latinowicz, 232 pgs
20. On the Edge of Reason, 192 pgs

Milan Kundera, Czech
21. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 320 pgs, 209 botm
22. Ignorance, 1895 pgs
23. The Joke, 371 pgs
24. The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, 313 pages

Hanif Kureishi, UK (South Asia/English)
25. The Buddha of Suburbia, 288 pgs
26. Intimacy, 252 pgs
27. Gabriel's Gift, 224 pgs

Rachel Kushner US
28. The Flamethrowers, 400 pgs, 2020 botm

Carmen Laforet, Spanish
29. Nada 244 pgs

Pär Lagerkvist, Sweden
30. Barabbas, 144 pgs

Selma Lagerlöf, Sweden
31. Gösta Berling's Saga, 368 pgs

Jhumpa Lahiri, Indian American Author
32. The Namesake, 291 pgs, 2013 botm

Nella Larsen, US
33. Passing, 141 pgs, 2018 botm
34. Quicksand, 192 pgs

Margaret Laurence, Canada
35. The Diviners, 390 pgs

D.H. Lawrence, England
36. The Plumed Serpent 464 pgs
37. Lady Chatterley's Lover, 376 pgs
38. The Fox, 84 pgs
39. Women in Love, 416 pgs, 2018 botm
40. The Rainbow, 544 pgs
41. Aaron's Rod, 352 pgs

Halldór Laxness - Iceland
42. Independent People, 482 pages

Camara Laye - Guinea
43. The Dark Child, 192 pgs

John le Carré, UK
44. The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, 224 pgs
45. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, 381 pgs
46. Smiley's People, 397

There are 46 books to choose from.

CHANGES: it was requested by a couple people that only books that get votes be put into the randomizer. We did this in the past but felt that less known books were never getting chances. We will try again to only go with books that receive votes. All previous botm that get voted will not be included. This is to avoid some books getting chosen year after year.

[Amanda]

Good news for me this time: there are 4 I haven't read yet and am open to any based on what other people say. They are:

-The Melancholy of Resistance
-The Last Days of Mankind
-The Return of Philip Latinowicz
-The Plumed Serpent

I believe they are all on Open Library- but the Plumed Serpent is also on Audible for those looking to use up credits (at least it is in Canada).

[Valerie]

I've read 15 in this grouping, which is quite a few for me. I am not feeling strongly about any of the others; although I am tempted by Gösta Berling's Saga. I'll wait to see how others are feeling.

[Gail]

I have read 17 of these but none of the ones on Amanda's list. I also own the physical book Gösta Berling's Saga so that would work well. Of the ones on Amanda's list I am intrigued by The Melancholy of Resistance. I also would like to read Gabriel's Gift.

[Rosemary]

I have a copy of The Plumed Serpent so I will give that a vote.

I'm very disappointed by the news that the randomizer is being restricted. The randomizer was one of the things I really liked about this group, compared with another group where they almost always pick a BOTM that I've already read. But I guess I will just have to spread my votes.

[Kristel]

Rosemary wrote: "I have a copy of The Plumed Serpent so I will give that a vote.

I'm very disappointed by the news that the randomizer is being restricted. The randomizer was one of the things I really liked about..."
I am going to do the same thing. If I am not wanting the books other people are backing I am going to take my participation points and give them to five books I haven't read so that they can go into the randomizer. Also if this ends up being a problem we will go back to the old way.

[Kristel]

The books I have on my shelf are
Fatelessness (botm)
Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light
The Case Worker
Gabriel's Gift
Intimacy

I am also interested in reading a D. H. Lawrence.

If nothing comes up that I would want to put my points behind, I will probably take my 5 pts and give them to one of my tbr books hoping the randomizer picks one of them.

[Patrick]

Only 22 read this month. I have 3 on my TBR shelf:

Gosta Berling's Saga (Lagerlof)
Independent People (Laxness)
The Spy who Came in from the Cold (Le Carré)

I would push for the first two (and seeing that Gosta has been mentioned already, I like my chances).

Kristel, what were the BOTMs in 2022? Specifically, was Sons and Lovers (Lawrence) one of them? If not, it's missing from the voting, it's less than 500 pages.

[Kristel]

Patrick wrote: "Only 22 read this month. I have 3 on my TBR shelf:

Gosta Berling's Saga (Lagerlof)
Independent People (Laxness)
The Spy who Came in from the Cold (Le Carré)

I would push for the first two (and se..."

No, Sons and Lovers is over 600 pgs. You could nominate it for a quarterly read.

The 2022 botm were;
The Hothouse - Koeppen
Professor Martens Departure - Kross

[Kristel]

I've read 22 of the choices. I have plenty that I haven't read and several on my shelf as I've mentioned.

[Pip]

I have read 26 and the only unread book on my shelf is Confederacy of Dunces, which I have wanted to read since it was published in 1980. So I will be voting for that.

[Kristel]

These are the ones I am planning to put points toward;

Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light
The Case Worker
The Joke
The Diviners
Gabriel's Gift

[Amanda]

I'm going to put some votes towards the Plumed Serpent (which is DH Lawrence for those wanting to read more of him) , and then likely some towards 'Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light' as well (for some reason I missed that one on my first go-through so there's actually 5 I haven't read).

[Leni]

I will read anything that isn't DH Lawrence. lol
Seriously, I thought Sons and Lovers was great, Lady C was alright but mostly a curiousity, and everything else I've read by him has been awful.

My preference would be for the Buddha of Suburbia or the Water Babies. Or Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I haven't really been collecting points this year, so I'll probably pick one of those three to go in the randomizer.

[Kristel]

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating today. And a reminder that today is the last day to get your votes in. Tomorrow I will announce the winners for our first book in 2024.

[Pip]

Thanksgiving goes unnoticed in New Zealand but our retailers have embraced Black Friday with gusto!

[Gail]

Pip, is there an equivalent harvest day in April or May (your autumn) in New Zealand?

[Kristel]

Winners:

Popular Vote: Gösta Berling's Saga
Randomized Winner: The Melancholy of Resistance


So how will you be starting your reading path in 2024?

[Gail]

My Library has The Melancholy of Resistance so I should be reading both but really, 2024 feels so far away.

[Kristel]

Gail wrote: "My Library has The Melancholy of Resistance so I should be reading both but really, 2024 feels so far away."

Gail it will be here in no time. I always start thinking about my reading plans for the next year around October and sometimes even earlier.

My main goals for reading is to read as many of the 1001 books that I can but also to read some other challenges. I spend time on LT and on Litsy as well as here in GR. I ordered Melancholy from ABE's books as I did not have access to it. I already have Gosta on the way. Had to buy that one too.

[Amanda]

Glad Melancholy of Resistance was selected by the randomizer...will be reading that! It is also on Openlibrary for people who don't want to buy it and don't mind reading it there.

[Rosemary]

I just read The Melancholy of Resistance for TBR Takedown, but I'm looking forward to Gösta Berling's Saga!

[Pip]

No, Gail, no Autumn Festival at all. We have a holiday mid-winter for Matariki, which we dub the Maori Christmas, but nothing in autumn.
I am pleased to use a credit for Audible for Saga in January. And that Open Iibrary has our other choice, although I won't be able to read it at the beach where I will be every day in January!

[Pip]

I can’t comment in the 2004 thread, so am asking here instead: has anyone found Joseph and His Brothers anywhere except Amazon? The cheapest version I can find is a hardback for $80 New Zealand dollars. I have been trying to avoid buying new books if I can. But I have just remembered I am going to Sydney for a few days next week and it will be a fun treasure hunt to try to find a second hand copy there. When will the quarterlies be announced, Kristel?

[Kristel]

Pip wrote: "I can’t comment in the 2004 thread, so am asking here instead: has anyone found Joseph and His Brothers anywhere except Amazon? The cheapest version I can find is a hardback for $80 New Zealand dol..."

Let me get on that for you, Pip. I will post soon.

[Kristel]

The Randomizer was fed with only books that were nominated, excluding those that had been previous botm. If a book received more than one nomination, it was put into the randomizer the number of times a different person nominated it. Our book for January; Melancholy of Resistance, was nominated by only one person. You can thank George for nominating it.

[Dianne]

Great choices! I have both of these on my TBR so maybe 2024 is the year I really dive into 1001!

[Kristel]

Dianne wrote: "Great choices! I have both of these on my TBR so maybe 2024 is the year I really dive into 1001!"

That would be great, Dianne

[George P.]

You're welcome for the "nomination" of Melancholy of Resistance. Glad I got my last-minute votes in.
I recently read half of Melancholy of Resistance, then had to return it to library, so I will get it again soon to finish. It's a somewhat difficult read but not as challenging as some. Its small font makes it equivalent to a 400-pager imo. On Amazon you can get a used paper copy or the kindle for $10 according to my notes.
I read Gosta Berling's Saga a couple of years ago.