Voring for November 2025 botm. DONE

[Kristel]

The authors for November are Barnes to Boll

Books over 600 pages are not included and books that have been past botm in 2023 are not included. Voting for the botm starts today and ends on the 24th when the winners will be announced.

Randomizer selection: Only books that have not been previous botm (*) in past 10 years (2015 +) will be added to the randomizer. Each book you choose that has not been previously botm in the past 10 years will be fed into the randomizer for an opportunity to be chosen by the randomizer. . Books excluded: Wittgenstein's Nephew and Correction by Bernard.

HOW TO VOTE:
Please send your choices by private message to me Everyone gets one free vote. if you have participation points you can have up to 4 additional votes. You can use them all on one choice or you can make 5 different choices. Please see how to obtain participation points in the Annual Point Challenge explanation.

Djuna Barnes - US
1. Nightwood - 1936, 182 pgs

Julian Barnes - UK
2. Flaubert's Parrot, 1984, 190 pgs, botm 20212
*3. The Sense of an Ending, 2011, 150 pgs, botm 2015

Kevin Barry - Ireland
4. Night Boat to Tangier, 2019, 224 pgs

John Barth - US
5. The End of the Road, 1958, 198 pgs
6. The Floating Opera, 1956, 240 pgs

Donald Barthelme - US
7. The Dead Father, 1975, 177 pgs
8. Come Back, Dr. Caligari, 1964, 185 pgs
9. Amateurs, 1977, 184 pgs

Vladimir Bartol - Slovenia
*10. Alamut, 1938, 510 pgs, botm 2015

Giorgio Bassani - Italy
11. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, 1962, 246 pgs

Georges Bataille - France
12. Blue of Noon, 1935 162 pgs
13. L'Abbé C, 1950 158 pgs
*14. Story of the Eye, 1928, 103 pages, botm 2015

Emilia Pardo Bazán - Spain
15. The House of Ulloa, 1886, 288 pgs

Jurek Becker - Poland
16. Jacob the Liar, 1969, 256 pgs

Samuel Beckett - Ireland
17. Worstward Ho
18. Mercier and Camier
19. How It Is
20. The Unnamable
21. Watt
22. Malone Dies
23. Molloy
24. Murphy

William Beckford - UK
25. Vathek, 1787, 170 pgs

Harriet Beecher Stowe
26. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1852, 438 pgs

Brendan Behan - Ireland
27. Borstal Boy, 1958, 386 pgs

Aphra Behn - UK
28. Oroonoko, 1688, 144 pgs

Saul Bellow - US
29. Dangling Man
30. The Victim
*31. Humboldt's Gift, 2013, and 2017 botm
32. Herzog
33. The Adventures of Augie March
34. Henderson the Rain King, 2013 botm

Arnold Bennett - UK
35. The Old Wives' Tale, botm 2011

John Berger - UK
36. G.

Georges Bernanos - France
37. Under Satan's Sun

Thomas Bernhard - Dutch
38. Extinction
*39. Old Masters: A Comedy, botm 2021
40. Concrete
41. Yes

Maurice Blanchot - France
42. Death Sentence

Roberto Bolaño - Chile
43. The Savage Detectives

Heinrich Böll - German
*44. Group Portrait with Lady, 2021 botm
*45. The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, botm 2015
46. The Safety Net
47. Billiards at Half-Past Nine

This is the list for November. I find it hard to believe that no one wants to read Samuel Beckett. He has never been chosen for a botm. I would rather read Beckett than Bataille. I probably will throw some Beckett into the hopper to see if the randomizer also hates him. Which would you like to read?

[Diane]

No I can't believe it, where has the year gone? Soon it will be time to start planning for next year.

[Gail]

November…..argh…
I have only read 16 of these. That is a low number for me. One Boll, One Bellow, One Bernhard but three Becketts. I would like to read The Savage Detectives or Alamut but they are both rather long for a BOTM. I will wait and see what others are interested in.

[George P.]

I'm already in the midst of reading Beckett's Molloy, so I may put a vote on that. I've previously read his Murphy. I somewhat favor Irish writers since my visit there; I've read seventeen of them.
I've read only eight of those listed (or eight and a half), low number for me also. This includes Savage Detectives and Alamut, coincidentally. I've read 2 by Boll. The "B" name writers just don't seem to be very popular.
Highest in my to-read list is Bernhard's Extinction.
Sense of an Ending or Old Masters would also be good ones for me.

[Patrick]

Another group that I have mowed down pretty well, with 28 already read. I only have two on my TBR shelf:

- Watt (Beckett)
- Herzog (Bellow)

I might push for Beckett. For what it's worth, I can say that Alamut by Bartol and Jacob the Liar are excellent.

[Valerie]

I am interested in Blue of Noon mostly because it has been in the queue of unfinished 1001 randomizer lists since 2021. We've asked the owning library (Toronto) twice if they would interlibrary loan it, but they won't. :( So, I have found I can get it on open library. I'll probably put a vote toward that.

I suppose I can tackle a Beckett. I've read Mercier and Camier, which was ok. I'm most interested in either How It Is and would consider Watt. Surprisingly, to me, I can access all of Beckett's work through my Hoopla account. I have an account with the Welland Library, which is why I can access Hoopla - and also explains Beckett. Historically anyways (I'm not sure about now) Welland had a large Francophone community so they often have writers who wrote in French (or actual French authors!). So, they have his work available in French and English.

[Kristel]

I’ve read both Watt and How It Is. I will be throwing Malone Dies into the randomizer, I think. I have Hoopla through Florida library.

I think I will also throw Nightwood in the randomizer. I’ve read Blue of Noon and I know I found pdf on line. I really dislike Bataille’s writing.

I read Herzog a long time ago so I am up for a reread of that one.

I’ve read a total 23 of these. I agree with George about the Bs.

[Rosemary]

I've read 14, and I don't have any on my TBR. Of the Becketts, I've read Watt and Murphy. I didn't realise there were so many Becketts on the list - it would be good to cross another off, but this section of the list doesn't fill me with enthusiasm, either.

I'll feed the randomizer and try to pick from books people have mentioned, so something might get enough votes to win.

[Jenna]

I have a couple favorite authors in this section - Julian Barnes, Henrich Boll, Bellow from the old days, G was great, Savage Detectives starts off amazing but takes too long - but not much to recommend because I don't know about the things I haven't read. I can go along with the idea of a random Beckett selection. Are we missing some Bernhard? I have the nephew book on my TBR.

[Kristel]

Jenna wrote: "I have a couple favorite authors in this section - Julian Barnes, Henrich Boll, Bellow from the old days, G was great, Savage Detectives starts off amazing but takes too long - but not much to reco..."

We read 2 Bernhard in 2023 and another back in 2021.

[Kristel]

The Winners........
Popular Vote: Watt - Samuel Beckett
Randomizer: Herzog, submitted by Jenna

It was a clear winner this month. Voting was light. What will you be reading in November?

[Pamela]

I’ve already read Herzog and really don’t like Beckett, so I think November will be a month for my randomised list.

[Rosemary]

I've read both of those, so I'll do the TBR Takedown and the Keyword challenge and maybe one of the other Becketts because I picked up a book containing three of them earlier this week :)

[Gail]

I have not read either of these so will be aiming to read both of them.

[Kristel]

I've read both of them but it has been a long time since I read Herzog. I read that one when I was in high school so that was over 54 years ago.

[Patrick]

Well, talk about luck, both of my TBRs have become BOTMs... I will obviously read them both, bearing in mind that Beckett is never easy, whichever language you read him in, and that Bellow is not always a pleasant walk in the park either.