Literary Rotating Nominations

[Bookpossum]

Good for you, Bookworm_Girl!

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I will volunteer for October.

October is yours, Bookworm_Girl! I'll ask for your nominations at the beginning of the month.

[sun surfer]

It's time for October's selections. Bookworm_Girl, what choices do you have for us?

[Bookworm_Girl]

Here are my choices in no particular order except the last two which seem to be paperback only for Australia. I think everything else is available in ebooks for most everyone (US, UK, Canada and Australia). The descriptions come from Goodreads. I noted availability at various library sources in the US (at least for where I live so your success may be similar). I selected a mix of time periods and locations. One is a novella, and another is a short story collection. I hope you all enjoy them!

Last Night at the Blue Angel by Rebecca Rotert
Availability: Overdrive, 3M Cloud Library, Scribd
Pages: 328

Spoiler:

Set against the turbulence of 1960s Chicago, a city in transformation and its legendary jazz scene, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a lush and immensely heartfelt mother-daughter tale about a talented but troubled singer relationship with her precocious ten-year-old daughter.

It is the early 1960s, and Chicago is teeming with the tensions of the day segregation, sexual experimentation, the Cold War and Vietnam but it is also home to some of the country's most influential jazz. Naomi Hill, a singer at the Blue Angel club, has been poised on the brink of stardom for nearly ten years. But when her big break, the cover of Look magazine finally arrives, it carries with it an enormous personal cost. Sensual and magnetic, Naomi is a fiercely ambitious yet self-destructive woman whose charms tend to hurt those around her, and no one knows this better than her daughter, Sophia.

As the only child of a single mother growing up in an adult world, Sophia is wise beyond her years, a casualty of her mother's desperate struggle for fame and adoration. Unsettled by her home life, she harbors a terrible fear that her world could disappear at any moment, and compulsively maintains a list of everyday objects she might need to reinvent should nuclear catastrophe strike. Her only constant is the colorful and unconventional family that surrounds her and her mother, particularly the photographer, Jim, who is Sophia's best friend, surrogate father and protector but Jim is also deeply in love with Naomi.

Weaving between the perspectives of Sophia and Naomi, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a poignant and unforgettable story about what happens when our passion for the life we want is at sharp odds with the life we have. Part stylish period piece, part heartbreaking family drama, it's a novel rife with revelations, a vivid and propulsive page-turner and the major debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Since its publication, Last Night at the Blue Angel has won an award from the Friends of American Writers, was short-listed for the VCU Cabell Award, long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award.

Accordion Crimes by Annie Proulx
Availability: Overdrive, Scribd
Pages: 432

Spoiler:

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Annie Proulx brings the immigrant experience to life in this stunning novel that traces the ownership of a simple green accordion.

E. Annie Proulx’s Accordion Crimes is a masterpiece of storytelling that spans a century and a continent. Proulx brings the immigrant experience in America to life through the eyes of the descendants of Mexicans, Poles, Africans, Irish-Scots, Franco-Canadians and many others, all linked by their successive ownership of a simple green accordion. The music they make is their last link with the past—voice for their fantasies, sorrows and exuberance. Proulx’s prodigious knowledge, unforgettable characters and radiant language make Accordion Crimes a stunning novel, exhilarating in its scope and originality.

Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Shortlist (1997)

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Availability: Overdrive
Pages: 235

Spoiler:

A spare and haunting, wise and beautiful novel about the endurance of the human spirit and the subtle ways individuals reclaim their humanity in a city ravaged by war.

In a city under siege, four people whose lives have been upended are ultimately reminded of what it is to be human. From his window, a musician sees twenty-two of his friends and neighbors waiting in a breadline. Then, in a flash, they are killed by a mortar attack. In an act of defiance, the man picks up his cello and decides to play at the site of the shelling for twenty-two days, honoring their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and, in the face of danger, must weigh the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distraction and instead runs into a long-ago friend who reminds him of the city he thought he had lost, and the man he once was. As both men are drawn into the orbit of cello music, a fourth character- a young woman, a sniper- holds the fate of the cellist in her hands. As she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become.

A novel of great intensity and power, and inspired by a true story, The Cellist of Sarajevo poignantly explores how war can change one's definition of humanity, the effect of music on our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance.

Borders Original Voices Award for Fiction (2008), Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee (2008), Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize Nominee (2009)

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
Availability: Overdrive, 3M Cloud Library
Pages: 561

Spoiler:

Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer’s chance at immortality. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Only four could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her, one wants to own her. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all. As she mines her memories for clues, she recalls her life as an orphan who left the American frontier for Europe and was swept up into the glitzy, gritty world of Second Empire Paris. In order to survive, she transformed herself from hippodrome rider to courtesan, from empress’s maid to debut singer, all the while weaving a complicated web of romance, obligation, and political intrigue.

Featuring a cast of characters drawn from history, The Queen of the Night follows Lilliet as she moves ever closer to the truth behind the mysterious opera and the role that could secure her reputation -- or destroy her with the secrets it reveals.

Kirkus Prize Nominee for Fiction (2016)

Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Availability: Overdrive
Pages: 437

Spoiler:

Extravagant, inventive, emotionally sweeping, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the story of a timeless place that one day wakes up to find itself in the jaws of history. The place is the Greek island of Cephallonia, where gods once dabbled in the affairs of men and the local saint periodically rises from his sarcophagus to cure the mad. Then the tide of World War II rolls onto the island's shores in the form of the conquering Italian army.

Caught in the occupation are Pelagia, a willful, beautiful young woman, and the two suitors vying for her love: Mandras, a gentle fisherman turned ruthless guerilla, and the charming, mandolin-playing Captain Corelli, a reluctant officer of the Italian garrison on the island. Rich with loyalties and betrayals, and set against a landscape where the factual blends seamlessly with the fantastic, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is a passionate novel as rich in ideas as it is genuinely moving.

Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book Overall (1995)

The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy
Availability: Public Domain
Pages: 128

Spoiler:

When Marshal of the Nobility Pozdnyshev suspects his wife of having an affair with her music partner, his jealousy consumes him and drives him to murder. Controversial upon publication in 1890, The Kreutzer Sonata illuminates Tolstoy’s then-feverish Christian ideals, his conflicts with lust and the hypocrisies of nineteenth-century marriage, and his thinking on the role of art and music in society.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Availability: Overdrive, 3M Cloud Library, Axis360, Scribd, Paperback only in Australia
Pages: 352

Spoiler:

In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. His hosts hope that Mr. Hosokawa can be persuaded to build a factory in their Third World backwater. Alas, in the opening sequence, just as the accompanist kisses the soprano, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately stayed home to watch a favorite soap opera. And thus, from the beginning, things go awry.

Among the hostages are not only Hosokawa and Roxane Coss, the American soprano, but an assortment of Russian, Italian, and French diplomatic types. Reuben Iglesias, the diminutive and gracious vice president, quickly gets sideways of the kidnappers, who have no interest in him whatsoever. Meanwhile, a Swiss Red Cross negotiator named Joachim Messner is roped into service while vacationing. He comes and goes, wrangling over terms and demands, and the days stretch into weeks, the weeks into months.

With the omniscience of magic realism, Ann Patchett flits in and out of the hearts and psyches of hostage and terrorist alike, and in doing so reveals a profound, shared humanity. Her voice is suitably lyrical, melodic, full of warmth and compassion.

Joined by no common language except music, the 58 international hostages and their captors forge unexpected bonds. Time stands still, priorities rearrange themselves. Ultimately, of course, something has to give, even in a novel so imbued with the rich imaginative potential of magic realism. But in a fractious world, Bel Canto remains a gentle reminder of the transcendence of beauty and love.

Orange Prize for Fiction (2002), PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (2002)

Music for Wartime by Rebecca Makkai
Availability: Overdrive, Paperback only in Australia
Pages: 240

Spoiler:

Rebecca Makkai’s first two novels, The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, have established her as one of the freshest and most imaginative voices in fiction. Now, the award-winning writer, whose stories have appeared in four consecutive editions of The Best American Short Stories, returns with a highly anticipated collection bearing her signature mix of intelligence, wit, and heart.

A reality show producer manipulates two contestants into falling in love, even as her own relationship falls apart. Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a young boy has a revelation about his father’s past when a renowned Romanian violinist plays a concert in their home. When the prized elephant of a traveling circus keels over dead, the small-town minister tasked with burying its remains comes to question his own faith. In an unnamed country, a composer records the folk songs of two women from a village on the brink of destruction.

These transporting, deeply moving stories—some inspired by her own family history—amply demonstrate Makkai’s extraordinary range as a storyteller, and confirm her as a master of the short story form.

[sun surfer]

Very interesting selection! I think I may sense a theme there. I'll have the poll thread up a little later.

[Bookpossum]

Love the theme of the titles!

[Bookpossum]

sun surfer, I need to make my votes now if that's okay, because it's nearly bedtime here and we leave early tomorrow morning, not back for four days. Hope this is okay.

Assuming that as there are eight books I can have seven votes, I would like to have:

1 Accordion Crimes
2 Cellist of Sarajevo
1 Queen of the Night
1 Captain Corelli's Mandolin
2 Bel Canto

... and that wasn't easy!

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

sun surfer, I need to make my votes now if that's okay, because it's nearly bedtime here and we leave early tomorrow morning, not back for four days. Hope this is okay.

Assuming that as there are eight books I can have seven votes, I would like to have:

1 Accordion Crimes
2 Cellist of Sarajevo
1 Queen of the Night
1 Captain Corelli's Mandolin
2 Bel Canto

... and that wasn't easy!

No problem; I'll just add them to the vote thread. See you when you get back!

[sun surfer]

Who would like to take their turn selecting the nominations for the upcoming rotating month in December?

General info-

Spoiler:

The only requirements for the month's selections are that they are literary, that none have been the monthly selection of either book club yet (nominees can be previous nominees though) and that they number at least four. That’s it, pretty simple.

Lists of previous selections - Lit Club / General club

Previous volunteers by month this cycle (currently ineligible)-
2015 December, bfisher
2016 February, Bookpossum
2016 April, Spinnenmonat
2016 June, fantasyfan
2016 August, sun surfer
2016 October, Bookworm_Girl

First post

And any questions, just ask!

[sun surfer]

Last call if anyone would like to take their turn!

If no one volunteers by the 1st then this will become our reset month and will be a retrospective featuring each previous volunteer. The poll will include one nomination from each prior rotating month - the nomination with the highest vote that didn't win (any ties for inclusion broken by the original nominator, or otherwise by first listed). The poll will be posted around the 1st and will run normally.

However, if anyone does offer to have a go with nominations for December that'd be great, and we can wait til some other month for the reset.

[sun surfer]

Alright, with the first of the month upon us, rotating nominations for this cycle are officially closed!

As previously explained, we now go into reset mode and I will have the retrospective poll up soon. After this reset month, we will start afresh with rotating months in February with everyone eligible again.

[Bookpossum]

Sun surfer has asked me to take responsibility to get the Rotating Nominations going, so here goes.

We have now reset and everyone is eligible again for the rotating months. So who would like to take their turn selecting the nominations for the upcoming rotating month in February? (I think it would be preferable for it to be someone other than me, because we are currently reading my nomination for January.)

Spoiler:

The only requirements for the month's selections are that they are literary, that none have been the monthly selection of either book club yet (nominees can be previous nominees though) and that they number at least four. That’s it, pretty simple.

You can find the list of previous selections of the Literary Book Club on the first page of the thread The MR Literary Club: Welcome, Information and General Discussion. You can find the list here.

The list of previous selections of the general Book Club can be found in a thread called Book Club Selections List. You can find the list here.

If you want the background to how this works, see the first page of this thread here.

And any questions, just ask!

[Bookpossum]

Just to bump this one back up the list. Any offers?

[sun surfer]

I would go but I'm still catching up a bit on some reading, though I was still going to volunteer if no one else did but am also dealing with some sudden family health scares (they should be alright) so this may not be the best month for me to have a go. My guess is Bookworm_Girl may be holding off since she was the last to volunteer. So Bookpossum, I'd be happy if you decided to go this month despite also having a nomination win last month. My first time volunteering (which was also the first rotating month) I happened to have a nomination win the month before too so it's happened other times. Although, if anyone else wants to volunteer last minute I'm sure Bookpossum would be more than happy for you to!

[fantasyfan]

I have had an itch to suggest a list of famous works of literary criticism. I think that as we are a literary club that would be a reasonable approach. The choices wouldn't necessarily be long; sometimes an essay has had a very significant impact. They could range from books examining philosophical approaches to literature, genre areas, and even specific authors or works.

One would have to think about factors such as availability and price as works of literary criticism are not always best sellers nor inexpensive.

What do the rest of you think about this?