Book Club: Vote on a book

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Thank you everyone who offered book suggestions! Vote on the book choices offered below. I will close the poll as early as 4pm Wednesday EST, and post the results of the poll Wednesday night.


For the summaries, I copy-pasted from the suggestions, and in a few cases supplemented them with a quote from Wikipedia.

Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead's Apex Hides the Hurt is also very funny in a snarky sort of way, though in my experience it's not to everyone's taste. There's not a lot of action; the fun is in the style, the language, the metaphors, the sly characterization. I'd call it a slow novel, but I still really enjoyed it. (source)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

[...]on my TBR list, and they both seem like they might be good book club books.(source)

From Wikipedia: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) is a best-selling novel written by Dominican-American author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey where Díaz was raised and deals explicitly with his ancestral homeland's experience under dictator Rafael Trujillo.[1] It has received numerous positive reviews from critics and went on to win numerous prestigious awards in 2008, such as the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.[2] The title is a nod to Hemingway's short story "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"[3] and to the Irish writer Oscar Wilde.

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

[...]on my TBR list, and they both seem like they might be good book club books.(source)

From Wikipedia: Interpreter of Maladies is a 2000 collection of nine short stories by Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. It was also chosen as The New Yorker's Best Debut of the Year.

The stories are about the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are caught between the culture they have inherited and the "New World" they now find themselves in.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

I haven't read it since early college and would welcome the chance to read it with a group again. [...] It sells for just over ten bucks new on Amazon, but I'm sure you could find it at the library, in a used bookstore, or in digital or audio format. (source)

From Wikipedia: [Invisible Man] was the only novel that Ellison published during his lifetime, and it won him the National Book Award in 1953. The novel addresses many of the social and intellectual issues facing African-American identity, including the relationship between this identity and Marxism, black nationalism, and the reformist racial policies of Booker T. Washington.

Kehinde by Buchi Emecheta

The story is about a woman finding her balance between Yoruba and England, where she now lives and works with her family.

Why: Emecheta is just such a darn good writer. Also the title of the book refers to the protagonist's twin, who died before she was born, and part of her self-discovery involves dealing with this and her peoples' conception of what her position as a twin means.(source)

Kindred by Octavia Butler

A Californian woman finds herself being transported back in time to meet her slave owning ancestor.

Why: Butler is fabulous. Also, this book is so incredibly complex. I read it once in a theory class to talk about concepts of Hegel.(source)

Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat

I also highly recommend Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak!, which is a collection of stories about her native Haiti and her experiences as a Haitian American. I am reduced to cliches when I try to describe it, but it's really, really good. Also, for me at least, it was a very quick and engrossing read (but don't let this fool you into thinking it's shallow, because it's not).(source)

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

[...] on the top of my to-read pile(source)

From Wikipedia:The Known World is a 2003 historical novel by Edward P. Jones. It was his first novel and second book. Set in antebellum Virginia, it examines issues regarding the ownership of black slaves by free black people as well as by whites. A book with many points of view, The Known World paints an enormous canvas thick with personalities and situations that show how slavery destroys but can also be transcended.

The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich

This comes from a series of books from Erdrich set on a reservation, some of which are better than others, but all of which are more or less enjoyable. I don't think reading those that come after it are required to understand this. What we are getting here is the backstory to the other books that were written first. It follows the story told by Father Damien Modeste, a woman who lived as a man and served the Ojibwe on the Little No Horse reservation (although probably not how he envisioned that he would).

Dark, passionate, fantastical and historical, lavishly written, I think this is her best, of what I've read.(source)

The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp

And one I'm reading right now which is so far extremely awesome and I would love to discuss it with people! (source)

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

I'd also like to rec Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin, which is a collection of essays focusing on the place of African Americans in American society, especially black writers, and the relation between art and politics. He's very witty and insightful.(source)

Out by Natsuo Kirino

[...] on the top of my to-read pile(source)

From Wikipedia: Out is a crime novel written by Japanese author Natsuo Kirino. It is her first novel to be published in the English language.

Sula by Toni Morrison

I'm guessing a lot of people are already familiar with Morrison, probably through Beloved, but Sula is probably my favorite of hers. It has some incredibly interesting things to say about gender and sexuality, and the core of the novel is a friendship between two women (it can be read as ambiguously queer, though not by any means decisively so). (source)

Yoruba Girl Dancing by Simi Bedford

Story of the trials of a young girl from Yoruba whose family moves to England and sends her to boarding school.

Why: I found it very well written and engaging. I found the protagonist Remi a very easy protagonist to get a long with. It's fast paced and touches on themes I find in other authors of the region. I think since I was so young when I read it, though, I probably missed a good deal.(source)

[Poll #1366103]

Comments

[firecat]

For what it's worth, here are the books from the list that are also available as unabridged audiobooks (there may be others; I used audible.com as my source).

Apex Hides the Hurt by Colson Whitehead
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich
Sula by Toni Morrison

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Thanks!