Literary The 2010s • December 2019

[sun surfer]

The other two on my shortlist were the light and cheery Sourdough by Robin Sloan, and The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell.

With Sourdough, a book about a woman who is a San Franciscan software engineer that ends up baking popular sourdough bread from a recipe from her favourite bakery that closed nearby, I try to keep remembering to nominate some lighter books in the lit club and this one looks right up my alley, but heavier books keep tempting me too!

As for Diary of a Bookseller, a witty memoir by the person who runs Scotland's largest second-hand bookshop, I really enjoyed the preview, which began in the first page with discussing Orwell's views on booksellers, a mention of Gibbon's Decline and Fall and a mention of a television comedy I like about a bookshop called Black Books. So it's a strong and enjoyable start. I almost nominated it but I see the other club is coincidentally nominating books about books and I don't know if anyone participating in both clubs would want to read two books about reading at the same time.

[sun surfer]

It's interesting that with the topic of the 2010s it seems so short a timespan in contemplation since we often nominate books from so many decades, however in looking at many possibilities and making my longlist, I kept running across books nominated as far back as the beginning of this club! It was a bit of a disconnect because while a decade limit in nominations feels short, an actual decade in time seems so long. It was an odd feeling to see that some books I was considering which seem written so recently were nominated in the first year or two of our club which feels so long ago.

[Bookworm_Girl]

The years pass quickly! I kept looking at books that I thought were only a few years old to find they were published 2010-2014.

I listened to The Diary of Bookseller earlier this year. I recommend the audiobook version,

[AnotherCat]

I enjoyed Diary of a Bookseller too; an easy and interesting read. In my case read as an ebook but I would agree that audiobook would really suit the diary narration style best.

Some interesting books sorted out of the last decade. I was going to nominate a science fiction choice too but wasn't brave enough , so am glad a good one has turned up. We have quite close ties with some of the Cambodian community here (in fact joined some for a Cambodian evening meal last weekend) and I spent quite a bit of time commuting back and forth to Papua New Guinea so there are at least two other books that have complicated my choices (complicated in a good way ).

[sun surfer]

I'm moving Diary of a Bookseller up my tbr what with both your endorsements of it!

Originally Posted by AnotherCat

We have quite close ties with some of the Cambodian community here (in fact joined some for a Cambodian evening meal last weekend)...

I was hesitant to nominate that one because of my aforementioned distaste for war descriptions, but I enjoyed the preview I read and it moved it up my longlist of possible noms.

...and I spent quite a bit of time commuting back and forth to Papua New Guinea

Very cool! I've moved around a good bit in my life especially when younger, but it's all been western Europe and the Americas. There's still a lot of places in the world I'd love to see though including the South Pacific. Papua New Guinea in particular has this dark, dangerous, almost otherworldly tribal appeal to it.

[sun surfer]

Nominations are complete and voting is now open!

Voting will close exactly four days from this post.

Each person has EIGHT votes to use.

[sun surfer]

I've read all the previews of the ones I hadn't already and I'll give:

-1 to A Visit from the Goon Squad
-1 to The Orphan Master's Son
-1 to Station Eleven
-1 to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
-1 to Euphoria
-1 to In the Shadow of the Banyan
-1 to Shelter

I'll be happy to read any of the nominations though!

[Bookworm_Girl]

As usual the choices are difficult! I'm going to start with these votes and then I'll have 2 remaining for later.

The Orphan Master's Son - 1
In the Shadow of the Banyan - 1
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - 1
Station Eleven - 1
Euphoria - 1
A Visit from the Goon Squad - 1

[Bookworm_Girl]

Most of my travel has been to Western Europe as well. I would love to visit the Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific region some day. It looks so beautiful in photos. New Zealand has become a very popular destination, and I know several people who have traveled there in recent years. One couple went back for a second visit the following year because there was so much to see.

[AnotherCat]

My choice was difficult to make, so my "hope to read one day" list has grown by more than just the picks below.

2 - Station Eleven
2 - In the Shadow of the Banyan
2 - A Visit From the Goon Squad
1 - The Orphan Master's Son
1 - All the Light We Cannot See

[sun surfer]

We currently have a three-way tie. If it's not broken by about a half day away we'll go to a run-off.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I will use my 2 remaining votes to add 1 each to Station Eleven and In the Shadow of the Banyan.

[sun surfer]

And then there were two. Initial voting is complete and we have a tie! The tie is between:

-Station Eleven
-In the Shadow of the Banyan


Run-off voting is now open!

Voting will close exactly TWO DAYS from this post.

Each person has ONE vote to use.

If the run-off also happens to end in a tie, the selection that received all its votes first will win.

[AnotherCat]

I am going to be reading In the Shadow of the Banyan soon in any event but would like to be forced to read Station Eleven soon too else it will disappear out of sight down my to read list. So my choice is:

Station Eleven

[Bookworm_Girl]

I vote for Station Eleven too.