Literary Fiction

[close] Forum for spirited and convivial discussion of fiction from around the world, with particular though not exclusive focus on 20th and 21st century fiction recognized in US, UK, international, and other nation-specific prizes. Rules: Don't troll. If your post is primarily to provoke, please think twice before posting, and then don't post it. If your post is secondarily to provoke, think twice, and then don't post it. Be considerate of others. I hope that there are plenty of disagreements on here, as reasoned passion makes things interesting. However, do not be rude, obnoxious, or abusive. Be passionate in good faith. Ad hominem attacks will not be tolerated. Defend, but don't be overly defensive. While ad hominem attacks will not be tolerated, please distinguish the difference between someone attacking you and someone arguing with you; they are different. Do your best to not take differences of opinion personally. Do not feed trolls. Ignore, and instead PM a moderator.

[close] This is a book club for discussing books from independent publishers. Loving the edgy, the overlooked, and the uncategorizable! Not saying the big publishers are bad, as they all publish some amazing work, but there's also space for the hidden gems from smaller outlets in our reading lives, surely? If you have a book to recommend to the group, please share it on the discussion board. At the start our shelf may be skewed toward the UK but we would love to expand the focus. Image brewbooks

[close] Welcome to the Roundtable Our passions include literary fiction, the classics, and serious non-fiction. In 2024 we are reading the Palliser novels by Anthony Trollope on a every other month schedule starting in January and we are reading a Shakespeare play every month. The year long TBR reading challenge is ongoing, and the 4 month long task based Book Challenge will be back in September. We also invite you to our list [of books, of course] making frenzy, or to add a discussion thread for your favorite author. The fine print: We're a smallish group, but active, and we'd like to have actively participating members. If you've been a member for more than four months without participating, we will assume that you are not interested in the group and you will be subject to deletion (one post after acceptance into the group is not considered active). This may take the form of participation in one of the structured features described above or something more free-form. While we've all got our guilty pleasures -- vampires in love, celebrity gossip, books from our childhoods -- these books don't fit with the group's vision and purpose. It's strictly "quality" writing for an adult audience; for us this means literary fiction, the classics, serious non-fiction, literary science fiction, serious historical fiction, and classic mysteries. We like to see a diversity of opinions about what we read and a strong passion for books is a plus. However, we ask that our group members keep it about the books; be respectful of others and refrain from the ad hominem. Finally, you'll see that we're a private group and you'll need to "apply" to join us. This means that we'd like a word from you about why you'd like to join and what you're hoping to get from a group. It also helps if we can see your shelves and your profile. If your profile is set to private, you will not be approved for membership in the group.

[close] This group is dedicated to an appreciation of important works of literature, both classic and contemporary... that happen to fall into the category of Dark Fiction. We tend to avoid the big, banal blockbusters (and the more lurid fare) in favor of beautifully written explorations of the unknown, many of them obscure, all of them extraordinary. [Note from the Moderator: A couple of years ago, we changed our group name from "Literary Horror" in order to expand our sphere of interests (and dislodge a few embedded trolls). Our enthusiasms embrace Gothic, Weird Fiction, and Noir, as well as much that might be classified as Horror, but we also appreciate literary fiction that cannot be easily fitted into a marketing niche. In fact, this latter group of titles has evolved into our primary focus. Most serious fiction deals (to some extent) with darker themes, and many works of distinction have employed supernatural, surreal or existentialist elements. These books have power. They endure, because they appeal to serious readers and provide thoughtful entertainment. Come. Explore them with us.]