Contemporary Fiction Views: Fiction award lists and new books

Book award season is under way with the announcement of the National Book Awards longlists. Although awards are not the final arbiter of whether a novel is a meaningful read, it is a way for me to doublecheck if I have missed something I might be interested in.Winners of the Fiction and other categories will be named on Nov. 20 at a ceremony and benefit dinner.This year's Fiction longlist is:Ghostroots by 'Pemi AgudaMartyr! by Kaveh AkbarThe Most by Jessica AnthonyCatalina by Karla Cornejo VillavicencioJames by Percival Everett (for more, my review from earlier this year)All Fours by Miranda JulyCreation Lake by Rachel KushnerMy Friends by Hisham MatarYr Dead by Sam SaxRejection by Tony Tulathimutte (see below)Other readers have high praise for Martyr!, All Fours and Creation Lake. I'm most interested in the last one, as Kushner's earlier novels have been perceptive, engrossing stories. But I am a firm believer in the power of James and support any way in which it becomes more known.James also has been included in this year’s short list for the Booker Prize. Also making the cut are:Held by Anne MichaelsCreation Lake (another double nominee)Orbital by Samantha HarveyThe Safekeep by Yael van der WoudenStone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood (not published in the U.S. at this time)Meanwhile, more books have been published. And some of them may end up on your TBR list. As always, links are to debtorsprison's The Literate Lizard (as are the National Book Awards nominees above). Blurbs are from the publishers.Precipice by Robert Harris A spellbinding novel of passion, intrigue, and betrayal set in England in the months leading to the Great War from the bestselling author of Act of Oblivion, Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, and Munich.A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories by Mariana Enriquez Welcome to Argentina and the fascinating, frightening, fantastical imagination of Mariana Enriquez. In twelve spellbinding new stories, Enriquez writes about ordinary people, especially women, whose lives turn inside out when they encounter terror, the surreal, and the supernatural.The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi This is the story of the peculiar and magical photo studio owned by Mr. Hirasaka, a collector of antique cameras. In the dimly lit interior, a paper background is pulled down in front of a wall, and in front of it stands a single, luxurious chair with an armrest on one side. On a stand is a large bellows camera. On the left is the main studio; photos can also be taken in the courtyard.Beyond its straightforward interior, however, is a secret. The studio is, in fact, the door to the afterlife, the place between life and death where those who have departed have a chance—one last time—to see their entire life flash before their eyes via Mr. Hirasaka's "spinning lantern of memories."Elaine by Will Self The Booker-shortlisted author of Umbrella writes his most American novel yet—a brilliant portrait of a 1950s housewife, based on the life of the author’s mother, and an exploration of sexual freedom and sublimated desire.The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak For fans of Elin Hilderbrand, a riveting exploration of family, sisterhood, and the transformative power of literature. When two sisters, one a free spirit at the helm of a rebellious book club, the other a conventional woman locked in the clutches of an unhappy marriage are forced into a reluctant reunion by their mother's illness, they must confront past ghosts that rock the entire community.Snake Oil by Kelsey Rae Dimberg A sharp and twisty novel of literary suspense that interrogates the dark side of wellness, startup culture, and female ambition.“If you commit to it, wellness can optimize every facet of your life. Unleash your superpowers. If every woman felt radically healthy, we could save the world. That’s my Radical vision.”Rhoda is a quintessential girlboss: the founder of billion-dollar wellness company Radical, she’s equally admired for her business acumen as for her flawless skin and enviable Instagram presence. But behind her perfect veneer, Rhoda is riddled with an all-consuming desire to keep growing her empire, and fear that it could all be taken away from her. As she grows increasingly desperate to maintain her status and paranoid of the people surrounding her, she must question what lengths she’ll go to, to protect what she’s built.The Wildes : A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard In this singularly powerful novel, bestselling author Louis Bayard brings Oscar Wilde’s wife Constance and two sons out from the shadows of history and creates a vivid and poignant story of secrets, loss, and love.Dry Your Tears to Perfect Your Aim by Jacob Wren What are the best ways to support political struggles that aren’t your own? What are the fundamental principles of a utopia during war? Can we transcend the societal values we inherit? Dry Your Tears to Perfect Your Aim is a remarkably original, literary page-turner that explores such pressing questions of our time.A depressed writer visits a war zone. He knows it’s a bad idea, but his curiosity and obsession that his tax dollars help to pay for foreign wars draw him there. Amid the fighting, he stumbles into a small strip of land that’s being reimagined as a grassroots, feminist, egalitarian utopia. As he learns about the principles of the collective, he moves between a fragile sense of self and the ethical considerations of writing about what he experiences but cannot truly fathom. Meanwhile, women in his life—from this reimagined society and elsewhere—underscore truths hidden in plain sight.Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte From the Whiting and O. Henry–winning author of Private Citizens (“the first great millennial novel,” New York Magazine), an electrifying novel-in-stories that follows a cast of intricately linked characters as rejection throws their lives and relationships into chaos.Habitat by Catriona Shine Habitat follows seven people over the course of a week as their mid-century apartment building in Oslo inexplicably disappears. The web of neighbors is connected by family relations, long acquaintance, life-long feuds, and glimpses of each other across the communal garden. As they are each affected in different ways, they fail to grasp that this is a shared crisisEntitlement by Rumaan Alam A novel of money and morality from the New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World BehindBrooke wants. She isn’t in need, but there are things she wants. A sense of purpose, for instance. She wants to make a difference in the world, to impress her mother along the way, to spend time with friends and secure her independence. Her job assisting an octogenarian billionaire in his quest to give away a vast fortune could help her achieve many of these goals. It may inspire new desires as well: proximity to wealth turns out to be nothing less than transformative. What is money, really, but a kind of belief?Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin A novel of Paris, desire, love, psychoanalysis, and the turbulent affairs of two couples across time. Paris, 2019. An apartment in Belleville. Following a miscarriage and a breakdown, Anna, a psychoanalyst, finds herself unable to return to work. Instead, she obsesses over a kitchen renovation and befriends a new neighbor—a younger woman called Clémentine who has just moved into the building and is part of a radical feminist collective.Paris, 1972. The same apartment in Belleville. Florence and Henry are renovating their kitchen. She is finishing her degree in psychology, dropping into feminist activities, and devotedly attending the groundbreaking, infamous seminars held by the renowned analyst Jacques Lacan. She is hoping to conceive their first child, though Henry isn’t sure he’s ready for fatherhood.READERS & BOOK LOVERS SERIES SCHEDULEDAYTIMEEST/EDTSERIESEDITOR(S)SUNDAY4:00 PMLet’s Talk BOOKSAngela Marx6:00 PMYoung People’s PavilionThe Book Bear(LAST SUN OF THE MONTH)7:30 PMLGBTQ LiteratureChrisloveMONDAY8:00 PMThe Language of the NightDrLoriTUESDAY8:00 PMContemporary Fiction Viewsbookgirl10:00 PMNonfiction ViewsDebtorsPrisonWEDNESDAY8:00 PMBookchatcfk et al.THURSDAY8:00 PMWrite On!SensibleShoes(FIRST THURS OF MONTH)2:00 PMMonthly BookpostAdmiralNaismithFRIDAY7:30 AMWAYR?Chitown Kev(OCCASIONALLY)8:00 PMBooks Go Boom!Brecht9:30 PMClassic Poetry GroupAngmarSATURDAYNoonYou Can't Read That! orPaul's Book Reviewspwoodford9:00 PMBooks So Bad They’re Good*Ellid (*on temporary hiatus)