I know that this is sort of early, but I was afraid that if I did not go ahead and look into this, I would not have time later. I was only able to find a short list of literary fiction titles, but I did read that anything that won the Booker prize was considered literary fiction. The short list that I found was:

Atonement by Ian McEwan
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Weight of Water by Anita Shreve

My daugther has Atonement and, I think, Lovely Bones. She also read Life of Pi for school which won the Booker award. So I hope to read one of those later this month. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
--BJ

I really appreciate you getting this started. It's one less thing I have to try and remember!

Here's my list:

Plainsong by Haruf, Kent
The House of Spirits by Allende, Isabel
The Blind Assassin by Atwood, Margaret
The World According to Garp by Irving, John
Breathing Lessons by Tyler, Anne
Rabbit, Run by Updike, John
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez, Gabriel Garcia
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Hoeg, Peter
Angle of Repose by Stegner, Wallace
Chocolat by Harris, Joanne
The Weight of Water by Shreve, Anita
The God of Small Things by Roy, Arundhati
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Chevalier, Tracy
Snow Falling on Cedars by Guterson, David
A Thousand Acres by Smiley, Jane
Possession by Byatt, A.S.
Cloud Atlas by Mitchell, David

I read The Blind Assassin which was pretty good. My choice for this month will be One Hundred Years of Solitude as it's been on my TBR list for a couple of years.

I think, I'll like this genre! While having the majority of the titles you just mentioned on my TBR list, I haven't read nothing from your lists. I made my own list too (updated it on my 50 challenge thread just yesterday:).

- Paul Auster: The Brooklyn Follies (320 pages)
- Douglas Coupland: Generation X (192 pages)
- Aravind Adiga: The White Tiger (288 pages)
- Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49 (192 pages)
- Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic (288 pages)
- Philip Roth: Everyman (192 pages)
- Don DeLillo: White Noise (326 pages)
- John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany (640 pages)
- Annie Proulx: The Shipping News (320 pages)
- Arundhati Roy: The God of Small Things (352 pages)
- Joanne Harris: Chocolat (394 pages)
- Haruki Murakami: The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (624 pages)
- Tracy Chevalier: Girl With A Pearl Earring (233 pages)

I'd like to start this genre with Auster.

Billiejean, I can't wait what you will think about Lovely Bones (which is a Bram Stoker Award winner in the Best First Novel category!) and Atonement! Both have been lingering on my TBR list for years.

Morphidae, from your list I fell in love with Possession last month: just the usual postmodern style and themes I can never resist, plus I have it!:) (Btw, the touchstone there took me to some totally different book.)

Happy Reading!

Message edited by its author, May 1, 2009, 3:42pm.

More good choices! I also have Chocolat and have been wanting to read it. My daughter has both Girl with a Pearl Earring and The God of Small Things. My other daughter has A Prayer for Owen Meaney and Snow Falling on Cedars. I guess they read more literary fiction than I do! I will get Atonement from my senior and put it in my view so that in the midst of graduation I remember to read it!

Thanks, Morphidae, for this wonderful group!!
Y'all have a great day!
--BJ

WOW! So many great choices.....I love this genre and there are so many I would love to read. ag83 (my sister) has been trying to get me to read Atonement for quite a while now and I have really wanted to read it, but I just get caught up in other amazing books, so here is my chance. Atonement will be my choice for this month.

Readeron, I would love to hear what you think about The Brooklyn Follies. I haven't read this novel yet and will be interested to hear what you think. I have read two of Auster's novels now that I really enjoyed though; The Music of Chance and especially The Man in the Dark.

Billiejean, I loved Life of Pi. It is just brilliant.

Morphidae.....I too would like to thank you for this wonderful group!! Even though I am a late starter I am going back to cover the genres for January to March......The suggestions everyone makes are so great, but my TBR wish list just keeps getting longer and longer ; )

Hope everyone enjoys this months read!.....pj77

> 4.
I perfectly agree with that! Thanks, Morphidae, for the good idea, for setting up this challenge and all the fun!

> 1, 2,
I also have a copy of Middlesex, The Blind Assassin, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Rabbit, Run (actually the whole Rabbit series), and I'm pining to get a copy of Cloud Atlas and Breathing Lessons (which means they are on my Wish List:). Must check out the other titles, too. It's always so exciting to discover new books and for a start, put them on my wishlist if I find the reviews interesting.

Btw, is Palahniuk simply horror or can his books be categorized as literary fiction as well? Probably I've already started the April challenge with Palahniuk?

> 5
pj77, I'm a great fan of Auster, so I'm sure he won't disappoint me. But I'll let you know why I like it after I've read it !:) What are you planning to read this month?

Hope you all enjoy your readings! Have a great day, everyone!:)

Message edited by its author, May 4, 2009, 7:48am.

I kind of think that Palahniuk defies definition. Of course, I haven't read any of his books yet, but my daughter has read lots. And I did see the movie Fight Club. Wow. That being said, I would think that you could call it literary.
--BJ

Yes, I think so too. Just googled some interviews with him, and now I think Haunted, Diary and Lullaby are considered to be horror, while they talk about his other works as literary fiction.

Happy reading for ya'll!

Message edited by its author, Jun 7, 2009, 3:27pm.

I finished Generation X yesterday. I don't know why I didn't read it sooner. Now moving on to Brooklyn Follies.

Hey everyone....Finished reading Atonement this week and really enjoyed it, but it is the first time that I have enjoyed the movie more than the book. I loved McEwan's writing and story (don't get me wrong), but I think the movie brilliantly portrayed McEwan's novel.

Am reading On Beauty By Zadie Smith. Not sure if this qualifies as 'Literary Fiction' or not, but it has been waiting to be read for a while now and I have been intrigued by the mixed reviews I have heard about it. Will let you know what I think when I finish.

pj77 :)

I think that On Beauty is literary fiction. I am hoping to start Atonement by the weekend. I better get with the program. During all the festivities at my house for my daughter's graduation, I haven't been able to read. Just too excited. :)
--BJ

> 10. I agree with billiejean, Zadie Smith is literary fiction (though I've read only White Teeth by her, so far, but that one was definitely literary fiction). I have On Beauty on my wishlist!

Also finished Success by Martin Amis, I think that book can also classified as literary fiction. I quite liked it, though it's transgressional fiction again. Sooner or later I'll start Brooklyn Follies, I'm sure.

> 11. It's totally understandable and congratulations again to both you and your daughter!:)

Hey everyone,

Finished On Beauty this afternoon and was really impressed. Zadie Smith's writing is so easy to read and I got so swept up in the story that it sort of surprised me. She describes characters actions, traits, speech etc amazingly.

I want to try and finish The Power of Now next and I also need a good mystery novel for the June genre challenge......plus A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Hosseini is sitting on my bedside table.....-pj77

OK, I finally finished my book for May (in June -- I got off-track reading Ender's Game). The book that I read was Atonement. I really did not think that I would like this book, but I found to my surprise that once I gave it a chance the story totally drew me in. I just had to finish it.
--BJ

I am hoping that either Deepak Chopra's "Jesus" or The Book Thief count as literary fiction, because I read those in MAy and did not get much else done. I know The Book Thief is considered YA but if you have read it you may agree it is quite literary and has many adult themes. I highly recommend it to all Booklovers!

>5. I promised to let you know what I think of Brooklyn Follies. Well, Auster didn't disappoint me!

Finished Brooklyn Follies finally a minute ago. I'm still under the spell and my mind is still spinning:) It's a beautifully written novel packed with emotion, insight and loveable characters. I plan to reread it one day. Definitely recommended to everyone who likes Auster or who wants to give his books a try:)

(I'll try to catch up in the other genres, as well.)

Message edited by its author, Sep 1, 2009, 1:28pm.