It rocks mine.
Literary Fiction, as defined by Wikipedia:
Literary fiction is a term that has come into common usage since around 1960, principally to distinguish serious fiction (that is, work with claims to literary merit) from the many types of genre fiction and popular fiction (i.e., paraliterature). In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more on style, psychological depth, and character[1][2], the plot may or may not be important. Mainstream commercial fiction focuses more on narrative and plot.
I read other genres, but the one that I go back to again and again, is Literary Fiction. So, it’s no surprise that Wallace from Unputdownables contacted me about being a Literary Fiction judge for the Indie Lit Awards (her baby). I, along with Lyndsey, have been tasked with putting the Lit Fiction panel together. We are almost there too. As soon as we have the final panel, I will post an update. Oh, and if any of the panel members happen to be reading this, your panel button is coming soon!
Here’s a bit of info about the awards:
Independent Literary Awards are given to books that have been recommended and voted on by independent literary bloggers. Nominations are open to independent literary bloggers only, and are then voted upon by a panel of bloggers who are proficient in the genre they represent. Each panel is led by a judge(s) who oversee(s) the integrity of the process.
Since Lyndsey and I represent the Literary Fiction category, we’d be interested in your thoughts on what Literary Fiction book, published in 2010, tickled your fancy. If you’re a literary blogger and would like to submit a book for consideration right now, because you know with all your heart that the book you just read is THE book of the year, then we’d like to hear from you!
Things to remember when you nominate a book:
-You must be a literary blogger; and a link to your blog must be provided so we can verify this. (You may not be the author, publisher, or publicist of the book you are nominating).
-You may nominate a book that has already been listed (the books with the most nominations will be what we add to the Long List).
-You may nominate books in more than one genre, but only one per genre and please make one of those genres Literary Fiction (gotta plug the category).
-Nominations are open until mid-December.
But, if you’d rather wait a few months to see if a better title awaits you, then that’s fine too. Just bookmark the site and I’ll remind you about it as the end of the year approaches.
At the end of the year, we’ll have a nice list of titles to choose from and then early next year… a winner!
If you’d like to promote the event on your own blog, please use this button:
It will be hard to determine one winner, but I can’t wait to see what makes the short list.
Book Chatter 
Please, people… could I have picked a better judge, really? I’m thrilled that Ti accepted to be on the Board for these Awards, and I am looking forward to seeing what all of your favorite books of the year are!
Let’s come out in droves so authors and publishers know that literary bloggers are serious about loving books and wanting to bring attention to the printed word! 🙂
I’m still getting a handle on all these types of terms … but I think I understand this one. I’ll have to think about what I might nominate … and make sure it was published in 2010!
Congrats on being a panelist. How exciting!
How exciting!
Oooooooooooo I’m gonna have to check this out!
Congrats on being a judge. I can think of couple :
The Solitude of Prime Numbers;Paulo Giordano
My Name is Mary Sutter; Robin Oliveria
The Gendarme; Mark Mustian
Way to go Ti! You will be a perfect judge. Now for recommendations, my biggest issue is that I am normally so late at reading books that everything I love was published in earlier years. I will give some thought and do some research, and see what I can come up with.
Let me know if I can help, in any fashion. I love the idea of inde lit awards, it’s my favorite genre too.
How are you enjoying I’d know you anywhere? I’m going to post next week (I thought I had the review done but I didn’t so I had to post something else today).
Have a great weekend!
Congrats! This is quite an honor. I have to give this some thought. I am a fan of literary fiction and need to see what qualifies from my list of books that I’ve read this year.
This sounds like fun. Of course I tend not to read much that is newly published. Or if I do it tends to be on the fluffy side. And then I had insecurities about whether or not I qualified as a literary fiction blogger.
You are definitely a Literary Fiction blogger in my book. I am like you though, I don’t often read the newly released titles. I am typically a year or two behind what everyone else is reading. This panel will be interesting because it is going to force me to read current works.
I definitely want to check this out! And congrats on your appointment as a judge. 🙂 It’s always cool to have the opportunity to support literary endeavors.
Thought you might be interested in my blog. I run a collaborative blog – DysfunctionalBeginnings.com. Literary works about growing up, family, and beginnings in general (expressed in a variety of mediums!) Submissions go to dysfunctionalbeginnings@gmail.com.
Let me know what you think! And if you know any writers who may be interested in submitting material, please pass this info along…
Thanks for your support…
Ti — so happy you tweeted this. I already put my two cents in for The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman. But I’d also be happy with Room by Emma Donoghue. And I’ve got the new Julia Glass at top of TBR…
I would add The Weight of Heaven (Umrigar) to the list (published Feb 2, 2010):
http://www.bookwormwithaview.com/2010/01/review-weight-of-heaven.html
Room is a solid option too – I posted my review and author discussion today:
http://www.bookwormwithaview.com/2010/10/review-room.html
I hope to provide more titles (hopefully I find more must reads!). Last year I had to narrow my favorites fro 2009 – I haven’t read too many favorites this year. Might be do to all the changes on my end… I have read alot more fluff than usual!
Can I help with this? I would love to – even if only to help spread the word. Let me know.