My thoughts:
I have some trepidation about The Fireman because although I’m all about the apocalypse, I never read horror and don’t particularly like fantasy. Part of my issue with horror is that there are often scenes too gruesome for my taste.
However, in that regard, Barkskins would not be a walk in the park either. From the Washington Post review:
So when faced with two novels that both appear to be adventurous, character-driven, slightly horrific and untried by any of us, I feel that the tie-breaker has to be outside our comfort zone. @nottelling is correct: that’s why we are in this together.
So I’m calling it for The Fireman by Joe Hill. And I’m looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks come August 1st!
Since The Fireman is such a long book, let’s try to touch base occasionally between now and August 1st. That worked well when we read Seveneves and I needed moral support. 
I’ll start a new thread!