I would like to read another book by Hill. I’m going to assume that he will have improved through his experience with this one. His writing style is excellent; he captured the different voices brilliantly. We’re bothered by some of the characters’ choices. If they had made different choices, we might have liked the book better.
Regardless, I agree: It made for a very lively discussion.
So – what’s next??!
I’m up for anything! We should probably toss a few male authors into the mix, given @AnAsmom’s earlier observation about our all-female lineup last year (prior to Nathan Hill).
I think he crammed everything he ever had an idea about into this book. I like to think now that he’s got that out of his system, his next book might be a little more focussed. He clearly has lots of talent. I’m not sure he wouldn’t be better off writing short stories.
One idea for what’s next - a friend of mine highly recommended There, there by Tommy Orange. Review: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/books/review/tommy-orange-there-there.html
Re: what am I reading next?
I have Cutting For Stone on deck & Daemon on deck.
What I am reading right now is a collection of three novellas by Connie Willis. She did a series of books about historians at Oxford who do their research by imbedding themselves in history, but I don’t think anything in this collection is in that universe. Sometimes she’s brilliant, and sometimes she tries too hard to be funny, but she’s nearly always interesting.
I just finished The Lost Man by Jane Harper-- who wrote The Dry. If you liked that one, you’d most likely enjoy this, too; different story, similar formula.
I’m in the midst of Barbara Kingsolver’s Unsheltered but had to give it back to the library before I was finished. I’m on the waiting list again. I’m enjoying it very much and would recommend for book club reading!
I also read Less by Andrew Sean Greer–which won the Pulitzer for fiction!–but did not award it the Jollymama prize. 
I still want to read The Overstory, but after reading a review in The Guardian that calls it “a tangled epic,” I would hesitate to recommend it for our group just now! I think it might stir up some of the same feelings so many of us had for The Nix:
^ @jollymama, I’m about halfway through The Lost Man. It’s very good, but you’re right about the similar formula – extreme climate, man with a troubled past, unforgiving small town.
Next up is The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay. It’s a Book of the Month Club selection. Is anybody a member? My daughter gave me three BOMC credits for Christmas, and I’m having fun with that.
As for the business at hand–our April selection–we only have There There by Tommy Orange on the list so far. I’ll add A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. It was on the list last time and I think we planned to carry it over as a future possibility. Other ideas?
All I can say is I’d like a happy book, if possible. Bad Blood was excellent but scary to me how large companies and other don’t know enough basic science to be able to tell BS from groundbreaking science. The Nix was interesting but a bit heavier and more similar to these turbulent times with “fake news” and thus not really “happy” from my perspective. I would love something happy and upbeat, if that’s possible.
Other ideas for next selection - (@himom it’s so hard for find those upbeat and happy books, but it’s a good suggestion)
I’m not suggesting these,perhaps people have some insight and could propose or “Nix” ? the following
Where the Crawdads Sing
The Wife by Alafair Burke ( I haven’t seen the movie)
An Anonymous Girl ( friend said it’s a page turner)
The Dreamers - Karen Thompson Walker - a goodreads friend ( librarian) gave this a glowing, enthusiastic review
I haven’t been on for very many books, but I just finished The Traveling Cat Chronicles, translated from Japanese. Sweet and sad and charming; maybe too short for the group? It went very quickly, but I’m a cat lover and really wanted to see how it ended. Some lovely themes that transcend the story.
I just finished The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn. It’s an extraordinary read – a real page-turner – but there is a great deal of controversy regarding the author. IMO, that congtroversy doesn’t take away from the book. Regardless, I’m not sure it’s a good book for discussion, but it sure was a great way to spend a day and a half!
Maybe we’d like to read a classic?? IIRC, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was on our list, along with another one that’s more modern – I don’t remember what that was. Oh wait – we’re looking for books by men.
Re: some of the books mentioned – I’ve read “Less;” doesn’t get a @CBBBlinker prize, either. (Don’t really get why it won a Pulitzer.) I’ve also read “The Woman in the Window;” enjoyed it but agree with @VeryHappy that it may not be great for a discussion. Loved “Where the Crawdads Sing!” My RL Book Club read “There, There” for January, but I couldn’t make the meeting so didn’t read it. Our next book for that club is “The Storyteller’s Secret.”
As always, I’ll read almost anything.
Nathan Hill comes from a background of writing short stories: … “short fiction has appeared in many literary journals, including The Iowa Review, AGNI, The Gettysburg Review, and Fiction, which awarded him its annual Fiction Prize.” For me it shows in The Nix. I like the parts more than the whole and believe the whole (as novel) would have been stronger without so many parts. Would I read another book by Mr. Hill? I’d look at length - 600+ pages and I’d wonder if he indulged himself again.
@VeryHappy: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn + Another Brooklyn.
I’m still interested in The Great Believers and *The Heart’s Invisible Furies/i and *The House of Broken Angels/i. I like the idea of A Room with a View. I’ve heard *There There/i is good.
2019 books that have caught my eye: Once Upon a River - Diane Setterfield and Unmarriageable - Soniah Kamal. We read The Thirteenth Tale by Setterfield in 2009. We haven’t repeated an author yet … but 10 years … may be okay. Pride and Prejudice was a book club hit and Unmarriageable just drops the story in modern-day Pakistan.
Reading currently: Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, * Justice for Sara * Erica Spindler. Have downloaded * Cutting for Stone * to e-reader to start next. And I’m having little arguments with myself on what I should start rereading first for this year: Austen or Tolkien. I’m also on the waitlist for * The Lost Man *.
What to read next: I will read anything. I’ve realized that I enjoy our discussion no matter how much I dislike the book. Someone had suggested last time that we read Somerset Maugham and I wanted to bring that up again. Anything by him is ok although I especially like * The Razor’s Edge , and * The Painted Veil . And I really enjoyed * The Thirteenth Tale so I would like to read * Once Upon a River
On the subject of Pride and Prejudice, if anyone is interested in watching the BBC production Pride with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul, it is available to watch free with Amazon Prime.
I love that version of “Pride and Prejudice”.
If we want a classic, or at least something older, I suggest “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton.
Another classic: A Town Like Alice - someone mentioned it a while back and I have a friend who keeps encouraging me to read it.
As usual, you have come through with some stellar suggestions!
Some of the books mentioned above were only commented upon, while others were suggested for April. I think I’ve managed to pull out the right ones for our list.
Contemporary:
There There by Tommy Orange
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
Classic:
A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham
Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Notes:
I eliminated The Great Believers as it was vetoed last round for PTSD reasons.
Where the Crawdads Sing is hanging on by a thread because @CBBBlinker already read it.
I did not add the companion Another Brooklyn because Smith’s book is 528 pages.
I didn’t add The Wife because I’m not sure if @SouthJerseyChessMom meant the one by Meg Wolitzer rather than the one by Alistair Burke. The movie is based on the Wolitzer book.
I eliminated An Anonymous Girl because I don’t think a fast-read thriller will give us enough to talk about, but mostly because I have a THING about novels with “Girl” in the title, especially when we aren’t talking about a girl at all. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gone-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-on-the-train/
Okay, time to veto. If the consensus is that it’s time for a classic, I can just cut the contemporaries and we can take it from there.
Good catch with wrong "the wife " –
@Mary13
A Town like Alice
Where the Crawdads Sings
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn