Today is Day 3 of the Armchair BEA! Today’ s Genre is Literary Fiction. When I saw this I was a little confused-hmmm, what is literary fiction exactly? So, I do what everyone does when they find themselves in need on information- I googled it. As best as I can put together, literary fiction is- “critically acclaimed”, serious, focuses on subject, not plot, “based in language”, lyrical and poetic, and focused on character development. Ok- this I can work with.
So far this year, I have enjoyed The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin- https://turnthepagereviews.com/2013/04/17/the-orchardist/
I also really like Silver Lining Playbook by Matthew Quick-
https://turnthepagereviews.com/2013/04/01/silver-lining-playbook/
In the future, I would like to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Life of Pi. I also can’t wait to get my hands on And The Mountains Echoed!
For someone just getting into literary fiction, I would recommend The Cider House Rules by John Irving or The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kinsolver. Also- The Kite Runner was amazing!!
I honestly have trouble differentiating between genres sometimes. Another book many would call a classic, but I think qualifies, would be Pride & Prejudice.
I think the label “literary fiction” can be off putting, as if you have to be a Literature major in order to read certain books. I think that is ridiculous! Anyone can read any book, as long as they enjoy it. If it feels like work, or a chore, then it is not meant to be.
Maybe I should remind myself of that as I try to tackle more “classics” 🙂
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Cover of Life of Pi
Cover of The Poisonwood Bible
Cover of The Cider House Rules
Turn the Page Reviews 
I picked up The Cider House Rules at a book sale last summer but it’s still sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. And I really do want to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, too. I read Life of Pi in high school and just did not enjoy it. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime, but I still can’t forget its dullness.
I’ve not read any of those you mentioned 😦 Most are on my TBR though, just that same old story – finding the time
I have been very curious about The Orchardist….it will be one to read this year, I think.
Also….Silver Linings Playbook, which I saw at the movies before reading it, but that’s okay. It was awesome enough to follow up with a read.
Thanks for visiting my blog, and enjoy your week.
I tried a couple of times to read Life of Pi and yuck. Couldn’t get into it at all. I really enjoyed The Poisonwood Bible and The Kite Runner. Not reading as much literary fiction these days.
I love every book by Kingsolver!
I really want to read The Perks of Being A Wallflower! I’ve heard a ton about it and I want to read the book before I see the movie. I really enjoyed Life of Pi and I read The Poisonwood Bible which I also enjoyed…but I remember being really pissed off at a few of the characters, lol. It was an AP Lit book and I dropped the class about 2 weeks in because me and the teacher clashed (which never happens), but when i told her I was sad I couldn’t finish the book she let me keep it.
Isn’t wikipedia great?
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Hmm I haven’t read most of the ones you listed up there, but hate to say it the few I did read I didn’t like too much. Sometimes literary fiction feels like high school assigned reading. Is that bad?
Not at all- you should enjoy what your are reading!
I had a general idea of what literary fiction was, but I wasn’t positive. Wikipedia is very helpful! I’ve been meaning to read Silver Linings Playbook! I liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower a lot. I need to read The Poisonwood Bible and some of the others you mentioned. Great post!
OMG I DIDNT READ ANY OF THESE. I SUCK
Ooo, I loved The Orchardist!