Nominees for best first novel? Here they are

The National Book Critics Circle — of which I am not a member — has announced its nominees for the John Leonard Prize. The prize goes to the best first book in any genre.

You may recognize some of these titles:

“The Mothers,” by Brit Bennett (Riverhead)

“The Girls,” by Emma Cline (Random House)

“Here Comes the Sun,” by Nicole Dennis-Benn (Liveright)

“Homegoing,” by Yaa Gyasi (Knopf)

“The Nix,” by Nathan Hill (Knopf)

“Grief Is the Thing with Feathers,” by Max Porter (Graywolf)

The winner will be announced March 16 in New York.

This story was originally published December 1, 2016 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Nominees for best first novel? Here they are."