Tournament of Books discussion

A group member asked if I would create an Introductions folder. Her wish has been granted.

I will start this off. My name is Stacy and I have been following the Tournament of Books since its first year. I am a librarian in Minnesota. My favorite Tourney books have been Room, The Help, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and The Sisters Brothers.

Hi. I'm Dave. I am active on the other goodreads forum 'the rooster' as well.
I am also this year's lucky reader judge.
I am already reading for the tourney, but sworn to secrecy.
I will be following discussions on both goodreads forums with great interest.

Hello!!
I'm Drew - I've been a ToBer since the 2010 games, although I only caught the tail end of that round. Thinking that this might be the first time I'm planning to read all 18 books on the bracket, maybe even before the tourney gets underway.
March cannot come soon enough..

Hi everyone. My name Kate and I live in Brooklyn. I was the member asking for the introductions, so thank you. I've been a silent follower of ToB for a few years and I hope to be more active this year. I am currently reading "May we be forgiven" which has the polarizing feel of "lightning rods" ( and yes, i liked it) and have so far completed 5 other tournament books. My favorite book of 2012 was Mr. Penumbra. I'm sure that says something about me just not sure what. Happy reading I am counting the days till March.

Hi, I'm Thomas, nice to meet you all. I work as writer and journalist. I am German, but I live with my family in the South of Italy. I stumbled upon the ToB in 2010 and have been following it with increasing intensity. My favourites so far were Logicomix, A Visit From the Goon Squad and The Sense of an Ending. I'd love to completely read all the ToB books beforehand, but the best I managed was 4 last year. Let's see how it works out this time.

Hello Everyone! Ed here from the suburbs of Phoenix, am self-employed (or self-unemployed, given day, week, or month). Been following ToB since 2010, lurked on this forum in 2011, and participated last year (particularly enjoyed the 1Q84 divide!) Becoming more and more obsessed with ToB (love lists, especially book-related ones!) and this year had particular fun trying to predict what books would make the cut. Managed 5 books pre-announcement, have added 2 more since and currently working on another (also under my belt are 2 of the 3 Iraq War playoff books). My favorite ToB book from last year was "The Sisters Brothers" - a book I never would have read if not for ToB! Happy reading and looking forward to March Madness!

hi everyone. my name is jennifer and i live and work in toronto. i have been following the tournament for a few years now, quietly. i love it! while i never manage to read all of the contenders, i find the debates and discussions so interesting.

Hello, I'm Christy, an attorney in Topeka KS. I've been following the TOB for several years (so much more fun than filling out NCAA brackets in March!) though I haven't participated in the GoodReads group until now. My favorite book from last year was The Devil All the Time. I've read 7 of this year's contenders so far if you include the playoff books, and have a long list of holds at the library so hope to get through at least 7 more.

Hi, I'm Lydia, writing from DC. I love that there are so many places to discuss the TOB now. I just finished Gone Girl (meh!) and am finally making time for Wolf Hall. I really loved Skippy Dies and Salvage the Bones.

Hi, my name is Bonnie and this is my first year following ToB. I am a former attorney,and now work as a business consultant to lawyers. I read a LOT, and love several of the books listed here from previous years. (Visit From the Goon Squad, Sense of an Ending and 1Q84 are all on my Best of the Best list.) I can't wait to dig into the new list.

Hello Everyone, This is my second year following the TOB and I am excited to be working on this great TBR list. So much more fun than college basketball! My name is Mina.

I first learned about the Tournament of Books in 2008 courtesy of Mark Sarvas, a blogger I followed who was a judge that year. I was a Diaz fan. An obsession was born.

In 2010, I decided to read as many of the books as I could and managed fourteen. I read fifteen in 2011 and ten in 2012. I had planned to read far fewer this year, but have read four and there are a number on hold for me at the library. I may approach ten again, but have no desire to read all sixteen.

I have only been disappointed in the winner once, and that only mildly so, since I have started following the Tournament. That was last year when I much preferred Open City to the good but not great The Sisters Brother.

As for me beyond the TOB, I am an attorney in the Northern Virginia area (D.C. suburbs) who practices civil litigation (primarily business/contract disputes). I prefer dogs to cats and sweet to salty.

P.S. At my blog (http://hungrylikethewoolf.wordpress.com) I have been running a contest for the past few years and intend to again this year. If you fill out the brackets, you can compare your predictions to others and possibly win a very small prize and very large bragging.

Kerry wrote: "P.S. At my blog (http://hungrylikethewoolf.wordpress.com) I have been running a contest for the past few years and intend to again this year. If you fill out the brackets, you can compare your predictions to others and possibly win a very small prize and very large bragging."

are you running that again this year, kerry? i know you have been on hiatus at your blog but i have enjoyed participating in your contest the past two years so have been hoping your will be back in action for that feature. :)

Jennifer wrote: "are you running that again this year, kerry? i know you have been on hiatus at your blog but i have enjoyed participating in your contest the past two years so have been hoping your will be back in action for that feature. :) "

I will, Jennifer. My regular blogging should resume soon too, but even if that doesn't happen on schedule, I will run the contest again. Thanks for the interest!

that's great kerry!! i have been hoping you are okay/all is well. at the very least, the tournament is an excellent distraction. :) now...to work on my choices and wondering what the brackets will be? hmmm....

Hi, all! I'm a preservation librarian in Raleigh, North Carolina. Last year was my first TOB as a goodreads member, but I've been following it for a few years now. (Open City should have won last year.)

I had only read three off the list when it was released, but I'm just about finished with 7, now. I've rarely been so torn leading up to the tournament: I've loved Round House, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Orphan Master's Son.

Hi everyone, I'm Leah from Portland, OR. I started following the TOB a few years ago and took a bit of a break last year (just wasn't really inspired by the books I hadn't already read yet) but this year I'm back!

Until recently I have worked in the book biz pretty much all my life in different capacities (bookseller, librarian, book distributor, etc etc) - now I am working in tech support/customer service, but my heart still belongs to books. And book people! So Goodreads, and groups like this, are more important than ever to my health and sanity.

So far this year I've read Fault in Our Stars and Gone Girl, both of which I really enjoyed...I figure I'm going to try for about 10. So happy they gave us more advance reading time this year!

Hi,

I am Michelle from Mississippi! I found the ToB through a book podcast called Books on the Nightstand http://booksonthenightstand.com/ and then realized that one of my favorite books from 2011, Skippy Dies, was in the tournament. I only caught the tail end that year but was determined to participate from that time forward.

I read 12 of the books last year and enjoyed Salvage the Bones and Tigers Wife the best.

I am also a member of the online book club Typographical Era http://www.typographicalera.com/ (formerly the Opinionless Virtual Book Club) where one of the moderators is obsessed with Book Awards (Man Booker, NBA, Giller). So our book club will be following the ToB closely this year.

I have read 6 of the 18 books this year and I am looking forward to trying to read as many of the 12 remaining books as possible. So far Orphan Masters Son, Song of Achilles and Billy Lynn are my favorites.

Let the best book and commentary win!

I'm Jess. I live in Olympia, WA. I work for the Girl Scouts. I have been following TOB for three or four years with increasing obsession each year. Last year my faves were Sisters Brothers and Tiger's Wife. I was profoundly disappointed in how much I disliked Swamplandia! since I loved Geek Love and heard a lot of comparisons.

I'm a queer feminist and I tend to really dislike misogynist books. Even if they are technically amazing - I just can't get over it. That's my bias.

I'm Patty. I am a public librarian who works in Central Virginia (the Richmond area). This will be my third year of paying attention to the Rooster. I have never managed to read many of the TOB titles but hope to get a few in this year.

I would love to hear more from folks who have been reading the 2013 TOBs. Which one has been your favorite?

Hello! This is my fifth year following the TOB from Colorado. While my kids are in school, I work as a contract CPA and volunteer for multiple organizations. I've been fortunate to read most of the TOB contenders. This year my favorites are The Round House, The Fault in Our Stars, and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. The disclaimer is that my favorites don't necessarily win! My favorite part of the TOB is the discourse that takes place during the tournament.
Has anyone else found it interesting that there is no tome of a book this year (unlike 1Q84 or 2666)? It certainly makes it easier to read the entire list!

I'm Cynthia, and I've been following the TOB for several years. I'm a freelance editor, which basically means if someone is willing to pay me, I'll edit their words. My favorite book this year is Beautiful Ruins, closely followed by The Round House. I thought Gone Girl was a fun read but not quite worthy of bring tournament champ. It's great to have a group of people interested in the TOB!

Hi, I'm Dianah. I live in Portland and work for Powell's Books, so it was pretty disappointing to see that Powell's was no longer sponsoring the ToB. I've followed the tournament for a few years and particularly love 2011's books. So far, I've only read five of the books, but have a lot more stacked up, and am thankful for the extra lead time this year. I really love the commentary from John and Kevin, and also the biblioracle!

I'm Katie from NY and this is the first year I've followed the ToB. I really only became active on Good Reads recently too. So far I've read 7 books from the list (The Round House, The Fault in Our Stars, May We Be Forgiven, The Song of Achilles, Where'd You Go Bernadette?, Beautiful Ruins and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk) and I'm currently reading The Orphanmaster's Son. I imagine I'll read the entire list before March save Building Stories which I'm not sure I'll buy.

Christina, a software engineer from Massachusetts

I can't remember how I found out about the ToB, but since 2011 I've been hooked.

This is the first year I've attempted to at least sample most of the contenders. My favorites so far: Billy Lynn's Longtime Walk, Fobbit, Beautiful Ruins and Bring Up the Bodies
I liked Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and The Fault in Our Stars and found Gone Girl entertaining (if you're willing to suspend disbelief).

I'm disappointed with May We Be Forgiven and Arcadia (actually abandoned this after a second attempt) after enjoying earlier works by those authors.

Still left to try: The Orphan Master's Son, Ivyland, Dear Life, How Should a Person Be?, The Round House

Hi, I'm Jessica. I came across the TOB after the fact last year and really enjoyed reading about it. I am eager to follow along this year while all the action happens.

I've read Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, Arcadia, Beautiful Ruins, Gone Girl, and The Fault in Our Stars already. I enjoyed all of these books. I loved the beginning of Arcadia and was fascinated by the descriptions of the community, but thought that it veered to the weird in the end. TFiOS is simply wonderful. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? was fun. I tend to enjoy books that include letters and emails.

I'm currently reading Song of Achilles.

I also just picked up Wolf Hall so that I can read it before Bring Up the Bodies. It's been on my to-read list for a long time and I am looking forward to reading it.

Jean, from Austin. Have read 6 (Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, Beautiful Ruins, Gone Girl, Bring Up the Bodies (my vote for best book of the year on any list and my zombie choice because I don't trust the judges), Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, May We Be Forgiven (am really conflicted about this one).
Currently listening to Fobbit (but already hoping Billy Lynn wins the pre-tournament playoff round).
Next up (haven't determined order yet): HHhH, Fault in Our Stars, Song of Achilles, and Orphan Master's Son. I'm saving Building Stories for dessert.
I have tried to start Arcadia a couple of times and want to read The Round House, but have found both of them off-putting for some reason - but have found some books like that every year, which I suppose is part of the challenge & pleasure of reading & of book contests.
I agree with Dinah that it's a disappointment Powell's isn't sponsoring the tournament this year. Also, I loved my Field Notes rooster book last year and was disappointed they didn't put out a new one this time (yes, I could make my own, but it's not the same)
Agree with Leah that it's great to have more time to read in advance of the start.

Dianah wrote: "Hi, I'm Dianah. I live in Portland and work for Powell's Books, so it was pretty disappointing to see that Powell's was no longer sponsoring the ToB. I've followed the tournament for a few years an..."

Hi, Dianah! I'm April and I grew up in Portland. LOVE that city! I just retired from teaching at the end of last school year. My husband and I live in Leavenworth, WA which is in north-central Washington state.

Hello to Jess, too, another Washingtonian!

April wrote: "Dianah wrote: "Hi, I'm Dianah. I live in Portland and work for Powell's Books, so it was pretty disappointing to see that Powell's was no longer sponsoring the ToB. I've followed the tournament for..."

Portland is great and I feel so lucky to work at Powell's! We'll be putting up our ToB display as soon as the shortlist is announced, so come by if you are down this way. Nice to meet you :)

Mmmm, Powells - one of my favorite places on earth or off earth for that matter! I live in SE Washington State (i.e., the dry side) so am fortunate to be able to visit Portland at least 2 or 3 times a year. And I almost always stop by Powells when I'm in PDX.

Drew wrote: "Mmmm, Powells - one of my favorite places on earth or off earth for that matter! I live in SE Washington State (i.e., the dry side) so am fortunate to be able to visit Portland at least 2 or 3 time..."

Thank you, Drew! It is pretty fantastic!

Here's another Portlander dialing in! Can't wait for the final 16 announcement and the (hopefully) sale at Powells!

I was at Powell's yesterday!! It is my DH's and my favorite date destination. :-) Portland would be a different city without it. Dianah, I hope it at least half as fun to work there as it is to visit. :-)

Jan wrote: "I was at Powell's yesterday!! It is my DH's and my favorite date destination. :-) Portland would be a different city without it. Dianah, I hope it at least half as fun to work there as it is to vis..."

It is the best, Jan! I love it so much! Thanks for coming in!

Amy wrote: "Here's another Portlander dialing in! Can't wait for the final 16 announcement and the (hopefully) sale at Powells!"

Fingers crossed, Amy!

Wow, what fun to have so many folks from Washington and Oregon. We're usually in the minority on the boards I frequent.

Greetings to Jess, Leah, Amy and Jan!

Dianah, prepare Powells for me, please. I'm going to be bringing in a truck load of books to sell. I had to cull my collection because we moved in October.

Drew, we just moved from Yakima. Great to see another dry-sider in the group.

Whoops! I introduced myself in the wrong thread. I'm new to The Rooster. Using this to expand my reading parameters. I just read Our Souls At Night, meaning I have 16 more to try and read come tournament time. I'm hoping to get through 14. Looking forward to the discussions!

Hi, I'm Sandy. Just joined ToB and looking forward to reading and the discussion. Oh, just finished Gone Girl.

Hello,
I'm JoLene and I live in the SF Bay area. I found out about the TOB from the podcast "Books on the NightStand" and have been following it for the last couple years.

I am the challenge moderator for the historical fictionistas group here on GR and was searching for a reference for the TOB books to use as a task and came across this group.

I have to admit that I don't recognize many of the books on the 2016 list vs previous years. I'm not sure how much of the list I will make it through, but I just picked up The Tsar of Love and Techno from the library.

JoLene wrote: "Hello,
I'm JoLene and I live in the SF Bay area. I found out about the TOB from the podcast "Books on the NightStand" and have been following it for the last couple years.

I am the challenge moder..."

Welcome JoLene! I loved The Tsar of Love and Techno, a great place to start.

Hi all,

I am Kay and am very excited to follow the discussions here. I found out about ToB last year, but just now realized this group existed.

My name is Ian! I have "done" TOB for the last two years but I usually don't make it through more than half the list. I'm trying to do better this year! Im excited to see what everyone has to say about the books I've read and the books I've yet to read!

Hi, I'm Gaby. I live in Chicago and work in interior design. I've been following TOB for several years, although I can't remember how I first came to it. The greatest thing about TOB and our chat groups, is that I have discovered so many books I would never have heard of. Sorry to end that in a preposition but… My favorite book of all time was The Orphan Masters Son. My greatest disappointment was when Wolf Hall lost to some very forgettable book. My greatest find has been the Ferrante/My Brilliant Friend series. I enjoy all of the discussions on this thread so please keep chiming in and telling me what I should be reading.

Welcome everyone, glad to have you join the group.

Hey gang! My name is Jim.
I've been following ToB for the last couple years. I attempted to read all the books last year and failed miserably. This year I have 4 under my belt already (unfortunately all the books I've read are bracketed in the later rounds so I still feel way behind!!!) and will be damned if I don't finish it this year!
Excited to engage in some discussion about the Rooster here!

Hey!
I love the Rooster. I started following in earnest during the 2010 brackets. My favorite TOB book was The Art of Fielding - which was beat by the same book twice.

Hi All! I found out about the ToB through the podcast Books on the Nightstand. I am very excited to hear all the reviews! I haven't read a whole lot of these but I am rooting for A Little Life!

Jim, Cook & Megan... welcome! Let the games begin?!

I've been up for about two hours, hitting the refresh button on browser every two minutes or so, hoping the TOB launch will show up before I start a 12 hour shift. Looks like I'll be taking some long breaks today!

Hello everyone. My name is Dianna. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely familiar with ToB except that it's competitive. I only stumbled upon it when looking for active groups who read a lot. I average about a book a week inked life gets in the way. So yeah, I'm the pretty clueless noob.