Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Hello Everyone!

In case you missed it (and I admit I completely forgot about it), the Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in June. Here are the finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction:

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson (winner and one of our group reads)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The first part of this week's question: Did you read any of the 2013 Finalists? What did you think? If you read all three, was Johnson's novel your winner, too? Will you be adding any of these books to your to-read list?

I thought it might also be interesting to look back at the last 10 winners of the prize. How many of the following books have you read? Which was your favorite? Which one didn't you like so much? Were there any that made you think "I can't believe this won an award?" Which of these will you be adding to your to-read list?

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2011)
Tinkers by Paul Harding (2010)
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (2009)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2008)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2007)
March by Geraldine Brooks (2006)
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2005)
The Known World by Edward P. Jones (2004)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (2003)
Empire Falls by Richard Russo (2002)

**There was not a Prize awarded for 2012.

I've read Olive Kitteridge and The Road. I can't say I really liked either one, though I can see why The Road was chosen as a winner.

Next Week: Prizes (Part Two) -- We'll talk about the recently released Longlist for the 2013 Booker Prize.

The only one of these I've even heard of was Middlesex because my wife's book club read it. She didn't like it. My tastes run toward zombie, dystopian, and star wars. Those generally aren't in the running for Pulitzers.

Jim wrote: "The only one of these I've even heard of was Middlesex because my wife's book club read it. She didn't like it. My tastes run toward zombie, dystopian, and star wars. Those generally aren't in ..."

It's too bad, I think, that lots of books aren't even considered for the Pulitzer because they're considered speculative or genre fiction. But stay tuned to this mini-series of questions I have planned because in Part Three we'll talk about the Nebula awards, since I know we have many readers who like the sci-fi/fantasy genre.

(Oh, and in case anyone is interested, we'll also talk about the Edgar Awards in Part Four).

I've read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and The Road. I enjoyed both of them. I looked into the other winners, but unfortunately, none of them piqued my interest enough to add to my "to read" list.

I've read The Road (which was okay) and Middlesex (which I loved).
Have Olive Kitteridge on my bookshelf waiting to be read.
I've also read The Snow Child which I really liked -I didn't think I would.

It was interesting to peruse this list. I've read Gilead (3*), The Road (2*), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (4*), A Visit from the Goon Squad (3*), and The Orphan Master's Son (2*). Guess the reasons I find to love a book are not what the Pulitzer people look for.

Just finished What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank which I liked, & I've also read The Road a while ago, which I'm not impressed. Several others are on my to-read list & I'm thinking of adding more.

I'm ashamed to admit I've only read one from the list, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I love anything by him so of course I read this! I just finished Into the Wild so I'm obsessed with all things Alaska so I'm very interested in reading the Snow Child.

I've read three books from the list, all of which I enjoyed: A Visit from the Goon Squad, Empire Falls and Olive Kitteridge. I attempted to read Tinkers but I couldn't get past the first chapter. I read a few chapters of The Known World but didn't get very far with that, either. This is no reflection on the quality of the books. They just didn't appeal to me.

I'll try to find out more about the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize that was just awarded.