Tournament of Books discussion

Re-posted from current decision thread:
People talking about &Sons here made me wonder what the field of 16 "not included" books would look like....My choices and seeds based on reading some, and reviews of others
1)Tenth of December (Sanders)
2) &Sons (Gilbert)
3) Claire of the Sea Light (Danticat)
4) Percival Everett by Virgil Russell (Everett)

1) Americanah (Adichie)
2) NOS4A2 (Hill)
3) Interestings (Wolitzer)
4) Burgess Boys (Strout)REPLACED By: Constellation of Vital Phenomena

1) Flamethrowers (Kushner)
2) All That Is (Salter)
3) Love, Dishonor, Marry, Cherish, Perish (Rakoff)
4) Maddaddam (Atwood)

1) Bleeding Edge (Pynchon)
2) Visitation Street (Pachoda)REplaced by play-in: Tampa Vs Nathaniel P.
3) Ghana Must Go (Selasi)
4) You Are One of them (Holt) REPLACED BY: Night Film

Any misses?

The Ocean at the End of the Lane Gaiman

The Woman Upstairs

Those were two misses from my 2013 reading list not on your list. Tenth of December and Constellation of Vital Phenom. Were definitely two favorites for me lacking

Great list. I have read quite a few of these but there are some suggestions that will help me get over the coming Rooster crisis.

I am curious about any 2014 books already released or forthcoming people are excited about.....

Katie wrote: "...The Woman Upstairs..."

i really loved The Woman Upstairs - i think it would have made for a great tournament book.

Katie wrote: "I am curious about any 2014 books already released or forthcoming people are excited about....."

i just finished reading a fantastic book, All My Puny Sorrows. as i was reading it, i kept thinking it would be a fantastic TOB novel. it is a canadian book, but Miriam Toews' books have been released in the US before, and i am fairly certain this one will be too.

another possible consideration: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue. i am really keen for this one!

what about Andrew's Brain by E.L. Doctorow? anyone read it yet? i own it, but haven't got to it yet. Joshua Ferris has a new one coming in june: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel.

you guys have two canadian novels just out/just coming out that would be awesome TOB books - Kicking the Sky by Anthony De Sa, and The Orenda by Joseph Boyden. i loved these novels and i am thrilled they are being published in the US.

Bark: Stories by Lorrie Moore? (another one i own but have not read yet.)

the millions always does great 'most anticipated' lists. it never fails to make me drooly!! :)

Katie wrote: "I am curious about any 2014 books already released or forthcoming people are excited about....."

The Plover by Brian Doyle -- amazing and wonderful. A feel-good and hilarious read with a poignant, sweet underbelly.

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld: amazing -- stunning -- unbelievable. One of the best books I've ever read. Pulitzer-worthy.

The Woman Upstairs, definitely (decidedly better than at least 4 books in this year's Tournament, in my opinion) -- and I would add my personal favorite from last year, which didn't make the longlist, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

Nothing's pinged my radar yet this year, but that Miriam Toews book looks really interesting. I love her.

2013 - Harvest by Jim Crace. I'm glad Claire of Sea Light is included here. Did anyone else read The Husband's Secret? It's the one book of 2013 I've recommended to everyone I know, and I've gotten lots of positive feedback about it.

2014 books -- Boy, Snow, Bird is really well done and thought-provoking. The Invention of Wings is a good story, and Jennifer McMahon's The Winter People is a wonderfully creepy weekend read. I'm reading Swan Gondola right now since we're heading to Omaha for spring break. I've got a pretty long list of 2014 releases on my to-read list if anyone wants to friend me and steal from it.

oh, good call on Boy, Snow, Bird - i just got that one and hope to read it soon!

in today's discussion, a list of books they are watching for 2014 was included:



* Go to work and do your job. Care for your children. Pay your bills. Obey the law. Buy products. by Noah Cicero
* The Brunist Day of Wrath by Robert Coover
* Thirty Girls by Susan Minot
* The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
* Redeployment by Phil Klay
* Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
* The Heaven of Animals: Stories by David James Poissant
* The Blazing World: A Novel by Siri Hustvedt
* Mannequin Girl by Ellen Litman
* Missing You by Harlan Coben
* Orfeo by Richard Powers
* The Ballad of a Small Player: A Novel by Lawrence Osborne
* Hidden by Catherine McKenzie
* Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
* Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
* Steal the North by Heather Brittain Bergstrom
* The Steady Running of the Hour: A Novel by Justin Go
* The Giraffe's Neck: A Novel by Judith Schalansky
* Wonderland by Stacey D’Erasmo
* Delicious!: A Novel by Ruth Reichl
* Magnificent Vibration: A Novel by Rick Springfield
* Married Life by David Vogel
* Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
* Remember Me Like This: A Novel by Bret Anthony Johnston
* A Moveable Famine by John Skoyles
* The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner
* The Vacationers: A Novel by Emma Straub
* We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride
* All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
* I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You: A Novel by Courtney Maum
* The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger
* No Country: A Novel by Kalyan Ray
* Abroad by Katie Crouch
* All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner
* Losing in Gainesville by Brian Costello
* The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing by Nicholas Rombes
* A Life in Men by Gina Frangello
* Made to Break by D. Foy
* The Possibilities: A Novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings
* The Illusionists by Rosie Thomas
* Waiting for the Electricity: A Novel by Christina Nichol
* The Myth of Solid Ground: A Novel by Stephanie Kegan
* Road Ends by Mary Lawson
* An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
* The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
* Evergreen by Rebecca Rasmussen
* Panic in a Suitcase: A Novel by Yelena Akhtiorskaya
* Beneath the Neon Egg: A Novel by Thomas E. Kennedy
* When the World Was Young: A Novel by Elizabeth Gaffney
* Three Bargains by Tania Malik
* Before, During, After by Richard Bausch
* Henna House by Nomi Eve
* Your Face in Mine: A Novel by Jess Row
* The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
* We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas
* An Italian Wife by Ann Hood
* Wittgenstein Jr. by Lars Iyer
* Hold the Dark by William Giraldi
* Ballroom by Alice Simpson
* The Ambassadors by George Lerner
* Wallflowers by Eliza Robertson
* The Fever by Megan Abbott
* The High Divide by Lin Enger
* The Betrayers: A Novel by David Bezmozgis
* A Brief History of Seven Killings: A Novel by Marlon James
* Quartet for the End of Time by Johanna Skibsrud
* Brood by Chase Novak
* Beautiful You: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk
* The Disappearance Boy by Neil Bartlett
* Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet
* The Happiest People in the World by Brock Clarke
* Let Me Be Frank with You by Richard Ford
* The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar
* Silence Once Begun by Jesse Ball
* Friendship by Emily Gould
* Casebook by Mona Simpson
* Off Course: A Novel by Michelle Huneven
* Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole
* My Struggle: Book Two: A Man in Love by Karl Ove Knausgaard
* Lost for Words: A Novel by Edward St. Aubyn
* Dear Committee Members: A novel by Julie Schumacher
* Be Safe I Love You by Cara Hoffman
* We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
* To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel by Joshua Ferris

Yay time to update my 2014 TBR list! And time to feel both excited for all there is to read and that odd sad feeling that reality is I can't get them all in...

sorry to not link them all...it seemed like too much effort before finishing my first tea of the day! :)

Currently reading The Enchanted and was already thinking about it for TOBXI. Glad to see it made the list.

Angie wrote: "Currently reading The Enchanted and was already thinking about it for TOBXI. Glad to see it made the list."

i have been hearing so much about that one, angie. are you liking it a lot?

The Enchanted is really beautiful and subtle.

I absolutely adored Frog Music, a total leap away from Room that hops into history and prostitution and gets pretty gritty, but has some amazingly strong female characters.

Just finished the new Joshua Ferris book To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel and was not impressed, but it's the first I've read from him.

okay...phew! i have linked all the titles now, to make it easier for us to check on each book and add (or not) to our TBR lists. :)

Thank you Jennifer!

I noticed the new Murakami isn't on his list. I think it's coming out in August. Also, what do you think the chances are for Lisa See's new book China Dolls to make the TOB? Too mainstream?

oh, no problem. :)

i made a 2015 space: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

which i hope is okay? i thought we would come up with a lot of ideas and that it would be cool for next year's possibilities to have their own space in which we could chat. i didn't mean to go on a tangent and derail topher's space here. sorry!