Tournament of Books discussion

This is the placeholder thread for the 2016 TOB Zombie Rounds running March 29-30th . I made a separate thread from semi-finals because I figure this one gets a lot of speculation specific to the topics.

Zombie Round: A Little Life vs. The Turner House

My ALL is NOT catching a break. For everyone who hates this book... you've gotten your wish. Now I will go sob in a corner for the loss.

At least it lost to Turner House, a formidable opponent.

Ugh. So sad. I agree ... it's totally not caught a break. I'm also going to my own corner to cry!

ALL has had a good run this year though. In my circle of friends most people have read it and love it. It's been on every "Best of" list, and a finalist in nearly every big award content. Amber and everyone else who loved this book, you're in good company.

Contrast that with The Turner house that seemed to be dismissed by book critics all year long. I would guess most of us hadn't read it until it the TOB. Books like The Turner House are what make the TOB for me.

Reading this book made me realize how little I knew about Detroit, and how it became what it is today. It's a terrible story, and an important warning to the rest of the country. I recommend reading Detroit: An American Autopsy if you want to learn more about the world Flournoy writes about.

One last thought for now -- If an author mentions or pays any kind of homage to Zora Neale Hurston, I pretty much fall in love on the spot. But I felt like the message in this book was even Hurston can't fix the problems of today's Detroit. Does anyone else have thoughts on why Mules and Men was included in the story, but not necessarily revered?

I agree with you somewhat Sherri...

I think I was just hoping for 1 win... like Leo DiCaprio... finally, take home something. The minute I finished ALL, I said it had to win all the awards this year... and it's been disappointment after disappointment. Although taking the Rooster isn't a testament to anything other than fun! ;p

As for the Turner House... I liked the book, didn't love it. I'm happy it will be getting some more recognition though.

AmberBug wrote: "I agree with you somewhat Sherri...

I think I was just hoping for 1 win... like Leo DiCaprio... finally, take home something. The minute I finished ALL, I said it had to win all the awards this y..."

There's still the Pulitzer, right? I could see it happening for ALL.

Oh yeah! Thanks! The spark of hope can still be alive.

Sherri wrote: "AmberBug wrote: "I agree with you somewhat Sherri...

I think I was just hoping for 1 win... like Leo DiCaprio... finally, take home something. The minute I finished ALL, I said it had to win all ..."

ALL winning the Pulitzer sounds amazing to me! :)

Thanks for all the great commentary this TOB. I've been a lurker this year - but all my hopes and dreams were tied to ALL. I'm sad. I'll get over it. But today I will mope. But This years TOB was full of surprises.

This was probably my favorite day of commentary from John & Kevin .... Kevin especially articulated how discussing a book in community has changed his understanding and appreciation for the book even if he's not sure it changed his experience. He even sort of mea culpa'd for some obliviousness on his part that Nozlee called him on. Pretty amazing conversation!

Zombie Round: Fates and Furies vs. The Sellout

I have to admit to skipping down to the decision before reading the judgment this time! This week has been such a knuckle-biter!

Amy wrote: "I have to admit to skipping down to the decision before reading the judgment this time! This week has been such a knuckle-biter!"

I almost always do that!

It's no secret I've been rooting for Fates and Furies, and I'm disappointed it didn't advance, but I'm still hoping for the Pulitzer!

I found both The Sellout and The Turner House disappointing. I liked them both, and part of me is cheering for both because I so love the idea of both books. It will be an interesting match up, but I don't particularly care which book wins. Although I liked both way more than Station Eleven, so I suppose I'll be happier than last year:-)

I've been a lurker, but I figured I should speak up now!

I have to say, I'm disappointed by both Zombie results (mainly yesterday's, due to my undying love for ALL). I kind of predicted today's result, but I still feel that F&F really couldn't catch a break this year.

I was really hoping for a head to head between the two zombies in the championship, particularly since I want to see where Jude and Mathilde differ, and where they're alike, as I felt that could've been a make-or-break decision for each book. Oh well, I'm glad they both returned for Zombies, at least! I guess all that's left to do is look forward to tomorrow.

Wow! I'm so happy to be wrong about today's decision. But I feel people's pain here...the People's Choice was F&F and ALL and they really didn't get far with the judges on any level.

I think I've posted at least twice now that Turner vs Sellout was my dream matchup. I really didn't expect it, but I'm thrilled. I'm pretty certain The Sellout will win.

The Sellout is definitely going to win this one.

I too sneaked a pick to see who the winner was before reading the Judge's write-up. :)

Glad I was wrong on guessing which way Celeste Ng would go.
I still have not read F&F (I have started and stopped several times) I guess the reason that I keep going back to the book is because of the discussions indicating that that the second half shows that everything you read/believed in the first part is not necessary the truth. But the first part is just not grabbing me or interesting enough for me to get to the second narrator.

Excited about tomorrow's decision - I am hoping The Sellout wins as it one of my very top reads in 2015.

Being a Sellout fan (and my personal pick for the Rooster), Ng's opening line scared me, but it was almost too bold that I didn't fall for it too badly. Don't sense much (any?!) tension re: the final, think Sellout is going to win big.

Turner just never chugged past "good" for me -- there were definitely ToB books that I liked a whole lot less (like Fates and Sympathizer) that I could see giving Sellout a tougher fight.

Oh, and while not a fan of Fates and having a love/not love relationship with ALL still would have never predicted them going 0-4 in this year's tourney.

This seems like the first year in a while that both the zombies were knocked out in this round, which pleases me immensely. I always have mixed feelings about the zombie round, so it's nice to see two undefeated books make it to the final this year. It also helped that I wasn't a huge fan of either of the zombie picks this year. I'm picking the Sellout for the win.

Holy cats, I don't know what to do with myself. My top two books of the tournament are in the finals together--a TOB has never rolled this way for me before! (Neither was a five-star book for me, but I think they're both excellent reads and Rooster-worthy.)

I'm still reading/rereading yesterday's decision and commentary as well, and despite not liking the zombie round and not being interested in this year's zombie picks, I've gotten a lot of enjoyment and insight out of reading people's articulation of what worked for them and what didn't in ALL and F&F.

Also: musical themes. SO COOL. What a neat surprise, and I loved them both.

Okay, so I just listened to all of the Libretto Project's work--there's ALL and F&F as well as old friends OMS and S11 among others, for more TOB-y fun.

Yes! What a great playlist for the day.

I am not so much disappointed to lose F&F as that I wish we'd had a judgment/commentary that felt like it expanded my understanding of the book. I felt the comments did a better job than any of the judges. I'm planning to revisit it on audio ... this tournament is making me want to reread books in a way I rarely do.

Has there ever been a book that's sailed through the TOB as easily and as unscathed as The Sellout has?

Tiffany wrote: "I always have mixed feelings about the zombie round ..."

Same, though I do think it's as good an approximation as any of the arbitrary way popularity can skew the way literary awards are handed out! In that sense the unfairness of it is interesting to me, and it does make another fun thing to speculate/bet on.

Amy wrote: "This was probably my favorite day of commentary from John & Kevin .... Kevin especially articulated how discussing a book in community has changed his understanding and appreciation for the book ev..."

I enjoyed John's and Kevin's discussion, too (about ALL vs. Turner). However, I was sorry to read so many negative exchanges in the commentariat.

I'm pleased that The Sellout advanced over F&F, and I expect it to easily take the rooster.

Sherri, your question piqued my curiosity, so I did a little research through past ToBs. The Good Lord Bird, Orphan Master’s Son, and Sisters Brothers won every round, but none of them received the unrestrained praise that The Sellout has garnered from each judge.