Tournament of Books discussion

Lily King's Writers & Lovers vs. Jenny Offill's Weather

Aug. 5th: Writers & Lovers through page 165
Aug. 12th: Writers & Lovers to the end
Aug. 19th: Weather through page 99
Aug. 26th: Weather to the end & monthly winner

I started Writers & Lovers and 50 pages in, the tone and pace are just not working for me.

Is this one where if I keep pushing forward it'll be worth it? (it's short, so not too much of an investment). Or is it one where if I don't like it so far, my opinion isn't likely to change?

Bretnie wrote: "I started Writers & Lovers and 50 pages in, the tone and pace are just not working for me.

Is this one where if I keep pushing forward it'll be worth it? (it's short, so not too much of an invest..."

For me, it got worse as it went along. Here's my review - no spoilers I think - especially if you're not enamored already.

Bretnie wrote: "I started Writers & Lovers and 50 pages in, the tone and pace are just not working for me.

Is this one where if I keep pushing forward it'll be worth it? (it's short, so not too much of an invest..."

I felt like it moved very slowly through the first 50 or 60 pages. But then I began and continued to love it to the end.

I don’t think Weather stands a chance in this match-up. Did anyone love that book? If so, what am I missing?

I listened to both of these a few months ago, and remember enjoying Writers & Lovers for a few reasons. I don’t remember anything about Weather other than it didn’t have much of a plot and I wasn’t sure I “got it.” I’m assuming W&L will move first this month, and hoping Sharks wins the summer (and maybe also the 2021 tournament?).

I actually really liked it, I think I gave it 4 stars. But I just like Offill's writing style in general, the clever lines, and she really is so funny. I just was enjoying it the whole way through, and I was sad it was so short.

With that said, I hardly remember any of it. (I read it last winter.) And I knew while I was reading it that much as I enjoyed it, it wouldn't stick with me. There's just not enough of a plot for it to stick...it was more like a bunch of connected short-shorts.

I'm going to look back on it very fondly though, because it was the last book I read before the pandemic took over everything, so the last book I was able to read without a trillion other thoughts racing through my head. (All I had on my mind, reading it, was global warming. When was the last time I thought of global warming?)

Writers and Lovers just hit my library queue so great timing. Now let's see if I can get out of my quarantine slump to actually finish a novel!

Lauren wrote: "I don’t remember anything about Weather other than it didn’t have much of a plot and I wasn’t sure I “got it.”"

Yeah, surprisingly, the most plot-ish parts of the book are basically background to her observations, her jokes, etc. Oh, and chalk another one up for the non-degreed librarian that just stumbled their way into a library job trope. Blech.

Bob wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I don’t remember anything about Weather other than it didn’t have much of a plot and I wasn’t sure I “got it.”"

Yeah, surprisingly, the most plot-ish parts of the book are basically..."
I don't know if the character (or maybe Jenny Offhill?) knows what a librarian is/does. For the record, I am not a librarian but it was my understanding that in larger libraries the people who work the circulation desk aren't librarians. Just working in a library doesn't make one a librarian.

Ruthiella wrote: " I am not a librarian but it was my understanding that in larger libraries the people who work the circulation desk aren't librarians. Just working in a library doesn't make one a librarian"

I am (recently retired) and you're right.

Ruthiella wrote: "Bob wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I don’t remember anything about Weather other than it didn’t have much of a plot and I wasn’t sure I “got it.”"

Yeah, surprisingly, the most plot-ish parts of the book a..."

Yeah this really bothered me. Librarians spend their entire lives explaining to others what their jobs actually are. And one does not get a job as one as a favor (and what she does is not the work of a librarian.) It kind of made me feel if these details are so wrong, what do I care about the rest of what she has to say?

At one time I aspired to be a librarian but by the time I had the resources to go back for an MLS I was making too much money as a CPA for it to make financial sense. Of course I had the misguided notion that if I was a librarian I would just get to sit around and read all day. A lot of people still think that's what librarians do...lol.

Janet wrote: "At one time I aspired to be a librarian but by the time I had the resources to go back for an MLS I was making too much money as a CPA for it to make financial sense. Of course I had the misguided ..."
If only!

Has anyone figured out what job that actually is?

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Janet wrote: "At one time I aspired to be a librarian but by the time I had the resources to go back for an MLS I was making too much money as a CPA for it to make financial sense. Of course I had ..."

Yes, it's called retirement....but there still are not enough hours in the day.

In my library system (State Law Library), staff that work exclusively in circ and shelving are either clerks or assistants. In my branch, I have two part-timers (LTEs we call them) and they're both called library assistants. When I hire, I typically pick from the candidates that are already in a library science program here. I would not, as a favor to anyone, give someone a job when there are dozens of legitimately qualified and struggling librarians and library science students out there.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Has anyone figured out what job that actually is?"

Incidentally, I worked for 4 bookstores over the course of 15 years, and I got written up or in trouble in each one of those for doing this.

Bob wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Has anyone figured out what job that actually is?"

Incidentally, I worked for 4 bookstores over the course of 15 years, and I got written up or in trouble in each one ..."

For reading or for hiring people as a favor? ;)

The last three years, I've been on a booklist committee for the American Library Association and I've declared some of my time reading time otherwise I seriously would not be able to get through all the books. But I have more autonomy over my time, plus a faculty expectation of "professional involvement." SO I suppose I'm as close as I can get to reading as part of my job. Next year will be my first year of reading whatever the heck I want ONLY.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Next year will be my first year of reading whatever the heck I want ONLY...."

This is my way of life - welcome!

Did everyone else get the email from TMN today? I kept second-guessing myself that today was Wednesday because I never got the email. I checked my junk folder and it didn’t end up there, and when I tried to sign up for the newsletter (in case I was accidentally deleted from the list) it said I was already signed up with that email... I finally checked the website and it looks like the conversation was published today, so I’m not sure why it didn’t come through for me. :/

Lauren wrote: "Did everyone else get the email from TMN today? I kept second-guessing myself that today was Wednesday because I never got the email. I checked my junk folder and it didn’t end up there, and when I..."

I didn't get an email either! I missed the whole day because I honestly forgot it was Wednesday, heh, oops!

The email just now came to me, at 6:30 p.m. Central time (here in Texas). I too kept wondering whether today was truly Wednesday.

Mine just came through! Since I saw various comments on there I assumed everyone else got the email, but maybe not.

Well they *are* saying that mail takes longer these days. ;)

I'm so surprised by the reactions to Weather by Jenny Offil. Here's what I thought when I read it some months ago:

I loved this book. Jenny Offill is a gatherer...I think that's why she's gathered two anthologies (I read them recently) and why her first novel, The Department of Speculations was also a novel told in fragments. She gathers and selects brilliantly. A story of a family, her family of origin, as well as the story of her husband and son and city and endangered world , all emerge coherently and heartbreakingly. I have sections I want to save, and I will. But I just want to tell everyone, read this book.

Crudo, a book I read recently, and loved, has much of this feel. It is told in fragments that weave together and coalesce. I think I found Weather more rewarding. I have to say the style of both Jenny Offill and Crudo's author, Olivia Laing, are so wonderful to me right now. I feel that this is the way I could write. Not to be published. Just for myself.

In our country. Right now. This is a book that tells our story. Even though coronavirus is nowhere to be seen...it infuses the book. Wear gloves while reading. (less)

Voting time! See (at bottom): https://themorningnews.org/article/ca...
And vote for your pick between the three monthly winners:
June: Sharks in the Time is Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
July: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
August: Writers and Lovers by Lily King

Ok, that was a hard choice to make. I suspect Sharks will win easily, but the other two novels were also fantastic. What a solid summer of reading and I'm sorry it's over.