Tournament of Books discussion

Starting up a new thread for possible ToB contenders for 2016 with the post from The Millions that Jennifer posted earlier today with most anticipated books for first half of 2015:

http://www.themillions.com/2015/01/mo...

thanks, ed!! i debated creating a new thread, but didn't want to overstep. :)

There are goodreads giveaways for Jane Smiley's Early Warning (2nd book in the trilogy) and Benjamin Percy's The Dead Lands right now These are both on my "can't wait" TBR list :).

Do books published very late in 2014 ever get considered for the following year's TOB competition? What is the cutoff date--calendar year?

I'm asking because it's inconceivable to me that Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish didn't make even the long list for this year's tournament. I believe it came out in December. It's easily the best book I read that was published in 2014. Great reviews in NYT and New Yorker and the NYRB compares Lish to Walt Whitman:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...

The cut-off date used to be from Nov 1st to Nov 1st of the next year, but that might have changed since many of the books on the long list this year were released after November 1.

Thanks for that information, C! Well, I hope it gets considered for next year, and I guess it would be my first suggestion for a "2016 Possible Contender" if it's eligible.

Poingu wrote: "Do books published very late in 2014 ever get considered for the following year's TOB competition? What is the cutoff date--calendar year?

I'm asking because it's inconceivable to me that [book:P..."

That looks really good. Thanks for posting it.

For those looking for a taste of what is coming in 2015, Buzz Books 2015 Spring/Summer and Young Adult Spring with excerpts from over 60 upcoming books are available on Kindle for free.

C wrote: "The cut-off date used to be from Nov 1st to Nov 1st of the next year, but that might have changed since many of the books on the long list this year were released after November 1."

This made me curious, because it seemed like a broad statement to make, and so I checked the release dates of all the books on the long list (nerdy of me, I know.)

There were 4 books on the longlist released in November:
11/11/2014 The End of Days, Jenny Erpenbeck
11/4/2014 Let me be Frank with you, Richard Ford
11/4/2014 The Laughing Monsters, Denis Johnson
11/4/2014 Our Secret Life in the Movies, Michael McGriff

Now perhaps none of these made the short list because the judges realized the books didn't meet the cutoff date requirements.

Why does this interest me? In checking the dates of every book on the long list, I noticed that NONE of the books had a publishing date of November or December of 2013, when technically, by the cutoff dates, any book published during that time would be eligible for this years ToB.

This is not such a huge deal I guess, but is it possible that the ToB judges are inadvertently overlooking books published in two whole months out of every year? Just this year alone there were several books that were published in November and December that I would like to see considered in ToB 2016, particularly All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews and also How to Be by Ali Smith.

This is way too much work for me to figure out (at least while I am at work), but it makes me wonder if there have there been any books on any ToB shortlist that were published in November/December of the previous year.

ALL MY PUNY SORRROWS!!
that is all.

a book was just released in the US, one i loved a lot when it came out here in canada last year: Sweetland, by Michael Crummey. i think it would be a great tournament book in 2016.

seriously, heather - i appreciate the work you just put into that. i have been wondering about this issue too, for quite a while now, but been too lazy to dig into it.

Heather wrote: "C wrote: "The cut-off date used to be from Nov 1st to Nov 1st of the next year, but that might have changed since many of the books on the long list this year were released after November 1."

This..."

Yes, thanks for doing the nerdy work for me, Heather. :D I know The Orphan Master's Son was released November 2 or something the previous year, so they do include some books from the last two months of the year, but who knows, the ToB powers could have changed the cutoff date this year.

Jennifer wrote: "a book was just released in the US, one i loved a lot when it came out here in canada last year: Sweetland, by Michael Crummey. i think it would be a great tournamen..."

All My Puny Sorrows -- YES!!! And based on your love for AMPS, I am putting Sweetland on my list...right behind Galore, which I think he wrote and I still haven't gotten to. Sigh.

michael crummey is one of my most favourite writers. i have really enjoyed all of his novels, i hope you will too, jan!! :)

wow thanks for the heads-up on the new Crummey! it will be first on my list of things to read after the tourney.

very cool; you are totally welcome, ohenrypacey. i hope you will like it a lot!

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (she was a ToB contender in 2014 with The People in the Trees). A Little Life was beyond amazing! It comes out in March.

I guess books that are at small presses AND are published late in the year are at a particular disadvantage--you'd have to be aware of a book coming out and ready to read it quickly and I'm not sure how systematically that would happen. That's what I have to think happened to Preparation for the Next Life, which got some of the most stunning reviews of any novel last year, but in December.

Dianah wrote: "A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (she was a ToB contender in 2014 with The People in the Trees). A Little Life was beyond amazing! It comes out in March."

Agree wholeheartedly with Dianah on this. Given how far Yanagihara's debut went in the 2014 tournament, I am 99% certain her follow-up will also be a contender in 2016. Especially since it is even more daring and ambitious than her debut. Even if it doesn't make the tourney, it's well worth reading as it will certainly be one of the best books published this year.

Jennifer wrote: "a book was just released in the US, one i loved a lot when it came out here in canada last year: Sweetland, by Michael Crummey. i think it would be a great tournamen..."

I just picked this up from the library yesterday. After reading your comments I'm even more excited to read it.

Anne wrote: "I just picked this up from the library yesterday. After reading your comments I'm even more excited to read it."

oh, anne! i hope you will like it. i always get so nervous when i share my excitement or love of a book... that it won't meet expectations.

Steph wrote: "Dianah wrote: "A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (she was a ToB contender in 2014 with The People in the Trees). A Little Life was beyond amazing! It comes out in March."

Agree wholeheartedly with..."

I loved People in the Trees so am really looking forward to Yanagihara's next effort!

I'm reading the ARC of Delicious Foods by James Hannaham, coming out March 17 from Little, Brown, and I'm kind of loving it.

so today it was announced that Harper Lee will have a new book published in july. the book is called Go Set a Watchman

AP report: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/...

"In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called `Go Set a Watchman,'" the 88-year-old Lee said in a statement issued by Harper. "It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became `To Kill a Mockingbird') from the point of view of the young Scout.

"I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years."

Jennifer wrote: "so today it was announced that Harper Lee will have a new book published in july. the book is called Go Set a Watchman

AP report: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie..."

Yeah, when I heard about the Harper Lee book I thought "it MUST be a ToB contender."

i am actually quite worried about it all, C.

Jennifer wrote: "i am actually quite worried about it all, C."

What do you mean?

i am worried people are being opportunistic.

Loving A Little Life, I think this one could be a serious contender.

am worried people are being opportunistic.

I had the same thought, Jennifer!

Julie wrote: "I had the same thought, Jennifer!"

yeah. i am feeling really conflicted. of course i am excited. but it's a scared-excited. harper lee, from what i have read, is not very healthy and has many challenges with which she deals. and then the fact her sister, who was really the force and effort behind guarding and representing the legacy, only recently died (past 2 or 3 months). add in the shifty lawyer of harper lee's, and it's just all feeling wrong. i would love to be a fly on the wall of harper publishing. i truly hope no one is acting unethically.

Jennifer wrote: "Julie wrote: "I had the same thought, Jennifer!"

yeah. i am feeling really conflicted. of course i am excited. but it's a scared-excited. harper lee, from what i have read, is not very healthy and..."

Jennifer - I was in the middle of writing pretty much the same thing you said when your comment came in. It was awfully convenient the way this all happened, and her statement sounds a bit contrived. I just really hope she has someone close to her who's looking out for her and would make sure she's not being taken advantage of. I'm looking forward to reading the book, but not setting my expectations too high.

Anne wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "a book was just released in the US, one i loved a lot when it came out here in canada last year: Sweetland, by Michael Crummey. i think it would be ..."

Sweetland was wonderful. I'd definitely keep it up on the list.

I read A Little Life late last year and will be shocked if another 2015 book comes anywhere close to impacting me the way it did. Incredible.

woot! shannon, i am so glad you liked sweetland!!! :)

I'm so glad to hear the early love for A Little Life. It is truly spectacular.

Aw... Sweetland. I loved that book so much!

I am going to read the new Harper Lee book, but I am wary of this sudden decision to publish. I would point out that her older sister, who acted as an adviser to her and assisted her with financial matters, died just a few months ago. I do wonder if someone has taken advantage of her sister's death to sort of swoop in and pressure her to make this decisioh.

After the stunning success of To Kill a Mockingbird, a book about an adult Scout would have been a goldmine. There must have been a reason Lee never published this novel, don't you think? This is what gives me pause.

On the other hand, I have issues with To Kill a Mockingbird and don't love it the way most readers do (I know, I know, sacrilege) so I am actually really intrigued to find out how Lee imagined Scout and Atticus changing over twenty years. But still--the idea that the late publication of this new book might change the way that she is remembered makes me sad.

My issues with TKaM aside, I always admired the fact that she resisted the urge to publish more when I'm sure every publisher in the country would have killed to publish another of her novels; I liked the idea that she was willing to let her literary legacy rest on one book. This sudden change of course strikes me as very strange.

I liked Sweetland too. What an interesting character.

Gayla wrote: "I am going to read the new Harper Lee book, but I am wary of this sudden decision to publish. I would point out that her older sister, who acted as an adviser to her and assisted her with financial..."

I agree that due to her advanced age and possibly lack of awareness that it's worrisome. Supposedly her attorney (and friend) found the manuscript in a safety deposit box wrapped in something that made it look like a manuscript of TKAM and Harper Lee had forgotten she put it there. She thought the manuscript of Go Set a Watchman had been lost...or so the story goes.
Time will tell....I'm sure we have not heard the last of this. I find it especially surprising that after years of resisting publishing anything at all, she's suddenly willing to give her publisher carte blanche with this.

I'm guessing this overhyped (but probably very good) book will be on the list for 2016.

City on Fire, Garth Hallberg.

http://www.themillions.com/2015/02/ex...

I have some of the same concerns about Lee's book that some of you do, but it's complicated. I would have no issue if the book was published after her death, so maybe it's a bit hypocritical of me to have an issue with its release now.

Also, the fact that she wrote it BEFORE To Kill a Mockingbird makes it somewhat more troubling to me, as many authors don't want their early (and to them, lesser) writing to see the light of day.

I am, however, very very thankful that this puts to rest the sexist "Truman Capote wrote it!" nonsense.

I also have the same thoughts that many of you do about the Harper Lee book, but I worry that if this book is of lesser quality, it will only increase the conspiracy that Truman Capote really wrote TKAM. Guess we'll just have to see how the book is when it's published, but I hope it doesn't diminish TKAM or Harper Lee. But as someone above pointed out (I'm on the Goodreads app so I can't scroll back up to see who while I'm typing this up), it just seems odd that she wouldn't publish it for 60-some odd years and then all of a sudden when she's in her nineties a lawyer "discovers" it and Lee decides to publish it.. Again, I hope this book doesn't disappoint! I definitely would like to see what Scout is like as an adult..

Have any of you read Ben Metcalfe's Against the Country? I just finished it and think it could be a ToB contender. Great writing, funny and grim in a Donald Ray Pollock sort of way. It polarizes reviewers, which could make for interesting commentary and judging.

Does anyone know if there is a site that lists upcoming indie published books for the next year? I know there is one that lists the best indie books of the previous year (but I lost that link, if anyone has that too.)

C wrote: "Does anyone know if there is a site that lists upcoming indie published books for the next year? I know there is one that lists the best indie books of the previous year (but I lost that link, if ..."

kirkus was one of the sites that did a best indie books of 2014 list: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/issue/b...

flavorwire did one too, it includes poetry: http://flavorwire.com/489889/the-50-b...

and publisher's weekly did a 'big indie books of fall' last year: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

i just tend to visit the publisher's websites directly (or through netgalley and edelweiss). and i have had this list of publishers bookmarked for a while now, as a reminder: http://flavorwire.com/417838/25-indep...

Jennifer wrote: "C wrote: "Does anyone know if there is a site that lists upcoming indie published books for the next year? I know there is one that lists the best indie books of the previous year (but I lost that..."

Thank you for the links, though I don't think any of those are the specific site I was remembering. And I'm also lazy and wish a site existed that could list upcoming decent sounding indie books as they are released... basically for easier ToB guessing. :D

heh!! i would love to know about such a site too, C! :)

Too lazy to see how many of this year's ToB books showed up on the list, but Indie Bound's monthly "Indie Next List" of new releases is one I consistently check out:

http://www.indiebound.org/

Ed wrote: "Too lazy to see how many of this year's ToB books showed up on the list, but Indie Bound's monthly "Indie Next List" of new releases is one I consistently check out:

http://www.indiebound.org/"

i use that site a lot too - but because it's by independent booksellers they feature books from the big publishers and aren't exclusively featuring independently published books. would be awesome if they created a sublist within their monthly 'next' list, of just independently published books coming out!!