Tournament of Books discussion

It;s HERE! (posted Fri 11/20/20 after NBA & Booker award announcements the day prior):
https://themorningnews.org/article/th...

I'll circle back around tonight to put the books in themselves.

You got my hopes up - lol.

me too...

Me, three.

Seems they're waiting for the NBA tonight.

Huh? The NBA and the NBA Draft are on the same night.

Jason wrote: "Seems they're waiting for the NBA tonight.

Huh? The NBA and the NBA Draft are on the same night."

Looking forward to watching NBA Draft while listening to the NBA audiobook for the purest hobby synergy,

Sheesh, this year is getting to me. Within the past 12 hours, I both acknowledged that today was November 18th -- wrote it on documents, etc. -- and thought to myself, "Self -- you have to wait a while yet, until the 18th and 19th of the month, to find out who wins the Nat'l. Book Award and the Booker. " Nothing in my tiny little brain -- until I saw Jason's post -- connected these two disparate ideas.

When, oh, WHEN, will it all be over?

In case anyone wants to torture themselves as much as I am with refreshing, the probable link to the long list is:

https://themorningnews.org/article/th...

Just confirmed with Andrew the longlist is coming Friday and they were waiting for NBA & Booker announcements! (so take that into account for any shortlist predictions!)

Amy wrote: "Just confirmed with Andrew the longlist is coming Friday and they were waiting for NBA & Booker announcements! (so take that into account for any shortlist predictions!)"

Definitely will - thanks for the play-by-play! ;)

Is there a way to make the 2021 General Topics at the top of the ToB Topics list? It's so far down under 2020 events that are already over.

So we can feel good about Interior Chinatown at least making the longlist.

Get excited people... so begins three days of book news!

Interior Chinatown was a wonderful book. I read it at the beginning of the year and I still think about it.

Jason wrote: "Is there a way to make the 2021 General Topics at the top of the ToB Topics list? It's so far down under 2020 events that are already over."

done! thanks for the suggestion!

Amy wrote: "Just confirmed with Andrew the longlist is coming Friday and they were waiting for NBA & Booker announcements! (so take that into account for any shortlist predictions!)"

I guess I'll stop refreshing for a day then.. it's Thursday. :D

Booker ceremony is at 2 pm EST - I'm in a meeting but hope they will record it. I don't care about the ceremony but the celebrity readings they have set up sound great!

it's posted! https://themorningnews.org/article/th...

I updated the first entry of the thread with the link but not the books yet. will do so this afternoon/evening along with updating the shortlist prediction google docs with the longlist books.

who has tips on which books from the longlist have good audio versions?!

I got so excited...But then I started to read, and it was like being a kid in a candy store when you already have so much leftover Halloween candy you haven't had the chance to eat. (Every year it's like this, but especially so now since I read virtually nothing for months.)

Elizabeth wrote: "who has tips on which books from the longlist have good audio versions?!"

I just listened to Piranesi last week, it was good once I got orientated.

Elizabeth wrote: "who has tips on which books from the longlist have good audio versions?!"

Barn 8, A Burning, The Last Night Watchman, Sharks, Piranesi, Glass Hotel, Little Eyes, and a Children's Bible were all great.

Apeirogon was difficult, Interior Chinatown was not ideal. And I read and didn't listen to Crossings but I feel like audio would not serve it well.

Elizabeth wrote: "I got so excited...But then I started to read, and it was like being a kid in a candy store when you already have so much leftover Halloween candy you haven't had the chance to eat. (Every year it'..."

I’m going to start with what I already have on hand but yet unread, that already accounts for several. I’ll add that list once I’ve wrapped my head around it.

I would add Deacon King Kong, Hamnet, Sisters, Such a Fun Age & the Vanishing Half....all good in audio. I have read 16 of the longlist...the question is were they the right 16? Do I read more or spend all my time worrying about our democracy?

OK -- I've already read 11, I have 3 more here in the library pile, and there are 5 more already on my list. As always, there are a significant number I've never even heard of (35).

Someone in here usually puts it out in list form, right?

Overall I'm happy with the longlist, although there are a few missing I was hoping to see here.

My stats: I've read 20, own 11 that I haven't read yet, and added 16 to my TBR from this list that I'm surprised I hadn't heard about yet.

For the question on audiobooks, I would say these worked well on audio:
We Ride Upon Sticks, Transcendent Kingdom, My Dark Vanessa, Memorial, Luster, Drifts, Djinn Patrol, Deacon King Kong, Clap When You Land, A Children's Bible, Barn 8 (although some of the narrator changes were hard to follow)

And I think these would have been better in print:
Topics of Conversation, Shuggie Bain, Interior Chinatown, Hitting a Straight Lick, Black Sunday,

From one of the descriptions: "Now, eating human meat—'special meat'—is legal."

Sounds like a fun 2020 read.

I have only read six, but have a few lined up at home. I started Luster last night, and will continue on. I guessed correctly on some of my library books and will finish those. My plan is to read the ones my library has, and conserve my Audible credits for the books that make the short list that I will not be able to order for my library.

I've read 5. (Which is better than I thought that I would be after a 2020 spent mostly reading books already on my shelves.)

Had guessed somewhat well (thanks folks!) for pre-longlist library holds, so I had a decent number already on hold, and a couple already checked out of the library. Plus, I just spend the last hour optimizing my 50 book library hold limit to get my hands on as many of the others as possible. Here we go!

Maggie wrote: "Plus, I just spend the last hour optimizing my 50 book library hold limit to get my hands on as many of the others as possible...."

Lucky! The allowed number of holds allowed by my library system is seven!

Jason wrote: "From one of the descriptions: "Now, eating human meat—'special meat'—is legal."

Sounds like a fun 2020 read."

Oh great that sound like one I marked from one of those indie lists.

I’ve read 10 and own another 8. I’m surprised Mantel is missing. I reread Wolf Hall and am almost done with rereading Bring up the Bodies in preparation for the new one which of course I will still read. But surprised.

I subscribe to Parnassus First Editions Club which is monthly. This year 7 of their picks made the long list which I think is a really good predictor. It’s never been so many in the past.

It's been a pretty yucky week and this has just lifted my spirits immensely. I'm pretty easily pleased -- but I'm sitting here making lists and reading plans and it's taking me right out of myself and into the world of books. What DO people do with themselves if they don't read?

I've read 11 (which is more than I have in past longlist TOB), I have 5 currently on my shelves and put 3 on hold at my library - will see if any of them make the cut!!

I’ve also read 11, and have 7 on hold. This is my first TOB, can someone tell me the timing on voting for the Zombies?

Chrissy wrote: "I’ve also read 11, and have 7 on hold. This is my first TOB, can someone tell me the timing on voting for the Zombies?"

That will happen when the short-list is announced which is typically mid-December.

Alison wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Plus, I just spend the last hour optimizing my 50 book library hold limit to get my hands on as many of the others as possible...."

Lucky! The allowed number of holds allowed by my ..."

Yes - actually I don't even know what my library's limit is but it costs $1 to put something on hold.

I've read 15, and I feel like there are more on this list that I now really want to read based on their descriptions than there sometimes is from past years' longlists.

Of the ones I've read, permit me to stump early and often for: Cold Millions by Jess Walter, The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe (my favorite!), My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.

some numbers:
9 books in translation
112 pages - shortest book: The Hole
496 pages - longest books: Docile and Long Bright River

Jason wrote: "9 books in translation
112 pages - shortest book: The Hole
496 pages - longest books: Docile and Long Bright River"

SWEET. thanks for doing this. Good to know.

I’ve bailed on one book on this list so I will be interested in seeing others views on The Lightness.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I shall also stump early and often for Long Bright River by Liz Moore and The Searcher by Tana French. I love both of these authors, and I don't think either of these are their best, but their "not their best" still beats most other books for me.

Also, here's some of the long list I haven't read but am really looking forward to based on their descriptions:

Afterlife by Julia Alverez
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
Nights When Nothing Happened by Simon Kan
Sisters by Daisy Johnson
Telephone by Percival Everett

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I’ve bailed on one book on this list so I will be interested in seeing others views on The Lightness."

It's not on the longlist though, is it? I bailed on that book too.

Heather wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I’ve bailed on one book on this list so I will be interested in seeing others views on The Lightness."

It's not on the longlist though, is it? I bailed..."

Whoops, similar covers, meant True Love, my bad.

Has anyone read the Marilynne Robinson yet? I have read Gilead but not the other 2 yet, was wondering if they needed to be read in order or not.

I have read a grand total of one of these books so far. (We Ride Upon Sticks, which I very much enjoyed until the ending ruined everything.)

2020 has been a year when I read a lot of fantasy and scifi, but somehow not the same fantasy and scifi that the organizers have been reading. I have to admit, I'm pretty excited by the amount of genre fiction on the long list this year!

Kip wrote: "Has anyone read the Marilynne Robinson yet? I have read Gilead but not the other 2 yet, was wondering if they needed to be read in order or not."

I've not read Jack, but I have read Gilead and Home and in my opinion, none of the books need to be read in any particular order. They build on one another, but that enrichment will work in any order.

Natalie wrote: "II have to admit, I'm pretty excited by the amount of genre fiction on the long list this year."

I agree, but let's see what makes it to the shortlist. I would love to see more than one genre book in the shortlist.

I just ordered The Down Days by Ilze Hugo from my local bookstore, because I could not help myself.

I've read 21 - I think I've learned how to 'read for the long list' over the years. (Basically, read the buzziest books by the most critically acclaimed writers. Pretty obvious ;) What's nice about it is that now I can focus on the books I've never heard of.

lark wrote: "I just ordered The Down Days by Ilze Hugo from my local bookstore, because I could not help myself."

That cover! I want a poster of it.

lark wrote: "I just ordered The Down Days by Ilze Hugo from my local bookstore, because I could not help myself."

That intrigues me too, I checked it out on Hoopla...One of several on the list that sound so mind bending and unique. I'll look forward to seeing what you think.

I've read 7 of these, DNF 4 and I'm in the middle of Luster (audio) and Red Pill (paper), both of which I'm loving. I also own but haven't started Summer, Jack, Transcendent Kingdom, The Burning and A Vanishing Half. I definitely won't be a completist this year (my days are spent homeschooling and trying to squeeze in writing late at night) but I'll at least read any of those that are on the shortlist. So many here are so tempting though, I'm deeply mourning not having the time or being in the right headspace for serious reading.

(Related to my headspace: Are any of these lighter? Not necessarily light as in easy to read, but books that don't leave you feeling like you've been run over by a tractor? Anything with a sense of humor?)