Tournament of Books discussion

posted Friday, 12/18/20 ~ 11am PST
Shuggie Bain
Interior Chinatown
Sharks in the Time of Saviors
Breasts and Eggs
A Children's Bible
Deacon King Kong
Luster
Leave the World Behind
Memorial
Telephone
Tender is the Flesh
Transcendent Kingdom
The Vanishing Half
We Ride Upon Sticks
The Down Days
Red Pill
The Resisters
Piranesi

You’re freaking killing me. I got soooooo excited.

Maggie wrote: "You’re freaking killing me. I got soooooo excited."

wow. that was literal seconds!

I’m *very* excitable. 😂😂😂😂

I realize they're West coast and it's like 10am there but cmon

My goal was to be done with grading when the short list comes out so I can start reading immediately...unless a miracle happens there’s no way my grading will be done in time. But I will at least be choosing which book to start with as soon as that list pops up!

psyche

Get out Jason!

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

11:11 PST

Alright, that's 3 I've read so far. Not bad!

Oh wow, I've read 11! (Well, 10.5, I'm halfway through Leave the World Behind now.) That's a new personal record, weird because I've done so little reading this year.

And the list includes all my favorites, so I'm excited!

Well, I'm glad I'm keeping alive my record of being an utterly horrible predictor of the Shortlist. Sheesh. :)

I've read four--which is decent for me--with two ready to start this week. Everything else now gets shifted!

I've read 11 - the first time I've ever read so many ahead of the announcement. I think they've gone more conservative this year, choosing more well known titles and authors than they usually do.

I've only read one, so I've got a lot of work to do!
But, I am super excited about the play-ins; I have read samples from all three, and I was hoping they'd make it.

I've read 5 and own 4 others which I was planning on reading before the new year. Now to place a few books on hold at the library :)

Surprised by the absence of Real Life and Hamnet in particular. Was hoping for Crossings since it's so formally out there. Now I have to try to get to it on my own--yikes.

Read only two, which is sad for me because I was hoping to do better since I start a new job on January 4 and will have less reading time after that. I have a lot to get to before the end of the year.

What are people thinking for zombie vote? I've read Telephone (version B) and Sharks..,. Between the two telephone gets mine. That being said, I will postpone voting until the last minute to try to get more in, so feel free to sing the praises of your favorites in hopes of inspiring me to get to them sooner.

I'm all about some Susanna Clarke, so unless something else i read wows me, Piranesi will likely get my vote. When's the deadline for Zombies?

Maggie wrote: "What are people thinking for zombie vote? I've read Telephone (version B) and Sharks..,. Between the two telephone gets mine. That being said, I will postpone voting until the last minute to try to..."

I think I'll choose Red Pill...because I'm worried it'll be out early, and it was an incredible book, I feel like there's so much to discuss. (Really hope it at least makes it through the Play-In round.)

I'm going Deacon King Kong for zombie.

No Apeirogon. Sigh.

Ah dang now I have to finish the cannibal novel... I was hoping for the *other* cannibal novel.

I was hoping for Ring Shout, but am so glad Tender is the Flesh made it!

In the end, I'm on the 30th book, but still have 6 to be a completist this year--a good problem to have.

Bob wrote: "I was hoping for Ring Shout, but am so glad Tender is the Flesh made it!

In the end, I'm on the 30th book, but still have 6 to be a completist this year--a good problem to have."

If you try every book but DNF a couple can you still call yourself a completist?

I've read 7 so far, but I have several more on the list checked out or on hold. I'm reading Apeirogon right now and quite love it, but it would be hard to judge as a work of fiction, so I understand it not making the short list. I'm much happier about the lack of any of the books I gave 2 stars. I called Piranesi my favorite book of the year, and that got my Zombie vote, but there are other worthy choices.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "If you try every book but DNF a couple can you still call yourself a completist?"

I hope so, because despite a significant effort, I simply could not get through Overthrow last year.

Nadine wrote: "I think they've gone more conservative this year, choosing more well known titles and authors than they usually do."

I agree Nadine. I'm not disappointed, these are all great, but it does seem a little un-risky compared with other years.

Or maybe it's just that we're all very weird readers who don't think Tender is the Flesh is all that unusual, as books go.

I'm ok with this list. I've read 7, and Deacon King Kong made it, and it will get my Zombie vote.

Lord, Overthrow was a big miss for me last year.

Wait -- who's the Reader Judge?

Kyle wrote: "Lord, Overthrow was a big miss for me last year."

It "won" the "Extreme Repulsiveness" Award for Least Favorite Book in my own personal literary awards this year.

There are four here that I just didn't connect with, that other people loved (Children's Bible, Leave the World Behind, Luster, The Resisters) so I'm kind of excited to re-visit them and to see what I missed.

Red Pill is my favorite novel of these, with Breasts and Eggs a close #2, but I've never gotten arount to Deacon King Kong -- I keep thinking I should read The Good Lord Bird first!

They are utterly different animals, Lark. I didn't think much of The Good Lord Bird -- I mean, it was ok, but it didn't do anything for me -- but Deacon King Kong was (as many of you have already heard from me) my favorite read of 2020.

I've read 6, own 3, and just snatched 2 available from the library. I'm a little sad not to see Real Life, The Knockout Queen, and Long Bright River not make it.

Oh, and I'll likely vote Memorial for my zombie (at this moment.)

Ellen wrote: "They are utterly different animals, Lark. I didn't think much of The Good Lord Bird -- I mean, it was ok, but it didn't do anything for me -- but Deacon King Kong was (as many of you have already h..."

Ok! That bumps it up about 100. Thanks Ellen! I will definitely fit it in before March 1 and before I get too distracted by the shiny objects aka books published in 2021...

lark wrote: "There are four here that I just didn't connect with, that other people loved (Children's Bible, Leave the World Behind, Luster, The Resisters) so I'm kind of excited to re-visit them and to see wha..."

Like Ellen said, they are very different books, so I don't think you need to read The Good Lord Bird first, but for my part I did love it. A lot of that is due to my admiration for John Brown, the mad prophet of abolition, but it is a very good book, as is Deacon King Kong. Read them in whichever order you like.

Random question: Was an excerpt from Memorial published as a short story somewhere? (Since I read it, likely The New Yorker or The Atlantic). The synopsis sounds so familiar...

Choosing my Libro book for the month...Has anyone listened to the audio of Memorial, Tender is the Flesh, The Down Days or The Resisters?

I've read 11, will probably skip Down Days and Tender Is the Flesh. Will Zombie for King Kong. Sad not to see Hamnet. Excited by the diverse and interesting mix of judges! It's gonna be fun!!!

I've only listened to The Down Days from that list. It's a South African novel, so the narration has that awesome accent. I recommend it, but I can't compare it to the others.

I've read 9! This feels like a huge success over last year when I had only done 2. (I have read more books this year than ever before... so that helped.)

Luster has my zombie vote for sure. A book I liked more than any other this year. Can't wait to read the rest!!

Isaac wrote: "I've only listened to The Down Days from that list. It's a South African novel, so the narration has that awesome accent. I recommend it, but I can't compare it to the others."

Oh, I'm a sucker for narrators with accents, it adds so much. Thank you! And I like doing plot-heavy books on audio, so that should work well.

I would not recommend that anyone read Tender is the Flesh as an audiobook. It's hard to look away from the page when it's an audiobook.

lark wrote: "I would not recommend that anyone read Tender is the Flesh as an audiobook. It's hard to look away from the page when it's an audiobook."

Eek, good point. You're making me think I may be better off skipping it altogether. (I haven't read it, or had much interest because, speaking from a vegan's perspective, the idea seems ridiculous. Even a novel meant as pure allegory needs to make some sense.)

The Resisters was good as an audiobook.

Anyone's thoughts on listening vs reading Shuggie Bain? I've seen mixed comments.

Elizabeth wrote: "lark wrote: "I would not recommend that anyone read Tender is the Flesh as an audiobook. It's hard to look away from the page when it's an audiobook."

Eek, good point. You're making me think I may..."

It's the short list book I'm least looking forward to reading. Even as a meat-eater, the premise makes no sense to me either, especially in this era where "Impossible Whoppers" exist. Perhaps the writing elevates it, but I'm not holding out much hope.

Which judge is the reader judge? They all kind of look like industry folks to me.

I have only read Interior Chinatown but I have most of the rest either on my shelf or on my libby, so I feel pretty well poised to get through a lot more than I have in the past??? We will see if TOB can override my pandemic brain.

I've read 3 and am pleased to see I had the foresight to put many of these on library hold some weeks back. But the hold lists are very long so I'll be turning to audio credits for some.

I see the recommendations for The Down Days and The Resisters in audio - thank you. Are there any others that worked well for folks here in audio format?

I've read seven, and all of the books from the longlist I read this past month made it. Then every book I placed on hold since has also made the list.

For audio recommendations--Piranesi, Leave the World Behind, and Deacon King Kong are all excellent.