Tournament of Books discussion

Exciting news, and wow, I love this list of options! The only bittersweet part is that it could mean some of these favorites don't get a chance in the main tournament.

So far, I plan to vote for these:

James (One of my favorites of the year)
Martyr! (Another favorite of the year)
Wandering Stars (This one too! Loved it)

And I'm choosing between these for my remaining votes:

The Extinction of Irena Rey (I saw some of y'all loved this)
The Fox Wife (I have a copy of this)
Great Expectations (This sounds interesting!)
(You Dreamed of Empires (The description is intriguing, but when I read the first page at a bookstore I could tell it's one that would take significant time to follow)
The Invisible Hotel (I hadn't heard of this yet, but the description piqued my interest)

It looks like quite a promising list.
For those who have already voted -- did you get any kind of confirmation message that your votes had gone through? I did not ... just a blank screen, which has me wondering if there was a glitch in the system or with my computer.

Risa-I did get a confirmation message after I voted.

I did get a confirmation.

Irena Rey, James, You Dreamed of Empires, and Martyr! were among my favorites of the year.

Cahokia Jazz and Great Expectations are both books I have and want to read so that rounded out my voting.

Uh oh. I better try again. Thank you!

I like this list! I loved Beautyland and excited to see it as a possible. The only other one I have read is James so I have some catching up to do.

Have any of you read The Fox Wife or The Invisible Hotel? I've never even heard of them.

I think I'm voting for too many, but...my longlist is:

James and Beautyland, both of which I adored,
* The Extinction of Irina Rey,
* Thirst (Not really my kind of book but it sounds fun and it's gotten great reviews from NLF readers I align with),
* The Husbands (also not quite my kind of book, but it also sounds fun, and I've seen great reviews),
* Martyr!
* Possibly also Wandering Stars (although I've seen some not-so-great reviews, and the blurb doesn't excite me even though I liked There, There. Plus I'm sure it doesn't need my vote to make it through.)

I'm torn, I fear inclusion in this tournament will mean disinclusion in the regular--I'd like to see James and Martyr! in the March TOB as I'm confused about how it works...Bah! I've read three others and I was sorta meh on all three. Tough choices ahead.

Bob wrote: "I'm torn, I fear inclusion in this tournament will mean disinclusion in the regular--I'd like to see James and Martyr! in the March TOB as I'm confused about how it works...Bah! I've read three oth..."

Last year they said that Camp is completely separate from the main tourney. All of the books from Camp can potentially be on the shortlist. There's also no more automatic bid for any camp winner. I assume both Martyr! and James are locks for the shortlist, so I voted for other books that will probably get forgotten between now and the fall. And I also don't want to discuss these books twice.

Bob wrote: "I'm torn, I fear inclusion in this tournament will mean disinclusion in the regular--I'd like to see James and Martyr! in the March TOB as I'm confused about how it works...Bah! I've read three oth..."

This is also a good point, Bob. Even when I absolutely LOVE a book from the summer tournament, I am disinclined to want to see it again in the main ToB. By then I am ready to be enchanted by something new. Dilemmas, Dilemmas!

Completely agree, I'd also rather see books I haven't read yet that seem interesting (in some cases so I can decide whether I want to pick them up.) And now I'm second-guessing myself, maybe I won't vote for James or Beautyland after all...especially since we had deep discussions on them both in NLF.

This seems like such a good, varied list, though, so I'll be happy with whatever comes up.

Elizabeth wrote: "Have any of you read The Fox Wife or The Invisible Hotel? I've never even heard of them."

I am currently reading The Fox Wife. I'm a little over 2/3rds of the way in, and it's good. I like reading historical fiction set in a place I know little about featuring interesting characters. The plot is building nicely to what I am hoping is an interesting and satisfying conclusion.

I'm reading Butter now and it's one that would be great in the summer reading, or in the tournament. It goes hard on sexism and fat phobia in Japanese culture and it's also a lot of fun to read. I'm hoping it will be chosen.

I also chose James and Martyr!, because I have copies of those and also Link's Book of Love, because it's massive -- I like big books, but it is harder to pick them up. And Kelly Link is so good at short stories, I'm curious about how she does with a novel.

As for my other two choices, I have no idea.

Risa wrote: "Even when I absolutely LOVE a book from the summer tournament, I am disinclined to want to see it again in the main ToB...."

Exactly. Some day they will take my excellent advice and pull the summer books from the prior longlist.

I've read The Fox Wife and I thought it was delightful. I'd also say it's "very readable" but that sounds a little pejorative for some reason.

I'm usually not as active in the summer camp, but I voted for Martyr!, James, The Book of Love, Great Expectations, Wandering Stars, and Beautyland just in case this will be the only time this great group of folks gets to meaningfully discuss them as a community.

Though, truth be told, I'd rather save a couple of them for the big dance in March.

And how do I find the NLF forum? :)

Martyr! is fantastic. Probably the best book I’ve read in 2024 so far, so if you’re still deciding what to vote for, I’d suggest voting for Martyr!

Does anyone know anything about All Fours by Miranda July? The book description sounds right up my alley – middle-age mother going through a bit of a midlife crisis, heading out on a road trip, leaving husband and children behind for a bit. These sorts of stories hit close to home, and I always identify with them. Of course, I’m not taking off on a road trip anytime soon, but I understand the desire that would drive such a trip.

Zachary wrote: "I'm usually not as active in the summer camp, but I voted for Martyr!, James, The Book of Love, Great Expectations, Wandering Stars, and Beautyland just in case this will be the only time this grea..."

It's the Newest Literary Fiction group here on Goodreads.

Gwendolyn wrote: "Does anyone know anything about All Fours by Miranda July? The book description sounds right up my alley – middle-age mother going through a bit of a midlife crisis, heading out on a road trip, lea..."

I've actually seen nothing but bad reviews, or at best, reviews that seemed hesitant to offer judgement! When I say reviews I mean amongst people I follow, not professional reviews. The professional ones seem to be mostly glowing.

Zachary wrote: "And how do I find the NLF forum? :)"

Join us!

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Thanks all, just asked for permission to join!

It's a good community there, always very active... though the steady stream of new books they talk about there makes me despair of even touching my TBR.

Karin wrote: "Gwendolyn wrote: "Does anyone know anything about All Fours by Miranda July? The book description sounds right up my alley – middle-age mother going through a bit of a midlife crisis, heading out o..."

Thanks! Maybe I’ll steer away from this one…

Zachary wrote: "I'm usually not as active in the summer camp, but I voted for Martyr!, James, The Book of Love, Great Expectations, Wandering Stars, and Beautyland just in case this will be the only time this grea..."

Yeah, I'm going back and forth on this. Summer books definitely get less attention, and I prefer to avoid repeats in the main tournament... But, if I don't vote for my favorites for summer and they also don't make the March short list, then I'd regret the missed opportunity of discussing my favorites with the broader ToB group. So I guess that means I'll go ahead and vote for James, Martyr!, and Wandering Stars. ;)

Lark wrote: "I've read The Fox Wife and I thought it was delightful. I'd also say it's "very readable" but that sounds a little pejorative for some reason."

I also found it immensely readable, and did not mind it at all. I do agree that "readable" when talking about literary fiction sounds like a pejorative when it should not be. There was so much going on in the plot and with all the characters that I welcome a simpler prose style. The writing is skilled, just a different kind of skill than what is found in You Dreamed of Empires or Martyr!.

Let's embrace "readable" as praise! If the novel is well written and the plot engaging and the characters interesting, I personally don't need for the novel to feel like Work in order to appreciate it.

This is not to say that I haven't also appreciated many novels at which I had to work hard as a reader. It is only to say that sometimes an author who makes it look and feel "easy" has also achieved a praiseworthy feat.

Risa wrote: "Let's embrace "readable" as praise! If the novel is well written and the plot engaging and the characters interesting, I personally don't need for the novel to feel like Work in order to appreciate..."

I'm reading Proulx's 'Barkskins' at the moment and I'm surprised at how "readable" it is?!

Barkskins…now, that was a book!

Jan wrote: "Barkskins…now, that was a book!"

I loved it! I also was surprised at how "readable" it was.

I loved Barkskins. I read it with Jenny’s group. I miss Jenny.

I'm glad you all enjoyed that book. I will admit to being scared away by the page count. 700+ pages is ... well, a lot. If I think there is a chance I won't love it, I usually give those doorstoppers a pass. (I probably shouldn't be confessing such a thing in this group! ;-))

Risa wrote: " If I think there is a chance I won't love it, I usually give those doorstoppers a pass...."

Same, Risa. I'm willing to jump in if it looks interesting, but if not, I will avoid it. The Overstay (which I know many people loved!) taught me to trust my instincts there.

Alison wrote: "The Overstay"

Ha! I'm going to enjoy that for the rest of the day.

Tim wrote: "Alison wrote: "The Overstay"

Ha! I'm going to enjoy that for the rest of the day."

Not me looking for "The Overstay" on Goodreads for a full 10 minutes before realizing this comment was a pun on "The Overstory"!
I'm all caught up now. ;-)

Everyone someone mentions The Overstory(stay) I recommend Barkskins.
I'm voting for James in hopes we won't see it in TOB.

I remember that at the time, us Overstory-naysayers were calling it "The Overdone" or "The Over-Earnest". But "Overstay" is great.

Did y’all see that the summer book selections were listed on Discord? Looks like a great group for summer camp!

From Andrew:

“There's no schedule yet, so I can't say which order these will be happening in, but our first discussion will be on June 5, and our summer books are:

"James" by Percival Everett
"Wandering Stars" by Tommy Orange
"Martyr!" by Kaveh Akbar
"The Book of Love" by Kelly Link
"All Fours" by Miranda July
"The Husbands" by Holly Gramazio”

Oooooh thank you, Adam. All books I want to read! I’ve only read James so far.

I’ve also only read James, looking forward to discussing it. I’ve heard some not great things about the Kelly Link (which is unfortunate, I love her short stories) and the Miranda July. But I’m happier with these selections than those from recent summers.

I'm willing to try out the Kelly Link, but I've been a not-fan of Miranda July ever since I saw her first movie. Intolerable.

I have "Martyr!" and "James" on my bookshelf, and quite liked "Wandering Stars", so this is a good list in my opinion.

I’m going to pass on the Kelly Link unless one of you gives it a rave. 600+ pages is too much for me right now, especially given the excerpt I read, which did not wow me. The others are books I was definitely going to read plus a book that I’m willing to try, so mostly, “Yay”.

Thanks for sharing the list! The first half is some of my favorites of the year, so I'm happy about that. The second half is books I was not interested in. After reading the descriptions, I definitely will not read All Fours, but I might try The Book of Love and The Husbands, allowing myself to DNF quickly if it's clear I'm not the intended audience for them.

As Risa said, long books are a struggle (this started for me with the pandemic, even though I have been lucky to avoid getting covid). But if anyone here has a strong pitch for The Book of Love, I might be more enthusiastic about trying it.

Given my disappointment in the last few selections for ToB, I'll take a 50% "heck yes!" for this summer's list as a win.

I just asked on Discord about where the discussions will happen (there or Disqus), but let me know if that's already been shared somewhere.

Oh, I just found this on the website... While Andrew said yesterday he didn't know the schedule, there's this schedule on the Camp ToB 2024 webpage:

June 5: James, first half

June 12: James to the end

June 19: Wandering Stars, first half

June 26: Wandering Stars to the end

July 3: Holiday

July 10: Martyr!, first half

July 17: Martyr! to the end

July 24: The Book of Love, first half

July 31: The Book of Love to the end

Aug. 7: All Fours, first half

Aug. 14: All Fours to the end

Aug. 21: The Husbands, first half

Aug. 28: The Husbands to the end

Great find Lauren!

I've read The Husbands, Martyr!, Wandering Stars and James.

I will not be reading TBOL or All Fours. I haven't seen the best of reviews for TBOL and considering it's length, pass. And All Fours is just a hard no for me based on the subject.

I figured they would pair up The Husbands with All Fours. I'm glad it's not until August because I suspected that would be the June pairing and I cannot get my hands on All Fours until later this summer. I have read everything but that and The Book of Love, so I don't have to do any TOB reading until July.

Lauren wrote: "Oh, I just found this on the website... While Andrew said yesterday he didn't know the schedule, there's this schedule on the Camp ToB 2024 webpage:

June 5: James, first half

June 12: James to t..."

This is a list that makes me happy, given that there's only one book in there (All Fours) that I'm not really interested in, but even with that, I'm willing to give it a chance.

For those not on Discord, Andrew just replied that the discussions for summer camp will be on Disqus - that should help with participation compared to the past few years - yay!

Where is Disqus?

BitterAndMurky wrote: "Where is Disqus?"

They'll send the link through email when it happens on June 5th, and someone will probably post it here as well.